Declining fortunes of Kasuwar ‘Katako’ traders

The market, according to one of its leaders, Chief Richard N. Okonkwo, was established before the civil war and was located in ‘Bola’ the auto-mobile market beside the bank of the north on Sir Kashim road before it was moved to its present location by the Maiduguri metropolitan council after the civil war. He said […]

The market, according to one of its leaders, Chief Richard N. Okonkwo, was established before the civil war and was located in ‘Bola’ the auto-mobile market beside the bank of the north on Sir Kashim road before it was moved to its present location by the Maiduguri metropolitan council after the civil war. He said the earlier settlers in the market were people from the south eastern part of the country.
Okonkwo told Kanem Trust that timber markets have been proliferated in Maiduguri, saying that people no longer patronise the market as before.  “Now, everywhere you go you see timber markets in Maiduguri and the proliferation still continue till date, making the patronage of this place to be low. People now prefer to buy wood on the street instead of coming to this place.
“Before we were relocated to this place, there was an agreement between the traders and the local government council that this place would be the only timber market in Maiduguri but the agreement was breached by the government. Look at every nook and cranny of the city, it is littered with timber sellers,” he alleged.
Okonkwo who said he has been in the business for more than 38 years, said he has trained many apprentices since he joined the business, but added that many of them have left the business because of its declining fortunes.
Chief Emmanuel Aguolu is the chairman of the United Timber Traders Association, the umbrella body of traders selling timber at the market. He told Kanem Trust that the timbers are brought mostly from the south east and south west like Akure, Ondo, Owerri and also from Benue State.
The business, like any other business, is not an all comers affair to join the timber sellers, according to him, one will go through series of interviews and when one is admitted, certain fees will have to be paid before the person becomes a full  a member.
“We have two types of membership here. Those who are apprentices and those who come from outside to join this association. For the apprentice, after they have served under a master for five years ,they will be given full membership,” he explained. 
“We have sound rules and regulations for anybody who wants to be under this association which our members must comply with. Most times, we settle disputes between our members and their customers and also settle a problems between master and his apprentice. We also forbid our apprentice from smoking and drinking here.” he also said. 
The chairman explained that the timber are of two types which are the hard wood and the soft wood which include among others, Afara, Iroko and the Mahogany. “The hard is good for the building of houses while the soft wood is used to make zinc for houses,” he further said.
One of the problems the market is facing according to Aguolu, is lack of accessible roads, saying that the road inside the market is too bad. “Most times, a vehicle conveying wood from this market to the town passes through hell because of the bad road. This market was well planned when we were relocated to this place but the problem now is the bad roads inside the market and the ones that enter the market,” he lamented.
Another problem the market is facing the chairman noted is the problem of electricity which according to him, is the same thing all over the country. He said, “to operate our machines for the smoothening of the timber, we need electricity and mostly, we rely on power generating sets which increases cost of production,” he added.
Bringing the traders together under one umbrella is another challenge which they have been facing in recent time. “We now have two associations in this market but the other association is more or less a club but traders are free to join any of the associations they want. Ours is a registered association and we have been in existence for long even before we moved down to this present location,” he claimed.
“The machine section of this market once got burnt about 12 years ago, but thank God, the place has been put in proper shape after the incident, “he added.
The business is not without its own hazards, the ‘katako’ traders’ leader said. “We caution our apprentice from time to time to always be careful when operating the machine for smoothening of timber because the machines are sensitive ones that can cause serious injury, even death. But thank God, we have never witnessed any serious incidence.
“I want to appeal to the government to bring all the timber traders together to this place because the traders were relocated to this place for that purpose. The government should also assist us to rehabilitate roads inside the market to bring back its lost glory,” he appealed to the government.