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Scavengers make brisk biz as their perception differs

Those into scavenging business, popularly known as “mai bola,”  are making brisk business as peoples’ perceptions about them continues to differ. Why some people are…

Those into scavenging business, popularly known as “mai bola,”  are making brisk business as peoples’ perceptions about them continues to differ.

Why some people are of the  opinion that they deal in stolen goods, the scavengers insist that  business is for honest people.

Although many see it as an irritating job, those into it see it as one to make ends meet and also a source of livelihood for their families.

Aso Chronicle was at Mpape and Nyanyan-Gwandara where young men who have been using the business as a means of sustenance opened up on their success stories and the challenges they face.

The chairman, Mpape scavengers, Labaran Nasiru, said he has spent 13 years in the business and it remained his main source of livelihood.

He said the negative perception people have of scavengers is among the challenges affecting them. Though he admitted that such view from the public is as a result of what some few other scavengers of questionable characters do, adding that he has never been part of any shady deal.

“When a customer comes in with some goods to sell and my conscience perceives a negative impression on it, I always reject such goods because there are other scavengers who vandalize government and individual properties and then bring them to sell. Thankfully, I have never been engaged in any business of stolen goods and God willing, that would never happen,” he said.

Nasiru said if they suspected anyone with questionable character, the person is sent away immediately because he does not want his employees to constitute a nuisance in the society.

He added that he was motivated to join the business having been exposed to the profit making venture by some friends who were into it for years. 

He said they have ready market for their products in Lagos, Sabon Wuse and Kano, where people buy the scraps from them for melting and recycling.  

“I also have a boss who sells directly to the companies,” he said.

With about 50 people working with him, the father of two said, those that are interested in working at the site undergo training with the experts in the business before they start work. “The training also helps such person to be independent,” he said.

He said the workers are paid regularly based on the quantity and quality of scraps they bring daily, adding that the business is like that of a government institution where you have ranks and duties are assigned to each person.

“This business involves some planning because we don’t just do things for the sake of doing them. We operate like a government institution. Although I am the chairman here, I also have a boss who I report to and he has his own boss too. So, the higher the rank of a person, the bigger his profit would be during the course of the business,” he said.

The scraps are sold at different rates with each item weighed on a scale. The copper materials are the most expensive costing N1,100 per kg; the bronze costs about N700/kg while iron is the cheapest of them all going for N43/kg.

One of the workers at Mpape scavenging site, 19-year-old Abba Nasir, said he has been working at the site for five years and earns a modest income from the business. He said working there has helped built him in many ways. 

Abba whose highest qualification is SSCE, said he does not intend to go back to school because he does not want to work for any government agency. He  added that from his earnings,  he is able to feed himself, clothe and support his parents.

However, Elizabeth Thomas, a resident of Nyanyan Gwandara narrated her encounter with the scavengers.

“I brought out my solar rechargeable lamp to the sun for some energy, 10 minutes later, I came out and my lamp was nowhere to be found. I went looking for it and some children who were playing outside my compound said it was taken by a boy who came to pick things from the bin, when I confronted him I found my lamp.”

Bitrus Panpi said the reason these scavengers engage in such kind of work was due to the high rate of unemployment in the country. Most of them are doing that so they will be independent.

Nathaniel Agada said the scavengers were not threat to the society even though there were some bad eggs among them. He emphasized that they were looking for livelihood just like millions of other Nigerians.

“No doubt a handful of them are nuisance but a host of them are surviving through that,” he said.

Darlington Ifeanyi said his neighbour was a victim, he said they came patrolling his compound and they left with valuables. Due to the security challenges in the society they stopped them from plying their trade in that area.

 

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