How millet counters put Yauri in eyes of the world

The ancient town of Yauri in Kebbi State is at present playing host to people from different parts of Nigerian communities and countries of the world. What has turned one of the four Kebbi emirates to a tourist centre of sorts was borne out of the curiosity of a group of boys at Kangungu area […]

The ancient town of Yauri in Kebbi State is at present playing host to people from different parts of Nigerian communities and countries of the world. What has turned one of the four Kebbi emirates to a tourist centre of sorts was borne out of the curiosity of a group of boys at Kangungu area of Sarkin Yaki in Yauri. The boys, during an argument on whether the number of millets in a 100kg bag was more or less than the population of Nigeria, decided to find out by counting the grains.

The counting, which started over three months ago, has generated mixed reactions from the public and put Yauri in the eyes of the world. The leader of the group and chairman of the millet counting committee, Ahmad Sarkin Yaki Yauri, said he received more than 20 calls daily from people in China, USA, Britain and Niger Republic, who sought to know about the challenge. The callers were eager to know how many grains of millet are in a 100kg bag.

Because of the attention it has attracted from different countries of the world, people have been coming to Yauri from Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries in the past weeks to see for themselves how the boys are going about the counting.

When our correspondent visited the Katungu area of Yauri, where the youth group is doing the counting, their leader told Daily Trust on Sunday that, “People from different parts of the world are eager to know the number of millets in a 100kg bag. They want to know how many number we had counted, but we told them to wait till we finish our counting in a five day time.  I receive more than 20 calls from different people outside Nigeria every day. People have been calling me from Niger Republic, UK, China and America.  They are eager to hear the result of our counting. They wouldn’t stop calling us from different parts of the world.  Some people came here from Niger Republic to see how we are doing the counting. The counting exercise has brought so much attention to us and Yauri. One of the sons of our emir was here to see what we are doing and he appreciated us.

“I think people are criticizing us because they don’t understand what we are doing. We were at first doing it for our own normal thing, but when people from different countries of the world started asking us questions and became interested in what we are doing, we decided to do it in a way that it would be more beneficial to the society. In the course of our counting exercise, a lecturer in the university said it may lead to the knowledge of the number of grains of millet an individual needs to eat for nourishment. We didn’t know this before.  We now realise that even the government can use what we are doing for other purposes.

“I don’t know of anywhere in the world where this type of counting exercise has taken place. I think we should be proud of what we are doing. And we are happy about the attention we are getting so far.

“To do the counting properly, we organised ourselves into committees. We have four counters, two collectors and four watchers. The duty of the watchers is to see that the counted millets and those we have not counted are intact. There are people who collect from those who counted from 1 to 500 while others collect from those who counted from 1 to 1,000. We also have those who add the counted grains of the day together before it will finally come to me as chairman and added to the one already counted.”

Ahmad narrated how it all started. “Sometime ago, we sat here and argued whether or not the population of Nigeria was more than a bag of millet. In the course of the argument, one of us said that for us to establish the fact, we should count the millet in a 100kg bag. We started the counting over three months ago. Each day, we sit here from 4pm to 6 or 7pm to do the counting. We thought we would be able to finish before Sallah, but it was not easy. We have 30 people that are doing the counting. With what we have left in the bag we might finish the counting in four to five days.”

On the criticism in some quarters of the society he said, “There are different professionals among us – we have NCE, HND and BSC holders. Some of us are civil servants, businessmen, doctors and lecturers. Many of us have more than one business we are doing. We are not lazy or jobless as some people are saying. As the leader of the group I have three businesses. I am a civil servant and I also engage in fishing and onion business.”

A member of the group, Lukman Abubakar, said he and other members became interested in knowing the number of millets in a bag in their quest to advance things that would benefit the society.

He said, “I know we will achieve more experience. We just have to keep creating things that will benefit the society.”

The Sarkin Yaki of Yauri, Garba Alhaji Labbo Yauri, said, “On a daily basis, people come here to see what these boys are doing and how they are going about the counting.  They receive calls from people in China, Japan, America, Britain, South Africa and other countries every day. Members of the foreign media have come here to see what they are doing and the attention of the world is at present directed to us in Yauri.”

He said before the issue that made the world to focus its attention on Yauri, the youth group always gathered at Kantungu to argue over several reasonable issues. “And many of them are educated. Sometimes one or two of them would travel out of Yauri to find out what they were arguing about. When they started counting the number of grains in a 100kg bag, at first some people thought they were not serious, saying it amounted to a waste of time, but we saw their quest to find out things that are not known to people as a great achievement,” Garba added.

The community leader further said the action of the group could lead to the discovery of more important things because only knowledgeable people can do a thing like this. “This is why we are giving our support to them. When people heard about what the boys are doing they came here on a daily basis from near and far to appreciate them. Those who thought the boys didn’t know what they were doing are mistaking. It is because they don’t know them. All of them are educated and gainfully employed. Some of them have two or three other personal businesses. They have medical doctors, lecturers and businessmen among them. They do the counting whenever they are free from their respective offices and business places. They usually gathered here from 4pm to start the counting and close by 6 or 7pm every day. This is not the first time they are doing things that could pass knowledge to others. I will advise other youths to engage in what others can benefit from, such as the one these boys are doing now.”

Another member of the group, Buhari Labbo, Sarkin Yaki Yauri, said, “We never knew we could do this, but when we started, we said we must finish it. You can see that it has brought attention to us and our community from countries of the world.”