‘Villages’ in the heart of Abuja

A city with villages in its heart is indeed an intriguing feature, where settlements, the direct contrast of the evolving whole, are located. Among these are, Daki Biyu, Jahi and Gishiri.Opposite Utako Motor Park, popularly called ‘Jabi Park,’ commercial motorcycle riders (Okada men) loiter around. Behind them are a variety of large buildings still under […]

A city with villages in its heart is indeed an intriguing feature, where settlements, the direct contrast of the evolving whole, are located. Among these are, Daki Biyu, Jahi and Gishiri.
Opposite Utako Motor Park, popularly called ‘Jabi Park,’ commercial motorcycle riders (Okada men) loiter around. Behind them are a variety of large buildings still under construction. It is here that they meander with their passengers (because Abuja has for long banned their operations) to get to Daki Biyu, a settlement just about a kilometer away from Utako, a core part of Nigeria’s capital with an ultra-modern market, motor parks, thriving business environment and residential area with rents at cut-throat rates.
At Daki Biyu, there is a single government school under Universal Basic Education (UBE) while the rest are private primary schools. “We don’t have a secondary school here,” a resident, DamiloIshaku, reveals. However, a small distance away from the newly built primary school, there are privately-owned shanty schools.   
At the predominantly Gbagyi settlement, there are no drainages. Gutters run into the streets virtually everywhere with a stench that besieges the nostrils. Water vendors roam around, making brisk business. The houses are low, shanties given out for rent or lived in by their owners. But here, some have found a haven. “People don’t mind buying a land and building such structures here. They are fully aware the settlement is temporary,” a resident offers.
Houses are not as expensive as some in other parts of Abuja, although this is not surprising considering the impoverished environment. “A one room goes for N50, 000, one bedroom self-contained, N90, 000 to N100, 000, while a two bedroom flat, goes for over N100, 000,” Ishaku informs. But another resident says that a room without a bathroom and toilet goes for as low as N40, 000, adding that when he came to the settlement he was fortunate to have gotten a land to purchase at the rate of N150, 000.
A little away from the hustle and bustle around the village is a place dominated by open-air shacks with large pots steaming hot. This is where Faith Innocent fries her fish for sale. “One of the major occupations of people here is farming of cassava,” she says.
Leaving Daki Biyu, Jahi is located not far from Mabushi. The dirt road that leads one off the major road foretells what is to come. A slum, with features similar to the former, it is demarcated theoretically into Jahi One and Two by residents. Jahi One is the entrance from the major city road where tall buildings still cast their shadow. It is where apartments and flats, both privately owned and those rented out are situated. Houses are on the high side at this part of the settlement, ranging from “N180, 000 to N250, 000 and above for a one room self-contained and N350, 000 for a one bedroom apartment,” a resident reveals.
Unlike Daki Biyu, Jahi is larger with wider roads that could lead one into its remote parts, there lies Jahi Two, where a room goes for “as low as N100, 000,” says Benson Abarnami, another resident.
However, Jahi appears to be booming with commercial activities with businesses that include electronics shops, gift shops and so on. Also, it seems to have greater mixture of cultures with some ethnic groups having their village heads.   
Okada riders are familiar with each other across Jahi and Gishiri, another shanty probably worse than the other two. A ride from Jahi to this village does not take more than 15 minutes. The motorcycle riders maneuver the paths between stalls in Gishiri market with familiarity, while people, seated, simply move their feet away to allow them by. Gishiri is a settlement characterised by valleys with the look of a market operating in virtually every part. An interesting aspect of this place is its proximity to Mabushi, from its gateway from Jahi. Again, bursting out of the hustle and bustle brings one to a surprising view of nice buildings totally estranged from the village, creating a pathetic picture of poverty amidst comfort. But the reason for this is obvious. Mabushi is just at its edge with access to the Berger Junction and Jabi. Not far from this village are Maitama and Nicon Hilton.