Benue-born woodturner, Pureherat Otokpa, said he could carve out “anything” out of wood including plates, mortar and other kitchen utensils.
In a video interview with Daily Trust, Otokpa said, he started the woodwork when he was four, adding adding he did brilliantly well at his workshop.
He was working for his father until he was about 19 when he left for Kwali Area in Abuja where he currently lives.
“I am a woodturner, so to speak. A professional woodturner,” he emphasised. “So in my workshop here, I can make up to 101 items. So I turn wood into kitchen utensils, anything you can think of that is round I can produce it in this workshop. I started turning woods when I was 4 years and I actually started doing this on my own around 1997.”
The professional woodturner explains further that the income he receives from the handwork is what he uses in sponsoring his education from the primary to university level. Otokpa added that he couldn’t continue due to the hardship of the economy.
The woodturner explained that he wanted to become an engineer. He was a student of Mechanical Engineering at Nasarawa State University, but could not continue sponsoring himself.
“This is what I used to support myself all through my education from primary school until when I was in Nasarawa State University, I couldn’t continue because I noticed that as I was growing, the economy was getting more and more harder there was no way I could continue paying my school fees because getting the wood was so difficult,” he explained.
This Kano Man Sustains Family by Emptying Latrines — He’s Proud of It
Otokpa also reflects back to the time when his two saw machines got burned in a fire incident and as a result, he couldn’t source money to purchase a new one.
This, he explains, takes him a long distance to go get working instrument.
“There was a time I use to get the wood myself, then I used to keep the sawing machine in my brother’s house,” he recalled. “Two of them got burned in a fire incident and since then I was not able to source money and get another sawing machine. Take a look at that hill, I normally go to the top of the hill to get these things.”
The woodturner said the business has earned him a lot. From the business, he owns more than four cars and a piece of land.
EXPLAINER: People Now Power Their Electricity Generators With Gas — ‘It Is Risky’
“From this job, I have been able to get a small piece of land and even before this time, as at last year around August, I was able to sell my last car I bought from this job and before that car, I have bought more than four cars. At a time, I was using all the four cars at the same time one for church, preaching, I have the one I use for supply and I have the one I use for going out,” he said
“Whenever I remember what I have achieved before with this particular job, I still feel that I can achieve more in the future so I keep persevering, I don’t want to slack,” he added. “I will keep working, I’m sure one day, whatever I have gotten before, I will get it double if I do not bring my hands down.”
