Kasuwar Tsaye: Where business is conducted in fear

The wares mainly sold in this market include women wears, furniture and kitchen utensils. The mode of operation in the market involves women or men bringing used property for a subsidised price to the women that owned shops in the market, the market women would in turn sell them to buyers at a subsidised rates. […]

The wares mainly sold in this market include women wears, furniture and kitchen utensils. The mode of operation in the market involves women or men bringing used property for a subsidised price to the women that owned shops in the market, the market women would in turn sell them to buyers at a subsidised rates.

Apart from the second hand materials, new attires are also sold in the market also at a subsidised prices. That perhaps is the reason why some people are alleging that most of the wares sold in that market were stolen.

Debunking the allegation, however, the spokes woman of the brokers, who refused to disclose her name, said the business they were conducting was lawful because according to her, they were buying the materials, from people who were known, people who have no record of criminality. “Our business is a lawful business. We don’t buy stolen property as by alleged people,” she opined.

She added that before buying any material they would ensure that the seller is well known. His identity, his place of living and any other information that would be useful to them in case problem erupt later.

The middle aged woman observed that their business was a humanitarian service. “Our business is humanitarian service to the less privileged because most of these women that auctioned their property are compelled by necessity. Since not everyone is  notcomfortable with begging, they tacitly bring them to us and we buy from them,” she said.

Investigation by Pyramid Trust revealed that Kasuwar Tsaye (a market whose business is transacted while standing in a hurried and scared manner) business has been on for more than 30 years now. At first it was conducted around the Plaza cinema house opposite the famous Kano Kwari market but it was later relocated to Rimi market. In the past 15 years the business has been going on in the Rimi market.

Further investigation revealed that business is conducted solely by women and, interestingly, it brings the Igbo women, the Yoruba, the Nupe and the Hausa/Fulani together. According to their spokeswoman, some of the women are married women; others are divorcees while some are spinsters.

Another feature of the market is that even if you don’t have the capital to start the business, you are given a chance to participate and at the end of the day you go back home with some amount make your profit. The procedure they follow in allowing you participate is by collecting the cloth or whatever materials from brokers and then spread it out to buyers by adding your own gain on it. If you are lucky to have it sold, you just take out your gain and give back the remaining money.

Apart from auctioning, one can also come with an old material and then add a little money so that a new one would be given to one. In this way, a cloth that is sold at N5000 in the market is sold at N3000 or thereabout in the Kasuwar Tsaye. Perhaps, that is the reason why some people are alleging that the market is conducting an illegal business.

A startling revelation made by the women was that most of the new clothing materials sold in the market were taken to them by security operatives. They stated that the security agents used to collect the new material from traders on credit and since they were not in need of the clothes, they would bring it to the Kasuwar Tsaye and sell it at a price lower than how they had bought them on credit and they would use the money for some other things.

Another thing discovered by Pyramid Trust was the lack of unity among the traders. Despite their number, over a 100 women trades in the market, there is no single association that binds them together and no recognised leadership.

The women, however, expressed their readiness to work under one umbrella if government would come in and give them focus and assistance. “If the ministry of women affairs will come in and form an association for us, we will be highly grateful to them,” said their spokeswoman.

Their main problem in the market, as disclosed by the woman, was the indiscriminate arrest of their members by security agents. They alleged that any time there happened to be a report of some missing property, the security would storm the market and make arrest or seize their merchandise.

“This has been our main problem, though the indiscriminate arrest has reduced. Now they arrest only those caught with questionable materials,” she said.

The women have appealed to Kano State government to help them boost their business, saying most of the traders were the less privileged in the society. “Some of us are widows left with orphans, others are divorcees. We are all gathered here to get a means of surviving. We are not wayward women as alleged by some people,” according to them.

The number of women coming to the market to sell or buy is an indication that whether government likes it or not, there is the need for bringing sanity to the market.