Is the Kola Trade Collapsing?
According to the Kano Chronicle “Sarkin Nupe sent forty eunuchs and ten thousand Kolas to her (Queen Amina of Zazzau). In her time the whole of the products of the West were brought to Hausaland.” This gives the reader an idea of the place of Kola in early society’s within the Nigerian region. Kola nuts […]
According to the Kano Chronicle “Sarkin Nupe sent forty eunuchs and ten thousand Kolas to her (Queen Amina of Zazzau). In her time the whole of the products of the West were brought to Hausaland.” This gives the reader an idea of the place of Kola in early society’s within the Nigerian region. Kola nuts also feature at weddings, naming ceremonies, and much else. They were even offered as gifts when an individual visited another, and have become a vital part of social relations. The Igbo also eulogise the nut by saying “He who brings Kola brings life.” Once upon a time horses laden with Kola nuts sourced from Sagamu in Ogun state would also leave for Saudi Arabia through Sudan. It was a huge caravan of merchants and there were resting points along the way, and Nigerian communities soon emerged along the route. Then a journey across the Red Sea would see them into the Holy Land. At a point merchants would arrive the town, buy huge amounts of Kola nut and fly planeloads of same to Saudi Arabia where there are countless patrons of the nut. There was also a time when trailer loads of Kola nut would leave for northern Nigeria several times a week. It was a golden age and the trade in Kola nuts created numerous millionaires of both sexes. It also released markets, middlemen and kola merchants in many parts of the South-West. The Kola trade drew Hausa merchants and clerics to Sagamu, and the community soon began to swell. Many Kola traders built numerous houses in Sagamu, and they were able to send their children to places such as the United Kingdom to study. The markets popularity grew in leaps and bounds. In Sagamu the Kola trade is largely a woman’s business and this is very obvious when you arrive the market.
Slow Collapse
But all that has changed now, for trade has slumped in recent times, and baskets are not as full as they once were. We may be witnessing the slow collapse of this age old – activity which created powerful trading and cultural ties between northern and southern Nigeria. The traders are kept alive by the sweet memories of yesteryears, and they smile or frown in child- like fashion, as they recall those early days.
Alhaja Sinatu, the Iya-Alaje of Akarigbo market tells Sunday Trust that cement dust which issues from a nearby factory has affected the Kola nut crop which is grown massively in the neighbourhood. Her words “Cement dust has spoilt everything. The Kola plants are not producing as much as they used to, and this is because of the cement dust. Around November which is the dry season, the children would not be able to play outside their houses because the cement dust would be blown around, settling on their faces and their eyes. At night too we cannot open our windows for fear of the dust. It, too, has affected the Kola crop seriously.” Cement dust has also had a negative impact on Paw Paw, and Plantain crops in the locality, and has also polluted the water sources for the people, she adds. Alhaja Falilat Awolaja Apelogun is the Leader of the Kolanut sellers in the Sabo market. Speaking along the same lines, she says “The dust from the cement plant has killed the Kolanut plant in the bushes. ‘A source at the nearby state hospital adds “As a result of inhaling cement dust 70% of our patients have heart problems.”
Boko Haram
Yunusa Ya’u, a Kola nut trader says that sometimes lorries come from the north laden with goods, but they don’t have any load or much Kola from Sagamu to take back. This, he adds, is a big problem. He says his father had been a big Kola trader in Sagamu many years ago.’When he passed on, I took over. This was twenty years ago. He comments “Kola trade has produced many rich men among the Hausas. People buy and take planeloads of Kola to Saudi Arabia, and many still do this today. But the numbers purchased have dropped significantly.” He speaks of a section of a market which once had many traders whose duty was to source vast amounts of Kola for movement to Saudi Arabia. He says that now there are just two traders left in the market doing business with Saudi Arabia. This, he implies, is a great departure from the past, and is a sign of a marked decline in the trade. Boko Haram is another factor in the decline, he says.His words “Boko Haram has also affected the business. For instance, in places like Kano state, people who live in the villages cannot travel up to Kano because they are not sure of the security situation around the capital. This is becoming a big problem to us because there are lots of Kolanuts still unsold over there. Formerly, we used to load a large trailer twice a week going from Sagamu to Kano. But today, we load a J5 car twice a week for the trip up north, and we now do this with difficulty. So the trade has actually slumped.” According to him many Hausas have fled Sagamu for fear that reprisals may occur in the town, as a reaction to Boko Haram attacks in the north.
New Housing Projects
Alhaja Ejimoh is the Iyalode of Akarigbo market. She agrees that a great change has come upon the Kola trade .She says that new housing projects have had a negative impact on the Kola crop. Her words “Some of the Kola crop have been destroyed to allow for the construction of houses.Some lands have been seized and used for the construction of houses by the government. This is affecting the trade negatively.” Mrs Sikiratu Olowosago also presents more reasons that explain the decline in the Kola trade. She says “Lack of finance is a problem, and there is nobody to support the farmers. The distance from their houses to the farms is great, and so these farmers need some support.” She also refers to the “indiscriminate sale of land by the government. This is land fertile enough for the cultivation of Kola nuts, or which had previously been used to grow the nuts.But these have been sold by the government and the land available for the cultivation of Kola nuts has therefore shrunk.” In her view the crop no longer grows according to its seasonal pattern. Her words “The Kola nut crop has seasons. But at times these days it will not come as expected. This is strange and is becoming a big problem today for our business.”
Changing Seasons
A trader speaks on what the harvest season was like many years ago. Her words “When we were harvesting Kola nuts we would be doing so in the farm for more than a week, and we will be packing the seeds for more than a month. Now, most of those Kola nuts have already died off. So, there is very little to pack.” She too speaks of a change in the seasonal pattern of the crop. Her words “If you a plant a Kolanut, it germinates to the point of harvest in five years, after this every four to five months, it yields another fruit. But now there is no regular time for its harvest. We cannot predict the harvest today, sometimes no nuts emerge.” She speaks of the impending collapse of the business .Her words ‘If it continues like this there will be a total collapse in the trade. Only few people are bold enough to sell the product.If it continues like this, it will vanish’.
New Interests
Taiwo Joseph, a graduate of MASS Communications, comments on the new face of the Kola trade. He says that “the money to pay for cutting huge swathes of grass by villagers is not there, and the people to do the business are not even present.The present Kola traders and farmers have no one to hand over to, and nobody is willing to farm these days.” One generation cannot hand over to the next, because those to receive the baton, so to speak, are engaged in other activities and interests. He also informs Sunday Trust that as a result of the cement dust “50 hectares of land at Ode Lemo have perished.” Abdullahi Mohammed adds “each day in the past about 100 trucks would leave Sagamu, but today it takes up to one week before we can load a truck.” The picture gets worse. Another trader adds “people buying Kola in large quantities are no longer coming here, and the crisis in the north is affecting the trade. The past was much better than the present, but the present is a very difficult time.” She adds that formerly Hausa traders would besiege Sagamu in great numbers seeking Kola to purchase. “They would even be fighting each other over it. The story is different today. If it continues this way, even the few Hausa that are here, would leave the town before we know what is happening. The kola trade may collapse.”