Jalingo, where men, women covert energy into livelihoods

The business of stone-crushing, particularly seen as a man’s turf because of its tasking nature, has attracted many youths, men and women who use their energy as means of livelihood in Taraba State. In Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, the business of stone-crushing has been going on for decades, especially after the creation of the […]

The business of stone-crushing, particularly seen as a man’s turf because of its tasking nature, has attracted many youths, men and women who use their energy as means of livelihood in Taraba State.

In Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, the business of stone-crushing has been going on for decades, especially after the creation of the state when massive construction sites for homes and offices began.

Weekend Trust findings show that there are hundreds of young men and women who engage in stone crushing and make good fortune on a daily basis.

It was gathered that the job does not require much capital – all it requires is good health, energy and strength of individuals venturing into the trade.

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“Any man or woman venturing into this business must be a young person with strength and energy. The working tools needed are a hammer and digger,” one of the stone crushers said. 

Rocks surrounding Jalingo and its environs not only give the town a beautiful scenery but offer a good source of income to hundreds of men and women that engage in stone crushing business.

Entering Jalingo town through Mayo Belwa and Numan roads, the sight of stone crushers welcomes a first-time visitor at the Lankabire area as the crushers can be seen with their tools diligently crushing stones from morning into the evening daily.

Inside the town, there are different locations where stone-crushing takes place on a daily basis and all through the year.

Some of the crushers work in groups of four. While some are less in number, others work as lone crushers, but all of them, our findings revealed, are making good fortune.

A female stone crusher, Madam Rebecca James, a mother of four children, told Weekend Trust that she was glad and fulfilled in her chosen trade because of the money she was making.

According to her, she buys big stones from men that crush rock into big seize and breaks them into smaller sizes and sells them to construction workers.

Madam James said she had been in the business of crushing stones for 12 years. From what she earns, she feeds her family and pays her children’s school fees and takes care of other daily needs of the family.

However, findings show that aside from the regular needed tools of a digger and hammer, stone crushers also buy firewood to set fire on top of the rock, which forces the rock to either crack or soften to give room for easy crushing.

Madam Juliana said those crushing rock into big seizes bought truck loads of firewood to use, noting that rock crushers spend part of their profits on firewood as a necessary tool for the business.

She said that most of the time they spent over N50,000 on firewood but  hardly got N10,000 worth of crushed stones at the end of the day.

“In any business, it is normal to get profit or loss. It is the same in the stone- crushing trade, but it is easy to recover because the rock is always available to crushers and at no price,” she said.

Bulus James, an elderly man, said he had been in the business for 20 years as his source of livelihood.

“Crushing stones is a trade that requires strength and energy because you have to hit the rock with your full power multiple times before you can break it to size.

“The business doesn’t require much capital but a few tools like hammer, digger and firewood. There are customers all the time; and that is why people who are not lazy and want to earn honest money are into it,” he explained. 

He said that from his earnings in this trade he built a small house where he stays with his family and pays school fees for his three children, with one of them in the university.

He noted that he started the stone-crushing trade with two other men and they have remained in the business.

On how much they earn, he said, “Sometimes, at the end of the day we go home with over N14,000 after selling crushed stones.”

Musa Ibrahim, who owns a tipper truck in Jalingo, told Weekend Trust that construction workers always place orders for stones and buy from crushers at an agreed price.

According to him, over the years he buys tipper-loads of stones from crushers at the rate of N40,000 and sells between N55,000 and N65,000. He noted that the price rose to N130,000 and N150,000, explaining that the price depends on quality and when construction works are ongoing, especially when the government awards many contracts.

He added that middlemen who buy from crushers and sell to construction workers also benefit from the trade.

 Moses Anthony said he had been crushing stones since he was in primary school and supplying construction workers large quantities of stones on a daily basis.

Now in his thirties, he has been in the business for 15 years. Although a mason, Anthony still has an ambition of becoming a graduate one day if he is able to gain admission into any of the higher institutions in the country. His major challenge is money; hence he has been compelled to remain in the stone-crushing business.

“Sometimes l earn N100,000 or more, depending on the amount of big stones l crushed daily.

“I also crush a portion of stones for women and charge between N40,000 and N50,000,” he said, adding that he starts work as early as 6am and closes about 6.20pm daily.

According to him, stone crushing is good business because of construction works going on in many parts of Jalingo and neighbouring towns. And most construction workers building houses, offices and other buildings rely more on stone crushers because the only quarry owned by the Taraba State Government supplies its products to big companies and those handling road construction and big construction works.

He said that currently, a tipper-load of crushed stones is sold between N130,000 tand N150,000. And recently, there was an increase in demand in Jalingo because of the number of construction works by individuals, especially politicians.

Anthony noted that in Jalingo town and environs, hundreds of residents are earning a living from crushing stones.

It was learnt that many people in the business do not pay any form of tax.

David Kawo, a stone crusher also said, “As you can see, we do not use any equipment or machine to crush stones. We are among the few Nigerians that actually earn income through hard work and dedication.”

He noted that a lazy person or those that want to make easy money would not be able to do their kind of business, explaining that they face many challenges, including health.

Noting that the business is largely unorganised, he said there’s the need for the government and its agencies, especially the National Directorate of Employment, to come in and train stone crushers in a modern way of doing the business and provide them with soft loans to buy modern tools. 

He explained that if crushers were organised in groups and provided with loans to buy small crushing machines, they would make more income and create more jobs for unemployed youths.

Dauda Abubakar, a construction worker, said that given the availability of rocks in Taraba State, if crushing companies were set up at different locations and stone crushers organised and assisted to set up small businesses, the state would generate more revenue and provide employment for the teaming unemployed youth as many big construction companies would source their stones from the state.