By Ali Rabiu Ali, Dutse
Some people in Dutse, thr Jigawa state capital are earning Livelihood from stone crushing business.
Dutse is a Rocky town with many youths and the elderly people resorting to crushing the rocks which they sale as building material.
In Takur and Galadanci areas the rock crushers turn the stone to gravels and sell a portion at the cost of eight thousand naira (80, 000) and above.
A local stone crusher, Basiru Isah said he learned the job under his father when he was just 9 years old.
From the proceeds of the business, Isa said he built his personal house and got Married to his wife.
” We are making something out of this business, we thank God.
If one can endure, the business will take care of his needs and even assist other,” said Isa.
When asked if he can abandon the business for a government’s job, Isa said he cannot do a job that one gets paid at the end of the month because he is earning everyday and cannot wait till Month’s end before his salary is paid to cater for his family.
According to him, for more than 10 years he spent in the business he meets his basic needs as a poor person.
He said about 70 workers relied on the business for their livelihood.
Counting the challenges they are facing, Isa said some people do not value their work and therefore see their handiwork as not something worth doing.
He listed lack of modern working tools to break the rocks easily as a challenge, calling on the government to assist them by providing modern tools for them in order to improve the quality of their work.
In another rock crushing site at Galadanchi, the business is also thriving as many workers were busy crushing the rocks which attracts buyers for them.
The type of crushed rocks produced at Galadanchi is blackish that is usually used by builders not only in Jigawa but many Nigerian cities .
Zubairu Abdu a 70 year-old stone crusher said he has been in the business in Dutse since during the time of Audu Bako as military governor of old Kano state.
Abdu said he spent about 60 years in the business and he is proud of his job as he relied on it to support his family.
And like Isa the only challenge for Abdu is lack of modern tools that will make it easy to crush the rocks without using so much energy.
Abdu then called on the government to look into their business with a view to supporting them with working tools to facilitate the work.
A 42 year-old Amadu Usaini said the challenges they are facing had to do with the current hardship as people hardly patronize them these days.
Usaini said sometimes a week will pass without having a single customer coming to buy the crushed rocks keeping them waiting them by the road side.
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He however, said from the proceeds of the business he is supporting wife and 7 children.
He wants government to help address the current hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
Though Jigawa state is counted among the poorest states in the country, many believe its potentials in farming, handcraft works among others if properly harnessed can propel it to greatness.
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