Biz booming at Abuja’s ‘printing hub’

When the government built a large space with high roofs and began constructing shops, the vision was for a trading spot where day-to-day food items would be sold, Gabriel Adediji, the chairman of the printer’s association explained. “But certain factors influenced the domination of the complex by printers,” he said. From the 1990s, the United […]

When the government built a large space with high roofs and began constructing shops, the vision was for a trading spot where day-to-day food items would be sold, Gabriel Adediji, the chairman of the printer’s association explained. “But certain factors influenced the domination of the complex by printers,” he said. From the 1990s, the United Trading Company, popular in places like Ibadan and Lagos, were also in the complex, but when they left, people never stopped calling the complex and indeed the whole area ‘UTC.’ But “its original name is Zone 7 Shopping Complex,” Adediji reveals.
“There is the old and new UTC,” a taxi driver said. He was right. Several more people viewed the old Zone 7 Shopping Complex, which has been for decades as the old UTC and the Murg, a newer complex characterised by blocks of storey buildings as ‘the new UTC.’        
“There was a lot of congestion at UTC (Zone 7 Shopping Complex), so people started moving down here. It’s also as a result of advancement in the market environment. In life there is always improvement and innovations. That is what actually gave birth to the Murge plaza as a place for printing. However, it was not originally designed as a printing environment. It was the printers that came and dominated due to the congestion in UTC. Till date, people still transfer their business from there to here,” offers Yahaya Abubakar, owner of a posh printing facility at the Murg.
Going back to how the printing hub emerged, Adediji continues: “The market had been existing for long, but it was not known that much until printers came and dominated it. It began to be known as a place for printers as far back as 1998, 1999, when they started opening shops here. There were some skeletal printing being done before that time, but from 1998 it became known as a hub for printers.”
Adediji explained that a number of factors drew the attention of printers to ‘lay claim’ to the structure. One of these was the fact that people realised that the area is centralised. Thus, many people in different businesses came in, including printers. “Today, printing is the major business here,” he asserted. “People believe the Murge and here to be the same, but they are not.”   
The public relations officer of the printers’ association, Mr. Taiwo Tadese, explained further: “Generally, printing in Abuja catapulted when the city became the federal capital. Printers that emerged were those that were formally clients to ministries. Before then there weren’t printers here. Also, there was no infrastructure. Thus, printers were in the suburbs of Kaduna and Suleja. In the quest for a location where they can get a minimum facility required to set up a printing business, they found this place to be accommodating because it was one of the few complexes available back then. This place and the complex in Area 1 were among the few shopping complexes that were roofed. Right from time it had its own transformer, plus its location in the central area of the city, a stone throw to federal secretariat, both old and new.”
He added that: “We employ apprentices, train them and give them certificates. The Murge came into existence about five years ago. Before then there was a shopping centre there, but it was demolished. After that it gave way to the Murge Plaza. Printing business is thriving there today. So Area 10, 11, and 7 are where you would find the largest concentration of printers in Abuja as at today.”
Abuja’s printing hub is an intriguing beehive of activity. With hawkers, a market where all kinds of wares are sold, including stalls manned by fruit sellers, creates a busy scenario. The road between the Murge complex and UTC is ever busy with traffic. Within the structures, artworks, frames, paintings, boutiques, textile shops, barbing salons, stationery shops and other kinds of businesses have sprung up, as though to defy the dominance of the printing shops.
“We print on bags, books, cards, tea cups, and post cards and so on. I have been here for about three years now. We open around 8am and close at 7pm. Right now it’s generator that we are using. I design and give others to print,” Emeka Divine said.
But the printers indeed appear to ‘own’ the area. When a customer steps into this territory they accost him thus,  ‘what kind of printing job do you seek?’
But how has this facet of industry thrived in Nigeria and in the capital city in particular? “It is improving on a daily basis and keeping abreast is important. A job that used to take about one week is done in a day today. Technology has made it so that everyone can be a printer today. Speed, quality and so on, but it has its disadvantages and advantages. Because of this technology, it has reduced the number of jobs taken outside the country,” Tadese, the printers’ association spokesman explained.
“Before when you type-set, you go to camera to film your work. But nobody is using camera now, which costs between N150, 000 to N200, 000. With DI (Direct Imaging printing machine) now, printing is faster. It reduces stress,” Pius Batinehin, a printer said.
“There are machines that we cannot afford,” another business owner, Sunday Audu, intimated. “There are different kinds of DI machines that can print faster and perform multiple tasks. It also makes the work sharper. Some of these higher machines cannot be found here in Abuja, but in Lagos. Printing has changed a lot.  Many people come in now without adequate training. Presently now we don’t have a union. What they have in UTC is not well organised. Presently, anyone can collect a printing job and bring it here. As soon as you have an idea, you give it to someone that knows the work, give him some money and that’s it. So those are the challenges we are having in the business. A forum that can guide those that have studied printing is vital.”         
Adediji added: “Back then only professionals who studied printing in school or as apprentices were into the business. But today many come into the business believing there is nothing much to learn as a result of the availability of technology. Printing used to be more lucrative. For example, if you do a job of N100, 000, possibility of you getting its equivalent as profit was there. This was because fewer people were in the industry. Now, you look for just where typesetting is done, then look for where to do the plate, and down to those who would do the finishing. In fact many people have run into the industry, thus its less lucrative.”
Tadese explains that: “The reigning thing is digital printing now. There are varieties, such as the four colour printing machine that is off-set, and those that you would not need to go through any rigorous process before you get your printing done. Essentially, the job you get determines the technology you employ. In 2013, some new sets of machines were exhibited. By our economic status, you can hardly find those machines here. Not because we cannot afford them, but because there are hardly clients prepared to pay for that kind of technology. So if you spend N4billion on a machine, what would you print?”
The printers’ spokesman said that: “Now you hear that some government official is going abroad to print election cards. But if a few printers were empowered, these jobs could be done here. In this way, our government and individuals would patronise them. Right now, we have off-set printing machine and digital printing machine. But our limit is based on our capital, that is, our investment capacity. So, how you execute your job would depend on the type of technology you have and the size of the job as well. There are some digital machines that are limited to A1, A2 or A3, which are standard sizes of paper.”
Tadese noted that: “Power supply is very erratic, that is why you hear some government officials say printing abroad is cheaper, because they have power. Printing is cheaper in South Africa because they produce their raw materials. Secondly, tax, thirdly, raw materials we import instead of producing them in Nigeria. Also, the government could have given us a more conducive place for this business.”      
The cost of shops at the Zone 7 Shopping Complex (old UTC) depends on the individual, Adediji says: “It is owned by government, but each shop was allocated, so the cost of renting varies. The shop owners rent them out. The sizes also vary. There is the category A, B, C, D, lock-up and warehouse. They range from N250, 000 to N300, 000, while some go for N800, 000.
“We are asking government to reduce the duty on materials used by printers and also make available a fund that printers can access so the profession may grow. The printing business can accommodate many that are unemployed.”
Tadese stated that:  “Incentives can be given to companies that produce raw materials from wood so they can come alive again. Printing is attached to modernisation. There is element of printing in so many things. It is the major element supporting education. So, supporting printing enhances education. In the morning, you will see over one thousand people working here. We have small printing houses, medium and large. A small printing workshop has nothing less than 10 people to function.”