One of my unforgettable moments since I started crushing stones was what happened to one of us here. It was like a dream; we were almost closing for the day when one of us said she wanted to look for some more stones to fill up her bag because she didn’t want to leave it half full. So, she went up and that was the end.
“Rocks rolled and fell on her. Usually, the big stones are mixed with sand and clay but she didn’t know that the weight of the stones was much. Because the supporting stones had been picked out already, the moment she bent to pick the stones, everything just rolled on her and she died on the spot.
“I was so afraid and different thoughts ran through my head. I wondered if that was the kind of risks we would be facing but we thank God, nothing like that has happened again,” Lami Monday, a lady in Jos, Plateau State, told Saturday Tribune during the week.
Many years ago, Lami decided to focus on stone crushing as her source of livelihood. After working at different construction sites, she realised that stone crushing brought her steady income than working on sites.
She found a place at Bauchi Ring Road, in Jos, Plateau State where she and other people, mostly women crushed stones for a living. She told Saturday Tribune that stone crushing has been of great help to her and her family and she can never look down on what she is doing because God had blessed her through that.
She said: “I started crushing rocks in the early 90s. I remember my second child was less than a year then, I think it was around 1994. I was working as a laborer on different construction sites but there were times that when I went out I wouldn’t get the days job so I would come here and crush some rocks and then continue working on sites whenever I was called.
“Then I realised that I made more money crushing stones than I did working at construction sites because there were times that I could go a week without being called to work on a site.That was when I decided to focus on stone crushing and since then the trade has been of great help to me and my family,” she said.
She revealed that if not for stone crushing, she wouldn’t have been able to send her children to primary school but now some of them have graduated from secondary school.
“If I look down on what I am doing, then I’ve looked down on God because this is my source of feeding, clothing and even my children’s school fees. They have not gone far, some of them are still in secondary school while others have graduated but I can’t afford to send them to the university to further their education. If not because of this thing I’m doing, I would not be able to send my children to even primary school.”
Lami said the land owners allowed them to crush stones from their plots to feed their families though they had some back and forth before they continued.
“We started crushing the stones just by ourselves without any permission from government but we eventually notified the local government and they even came here to see what we were doing and collected levies. We struggled at some point with the land owners because we picked the stones from their land but we reached an understanding and they allowed us to continue crushing for us to be able to feed,” she told Saturday Tribune.
Lami said stone crushing is not easy but she was thankful to God for protecting her from all the risks involved in the job.
“Stone crushing is not easy. Sometimes the stones would cut you. It could be mild or serious. It could be serious or mild but we thank God because He has been protecting us.
“I also worked as a labourer at construction sites but when you hear that your brother or sister is getting food somewhere you will run and go there to get the blessings too,”Laraba John, another stone crusher, said.
“I have been here for more than 20 years also and there are some people that have been crushing stones here for up to 40 years. When I came here, the benefits were more than what I got from the construction sites, I was making more money here and it was regular,” she stated.
Laraba added that though she was not able to send her children to any higher institution, they learnt vocational skills and they now had their own businesses.
“I was able to send my five children to school, too, just that I couldn’t afford to send them to any higher institution but I was able to send them to learn some skills all from what I made here. I would have loved that they further their education but since I couldn’t afford that, one of them is now a mechanic and the other one is a vulcaniser while my three daughters are married,” she said.
Though not a family business, however, their children also find stone crushing as a means to fend for themselves.
“One of my daughters is also crushing stones with me, she has her own stones even though she is working in a salon, she comes here to work to get some extra money for herself,” Lami said. Laraba’s grandson follows her to crush stones for himself as well.
The women said they separate the stones after crushing according to their use and when buyers come, they ensure that each of them sells at least a bag or two.
“The stones are in sizes, we crush the stones and then separate them accordingly for lintel, parapet and the rough tiny stones, then the dust sand.
Just as we arrange them, when a buyer comes to buy in bulk, we divide it among ourselves so that each of us will make sales, even if it is one bag or two,” they told Saturday Tribune.
The women said as they age, they would love to have other sources of income other than crushing stones because of the stress they are going through.
“Government once gave us a crushing machine but it is out of order already. I force myself to come here because if I don’t come I can’t feed or take care of my family. I don’t have strength again to keep crushing stones. If any assistance could come from government again, I would prefer capital to start a business, and get away from crushing stones,” Laraba said.
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