Potiskum: Inside the home of trailer transport business
The unprecedented number of trailers in every nook and cranny of Potiskum in Yobe State leads one to assume that the town is a giant mechanical workshop. There are trailers by the roadsides, in front of and within large mechanical workshops. There are numerous workshops with trailers at various stages of construction, such that one […]
The unprecedented number of trailers in every nook and cranny of Potiskum in Yobe State leads one to assume that the town is a giant mechanical workshop. There are trailers by the roadsides, in front of and within large mechanical workshops.
There are numerous workshops with trailers at various stages of construction, such that one can assume that all the trailers plying Nigerian highways started their journeys from Potiskum. The town has been noted for being a home for many articulated vehicles used for long-distance travels and movement of goods across the country.
Owners of some of the trucks told Weekend Trust that trailer business thrives in Potiskum due to its strategic location as a major hub for cattle trade in West Africa. They said trucks from various parts of the world converged on the town to load or offload goods, making it an essential centre for commerce and transportation.
One of the owners of the biggest haulage companies in the town, Alhaji Abubakar Adamu Bazuwa, the managing director of Bazuwa Motors in Potiskum, told Weekend Trust that many businessmen in the town were influenced by originators of the business who thrived during their time.
‘‘I have been in this business for over 30 years. I inherited it from our father, Alhaji Adamu Bazuwa, a well-known merchant in both haulage and livestock business.
‘‘People like Alhaji Barau, Alhaji Yaro Gambo, Alhaji Hamza Dan-Agalam, Alhaji Isa Jajere and my father, Alhaji Adamu Bazuwa, were the backbone of these businesses. They combined farming, livestock rearing and haulage business to improve their income.
‘‘These people were farmers and businessmen: they grew groundnuts, beans, maize, sorghum and millet. During harvest they sold crops and kept the remaining ones at home for their families.
‘‘When they sold their harvested crops they bought rams and bulls at affordable prices in the livestock markets, fatten them with their harvested animal feeds, and sold them during Eid al-Kabir festivals. It is a lucrative business. They used to buy trucks and trailers with what they got from this business to improve their income.
‘‘Potiskum town is blessed with trading, farming and the rearing of livestock. These business originators and wealthy individuals became competitors among themselves and groomed their children and mentees to take over from them. As time went by, death and old age befell these mentors, their children, mentees and drivers who saved a lot and took over the business.
‘‘The good legacies they left behind have yielded positive results. Aside their children and mentees, many people have ventured into the business to earn a living. Right now, there are over 5,000 trailers and other trucks in Potiskum owned by Potiskum people.
‘‘I am into haulage business, selling trailers and other trucks. And I have a workshop where these vehicles are repaired when they are damaged. I have over 200 people working under me daily,’’ he said.
Another haulage businessman, Alhaji Yakubu Yunusa, said that initially, the merchants were buying the trucks and trailers purposely to transport their agricultural products and livestock to the southern part of the country before they discovered the lucrative part of the business.
‘‘Initially, these Potiskum businessmen were buying these trailers and trucks to transport their harvested crops and fattened rams and bulls to markets for profit-making, but as time went by, they realised that the business was lucrative, so they tapped into haulage.
‘‘One of the advantages of this town (Potiskum) is that we have the largest cattle market in West Africa, so merchants from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic are trooping into this town. If not because of insurgency, by now the story would have been different.
‘‘The foreign merchants who bought livestock and agricultural products from our market are taking advantage of the availability of the trucks to transport their goods to their countries. If one reckons with the economic importance of transporting goods from one part of Nigeria to another, then the importance of Potiskum to the economy is clear.
‘‘If you are following federal government roads and major cities, you will see that some trailers are loaded with vegetables, cattle, dried fish and grains, ready to head in all directions across Nigeria. Some trailers are loaded with onions, some with rice and some with scavengers. The majority of these trucks are from Potiskum, and the owners of these trailers are indigenes of this town.
Weekend Trust gathered that the business provides jobs for different categories of people; hence a lot of people in Potiskum rely on haulage business as their means of livelihood.
Alhaji Garba Alele (Gado-damasin Fika), who serves as the secretary of the Shippers Association, told our correspondent that each trailer provides jobs for different categories of people – from driver to mechanics.
‘‘Each trailer you see is providing jobs for more than 10 people, starting from drivers, their boys, truck washers, merchandisers, spare part sellers, panel beaters and other apprentices who depend on these trailers for livelihood.
‘‘We have a lot of youths who graduated from universities but are making fortunes through this business. Some of these graduates have built their own houses, got married and have luxury cars or motorcycles. Potiskum people rely so much on transportation, farming and rearing of animals to earn their livelihood.
‘‘When I was the chairman of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Potiskum Local Government branch, we had 3,800 registered members who owned trailers in Potiskum. It is important to know that there are people who own trailers but they are not NARTO members.
‘‘We also have over 2 million registered trucks/trailers and tippers in Potiskum plying Nigeria’s highways. Some people have fleets of between five and 100 trailers. Some people inherited their trucks from their parents when they passed away,” he said.
On women’s participation in the business, Alele said he had never seen a woman who owned a trailer or participated in the business due to the high price of the trucks.
‘‘Most of the women you see in this business inherited their trailers from their parents. When I was chairman we didn’t have a female that owned a trailer in the whole Potiskum.
‘‘Most of the originators of this business are not women; they are men. And up till now, the trailer business is owned by men. It seems that women are not attracted to it. I have more than five trucks currently,’’ he said.
Trailer owners are lamenting that the prices of trucks, bodies and diesel have affected the business badly, pushing many people to leave it and invest in other sectors.
Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad, one of the haulage businessmen, told Weekend Trust that apart from the prices of trucks, bodies and diesel, the dilapidated condition of roads also affects the business negatively.
‘‘One of the challenges we are facing is the skyrocketing price of these trucks. They are imported and the government is putting higher taxes on them.
‘‘A truck we used to buy at N3 million or N4 million during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, moved to N9 million and 12 million during the Buhari era; and now, we are buying a truck head at N35 million.
‘‘A fabricated trailer body we used to buy at N3 million to 4million now costs N22 million or N25 million. A new trailer and its body we used to own at a cost of N15 million is now N60 million.
‘‘The price of diesel per litre is N1,100. If a trailer carried goods from Potiskum to Kurmi, it would swallow 1,500 litres, and if you calculate the amount, it would give you almost N1.6 million,’’ Muhammad lamented.
How the business is creating jobs
Alhajin Officer, a trailer driver who has been in the business for 20 years, told our correspondent that he pays his bills through the business.
‘‘The truck was purchased by Oga Abdullahi (Officer), the chairman of the NURTW, Potiskum Local Government. This business has done everything for me. It pays my bills. I help my parents and families. Even my neighbours are enjoying it.
‘‘I drive my trailer to Mubi, Yola in Adamawa State. In the South, we enter Lagos, Rivers and Delta states. One of the pressing challenges we are facing is lack of good roads, especially in Niger State,’’ he said.
Another driver, Malam Ibrahim Bala Target, said truck owners and drivers were reviewing their contracts and payment terms and expenses to avoid disputes or misunderstanding.
‘‘Some truck owners pay the entitlements of drivers on percentage. For example, when you take goods worth N1 million as a driver, you have 10 per cent of the money. If there are issues in the vehicle, the owner will fix it with his money.
‘‘The business is not going as it used to be in previous times. I used to carry Dangote’s goods from Potiskum to Kano or Lagos, but now, he has bought his own trucks to carry his goods.
‘‘We don’t have industries in the North where raw materials and goods would be transported or delivered, unlike southern Nigeria, where there are numerous industries and factories.
‘‘Usually, we transport livestock and grains from northern markets to the South or some neighbouring countries like Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroon.
Also, soldiers are extorting N50,000 and sometimes N80,000 at some checkpoints, especially in the southern part of this country. If not because of these challenges, the business is very lucrative when compared to others,’’ he said.
Our correspondent who went round the town saw over 20 trailer body fabrication workshops that provide jobs to thousands of teeming youths of Potiskum.
One of the fabricators, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, said he had been in the business for over 30 years and it had been providing food on his table and his workers’ every day.
‘‘We used to fabricate 10 bodies of trailers within months because people are venturing into this business. We have consumers from Potiskum, Kano, Sokoto, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Benin.
‘‘I have over 400 people working under me, including students from various secondary schools, as well as graduates. We have numerous applications from people who want to work with us.
‘‘Some customers will purchase metals themselves and bring them to us for fabrication and we will charge them for labour. Others will give us money to buy the metals and have us create the trailer body for them.
‘‘The length of each locally made trailer body is 12 yards, which costs between N25 million and N30 million because fabrication materials are costly. The materials we use are mostly imported. And we buy them from Lagos, which makes them very expensive.
On women’s participation in the business, Alhaji Abdullahi said he had not seen them.
Alhaji Adamu Muhammad, who owns a workshop, told Weekend Trust that there are over 100 workshops that have employed and trained thousands of youths in Potiskum Local Government.
‘‘I have been in this business for 22 years. And we have 107 registered staff working in this workshop daily. We have customers from Ghana, Cameroon and Benin Republic who come here to repair their trucks.
‘‘There are over 120 workshops in Potiskum that employ people, mostly youths. In short, this sector of mechanics has a workforce of over 30,000 in Potiskum Local Government,’’ he said.
Weekend Trust reports that the Yobe State Government is constructing a Truck Transit Park in Potiskum to revolutionise the growing business in the town.
The Potiskum Truck Transit Park consists of, amongst other things, the provision of a mechanic workshop, fuel stations, hotels and shops, as well as roads, drainages, parking lots, firefighting stations, police outposts, mosques and recreation centres.
The project will accommodate over 7,000 trucks and provide 5,000 direct jobs when completed, as well as revolutionise the growing trucking business in Potiskum and other parts of the state.