Here in Azuba, cassava is our lifeline: Residents cry for assistance

GODWIN ENNA, who was in Azuba central area of Nasarawa State, discovered that a vision which started about 30 years ago is now a big business employing almost a thousand workers even without government assistance.

 

THOUGH the rate of unemployment in Nigeria today stands at 23.1 per cent and still rising, some residents of Azuba Central in Nasarawa State decided several years back that they were not going to remain idle even when many youths in the community who graduated from schools were waiting on government for white-collar jobs.

There in Azuba, cassava is the main crop which after harvest is processed into gari. It all started about 30 years ago when what is now known as Ato Sahara Cassava processing centre came into being as a dream of one Ato Sahara, then a young man who invested only N5,000 into the business which is now a million-naira gari processing business.

Today, Ato Sahara cassava processing centre has a workforce of about 1,000 people who are paid on a daily basis, with a capacity to engage more hands if investors show interest in the business.

“Honestly, I m happy with this business because it is from the same venture I built a house worth between N3 million and N4 million. I got married and have children. In fact, some of my children have even finished university education, all from the money I got from this work.

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“I really thank God. I started gari business with just N5,000, but today we have every cause to appreciate God, the people of Nasarawa  and Nigeria for the success thus far,” he said.

Sahara would advise unemployed people around the country to get something doing and stop waiting on government to provide jobs for them, noting that there are many areas of agriculture that could gainfully employ thousands of hands.

“Instead of waiting for government, they can get something doing and one day they could also become employers of labour and may not even be able to meet up with demands.

“I am telling you again, if the government of Nasarawa and Federal Government will support me today, I can employ an additional five hundred workers in this place,” he stated.

Stressing some of the challenges facing the business, Sahara said “our major problem is how to dispose the starchy waste water from the harvested cassava. You cans see for yourself how polluted the environment looks; this is not good for the environment.

“We also don’t have enough stores to keep the finished product before selling them to dealers.  We don’t have enough water here to wash the cassava; you know that water is very necessary in cassava processing. So, in essence we need a borehole here in order to have constant water supply.

“We are pleading with the government of Nasarawa State to support us in this business so that we can meaningfully contribute our quota to the economy of the state and country at large,” he pleaded.

It is not as if assistance was totally not forthcoming. After a long wait, help came from communication giant, MTN, when the company presented three power generators, bags of rice and noodles to encourage those working in the cottage factory.

“We’ve not seen anything from government of Nasarawa State. We think maybe government was not ready to listen to us because the governor always passes through this road and he sees us processing gari by the roadside and we always hail and wave to him. We don’t know how to explain our challenges to him.

“I want to assure you that if we can get support from either government or any individual, more people will be employed and we will expand this business.

“In this factory, we have about a thousand workers; that is without any support. Imagine having somebody aiding us with money and modern facilities, this place would have turned to a big factory in this state.

“But even at that we still thank God for the patronage since business men used to buy from us and take it to neighboring countries and some states like Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Lagos, Rivers, Delta, and others. But our concern is how we can have more support.

“Let me point out some of the areas we may need additional hands if things work out well for us; we need people in the fryer, jacking, grinding, washing and cassava peeling sections,” he said.

On his part, Mr. Amos Ato, who is also part of the business expressed satisfaction, saying it has been paying his bills and enabled him to send his children to school.

“I produce gari, akpu, starch, and animal feed from cassava and I enjoy doing this business because of the benefit it has given me. I am married with three children and it is from this cassava processing business that I take care of all my responsibilities.

“Even though we have not received much assistance from the either the government or any individual since we started I don’t let that discourage me. Instead, I remain focused and committed to my business,” he stated.

Ato further stated that cassava has several derivatives, adding that “from same cassava processing one can get animal feed and starch, which is mostly used in washing big men’s clothes. We all know how important starch is in a state like Lagos; it is indeed a good product for laundry business.”

Explaining cassava processing Ato said, “When we buy a pick-up load of cassava from farmers which usually costs around N17,000, we look for people to peel and wash thoroughly with enough clean water. We then put it inside a big container for few days to ferment and then we grind it and package it in sacks to de-water, which we refer to as jacking.

“One still needs to grind it for a second time to make the granule smaller before frying the substance and then spread in the sun to dry. A completely refined and well-packaged 50 kg bag of gari is sold for N9,000 now.

“The only time we do have scarcity of cassava is immediately after Christmas period, when some companies used to come and buy the product in trucks and take it to the north or outside the country. This always causes scarcity of the raw material.

“For now the product is available, but we don’t have enough money to buy, process and store. People used to come from Lafia town and parts of Plateau State, Kano and Abuja to buy.

In fact, even travelers passing through the major way always stop to buy gari from here.

“I want to call on the youth not to sit back at home waiting for government job. They should wake up and begin to do something that will help them survive in these hard times. There are many unlocked opportunities for them but they must be able to identify them and appropriately maximize them.

Helen, Sahara’s wife, while speaking with Arewa Live said she decided to join her husband in the business because it is their only source of survival and means of earning a living.

“I help my husband in the processing of gari. After frying it, I see to it that it is well-packaged in sacks and taken to the store,” she said.

Helen stated that though the job is strenuous, she derives satisfaction from it. “The work is difficult but I have no choice. Instead of staying idle, it is better to engage myself in this business, at least to earn a living,” she stated.