‘Bury Me With the Car’: Lagos Driver Who Raised Five Graduates

For five years, her car was more than a means of transportation. It became a scholarship fund, a classroom, a source of rent, food and school fees, and a lifeline for her family.

Behind the wheel was Louisa Eseke’s mother, a woman who refused to allow poverty determine the future of her children.
Louisa has shared the inspiring story of how her “supermum” worked as an inDrive driver to train five children through school—four of her own children and a cousin.
Describing her mother, Louisa said she was courageous, hardworking and consistent. Those qualities helped move the family from squatting with friends in Lagos to celebrating as three of her children graduated from university.
The journey began after the family relocated to Abuja, where her mother was unhappy. She believed Lagos offered better opportunities for a woman willing to hustle, so she returned to the city with four children, without a house or a clear plan. The family stayed with a friend for about a year.
Just before the COVID-19 lockdown, she took a loan and made a down payment on a car through a hire-purchase arrangement. The repayment terms were demanding—₦20,000 every week—but she remained committed and paid consistently.
Many people doubted her decision to become a commercial driver. Some told her the job would be too stressful and dangerous for a woman. She ignored the criticism and continued driving, a job she has done for the past five years.
Louisa recalled that there were times her mother wanted to quit because of the pressure and responsibilities. She would say she was tired and overwhelmed, but she kept showing up and remained committed to raising her children as both a mother and father.
The income from the car paid school fees, rent, books, uniforms and food. Today, Louisa, her elder sister and her brother are graduates, while another sibling is still in university. Her cousin also completed secondary school.
For her mother, driving was not just a means of earning money. Louisa said her mother once told her that driving was the only talent she had and that she loved it. As a child, Louisa watched her eight-month-pregnant mother drive from Lagos to Edo State after a disagreement with their father. To her mother, the steering wheel represented freedom.
Through inDrive, she also built relationships with passengers and became part of a wider community. She once counselled a man about his marriage and was later invited to his wedding. She also assisted women experiencing abusive relationships and eventually became the Public Relations Officer of the Ladies on Wheels Association of Nigeria.
Louisa said her mother believed she might have fallen into depression if she had been confined to a conventional 9-to-5 job. Driving gave her the flexibility to focus on her children. When Louisa had job interviews, her mother drove her to the venues and waited outside until each interview was completed.
The family also remembers her lighter side. Her mother was once a dancer, and whenever they attended parties and parents were invited to dance, she would take over the dance floor. Louisa said that was how the children learned to dance. Although age and a stiff body have slowed her down, her love for dancing remains.
Now that her children are grown and doing well, they have encouraged her to stop driving out of necessity and instead drive simply because she enjoys it.
Louisa explained that the “retirement” was meant to reassure her mother that she no longer needed to drive to survive.
Her mother, however, laughed at the idea. She told her sister that she would wake up early to help with the baby and still go out to “ride for a bit afterwards.” She even joked: “You should bury me with the car!”
When inDrive decided to produce a special video to honour her story, Louisa became emotional. She said her mother was an ordinary woman who had done extraordinary things and sometimes doubted herself as a mother.
Louisa’s message to her was simple: she did not need to wear a cape to be a hero.
Through years of navigating Lagos traffic, the woman used her steering wheel to pay school fees, raise five children and help move her family away from poverty. Her story stands as a testament to the power of love, consistency, sacrifice and determination.