Nigeria’s goldsmiths

There are a good number of goldsmiths in the market, and it is easy to miss them if you are not observant. They dress simply, look ordinary and eat common every day meals. In a society which is fond of gaudy externals, it is quite possible for one to miss seeing them.  But the men […]

There are a good number of goldsmiths in the market, and it is easy to miss them if you are not observant. They dress simply, look ordinary and eat common every day meals. In a society which is fond of gaudy externals, it is quite possible for one to miss seeing them.  But the men are there, a skilled  patient group they are, and keep up a gentle chatter as they await the next client. When the client turns up,he is attended to promptly, and with all the normal courtesies extended. Then follows a  little debate over the price. You may be asked to return in 15 minutes, if you had taken a silver chain for cleaning. The freshly washed chain glows in the early evening sunlight when it is returned.
The goldsmiths do not occupy any large or imposing shop, but they are content with a little space in a corner of the general thoroughfare within Wuse market, from which simple setting they restore a special glow to jewellery which have turned  dull. The power of their art entitles them to  a huge space in the hearts  of their clients. The little physical space they occupy in the market is not the very significant point about them. Every day, they bring a shine into people’s lives through their mastery of the art of polishing, repairing, cleaning and the making of brand new rings. They have an association, appropriately named the Abuja Goldsmiths association. Women make up a large percentage of their customers. But jewellery would need cleaning after a period of regular use, and the men are assured of a continuing flow of customers.
The turn of events means that the goldsmith may be called upon to save an individual from great pain. Isa Tiki is the Chairman of the Goldsmiths in Wuse market, and the first Hausa man from Nigeria to be involved in the trade in the market. At present there is a  high number of nationals from other West African nations engaged in the business.
He recalls  “There were ten different occasions when medical doctors at a big popular hospital in Abuja were not able to remove a ring which had become stuck on  the finger of a patient. They usually refer such patients to me here, and without injuring the patient who is usually in great pain,  I will remove the ring from the finger, with the aid of one of my machines here. I have done this many times. At the hospital they don’t have the machine to remove the ring. Sometimes, staff of the hospital used to come here and take me to the hospital to remove the ring from the finger of a patient.”
Isa Tiki explains that the goldsmiths trade is facing a number of challenges today. One of these is the fact that “Most of the items used in their work are obtained from Cotonou, Niger republic as well as from Dubai. This makes the  prices for our items or for work done, very expensive. Even chemicals that we use are not available locally.”
Everything they use is imported, and there is no support from the federal government, he says “For this reason it is a very expensive business. Most of our items are very costly, because we don’t have the tools or chemicals available in Nigeria.”
He explains that the goldsmiths in the market carry out a whole range of activities, which include the “making of wedding and engagement rings,or the fashioning of new rings. We also make Niger Delta buttons,cuff links, gold or silver pedants, earrings, chains and bangles.”
He adds that “any damage to the jewelry can also be repaired by the goldsmiths, implying that there is  always a lot of work for the men at the market.”
I can produce a wedding ring in one day, or a set of 3 in a day, he tells Daily Trust, adding “This can cost up to 70,000 Naira.” A good number of their customers travel from Port Harcourt and other cities in Eastern Nigeria. “They come either to repair their jewelleries, or to make new ones.”

But there are many challenges facing the trade. He comments on these “The first relates to the police, in the sense that most of the gold we use  are fairly used. If a woman has her own gold,and she wishes to sell, she can bring this to you, for you to now melt and  make another one.But most of this  gold don’t have receipts, and if she does not produce a receipt,later on a problem may arise if it is seen that she actually took the gold of a friend of hers and presented same as belonging to her. That’s one challenge we face which often involves the police.”
To check this problem, he says “The union members are not allowed to buy used gold from a man, because most of the gold comes from women. If  a man brings gold, then he is asked to produce the receipt, or to show where he bought it. If a woman does not have a receipt,then we will question her, and measure the gold and fix a price.”
He now turns to other challenges facing the business “Since we began this business, government has not even helped us for one day, that is, to help us with tools and the materials to do the work. The government can support us by buying tools and providing a place where  we can do our work in the market. We prefer a  central place, perhaps made with canopies,where we can gather and do the  work.”
He says that Nigerians were not keen on the trade  of the goldsmith initially, and this explains why there are few Nigerians engaged in it. Rather, there is a great presence of  skilled men from Chad and Niger Republic in the business. He adds “In the past people will travel to Dubai to do repairs on their bangles, jewellery and diamonds.” The situation today is changing, he adds with more Nigerians becoming involved in the trade.
The Boko Haram insurgency affects the trade, in the sense that many of the patrons in Nigeria’s South East are afraid to travel up north, he explains.  According to him “Before the Boko Haram insurgency, I  could make up to 50,000 Naira each day. But today, I can only make 15,000 Naira on a good day. The business has slumped a bit.” He returns to the theme of governments lack of interest in gold “We have gold in many places such as Lokoja, Nasarawa, Jos, Zamfara, Niger and Kaduna states, but I am not sure the government is interested in it.”
Lamenting the large scale excavation of gold by illegal miners, he adds “ordinary people come into Nigeria, excavate gold and take same out of the country to sell.This has been going on for more than 20 years. The miners can settle in a place and mine gold for 3 years, and they will end up with up to 40 million naira worth of gold. But they don’t have machines to work,and they use their hands. If the men had machines, they will be able to dig out gold worth a million Naira in a day. If the  government can intervene and support with machines, this will certainly turn around the business. If I had support here in the market, I will be able to train 50 persons each year, and this is significant for the trade.”

There are some goldsmiths who never had  any training among the group of smiths in the market. He says they are easily identified “because they always take work brought to them to another, who will then carry out the repair or do what is needed. It’s because we realise that they are looking for food to eat that we wont chase them out of the market.” He explains that the original goldsmiths in Nigeria were to be found among the Yoruba. Then the interest spread to other groups within the country. On the character of the trade today,  he says “But most of the  work is old fashioned, but we do ours with the new technology. Isa Tiki speaks of having given training to a goldsmith from  Enugu for a period of 2 weeks on one occasion. This shows that there is a system of mentoring among the goldsmiths. Next, he shows that there are two types of goldsmiths in the country today. “Those who use new technology which includes   chemicals and machines, who can be found in Lagos, Kano and Abuja. Then, the second type of smiths are those who use their hands, blow a pipe and roll a wheel in the course of their work. These are the  large percentage  of goldsmiths in the country today.”
Finally, Isa Tiki states that a  great percentage of the customers are Christians. This seemed to show that the quiet goldsmith is busy holding  Nigeria together, as he gently lifts his tools  and   begins to melt the gold, slowly  forming another elegant  masterpiece before his patient eyes.