Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku Three years ago, Audu dropped out of school. His parents who once lived together in Kaduna in a one-bedroom flat recently divorced. When they moved their separate ways, Audu opted to move in with his mother.
Based on that move, his father has refused to continue to pay his school fees. He was in junior secondary school when the divorce happened and therefore he had no choice but drop out of school. Now as the man of the house, Audu has taken to cutting hair to make a living.
He is 18. Audu’s barbing salon is located in a place called Agwanberiberi – villagers who do not want trouble. But to others the town is known as Agwanfulani, apparently because the Fulani tribe are the dominant people in that town.
On the day we met Audu, we heard some of his customers conversing in either Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa. His salon which is built with cement bags and bamboo sticks is strategically located just at the corner of the entrance to the town. It has a large mirror, and a second hand revolving chair.
Two other chairs are on the right side as you enter the barbing salon. He told us that in a day he makes up to ten thousand naira. Each hair he cuts is N500.
But Audu’s barbing salon is not the only building built with empty cement sacks and bamboo sticks or pieces of stick. As we walk along the only road leading into the heart of the town, we were to observe that almost all the ‘houses’ in that town are made with empty cement bags and sticks or any piece of strong polyethylene. Some of the Agwanberiberi people who spoke to us said that they settled in Agwanberiberi because there is nowhere else to go – like Sani who sells sand and granite by the side of the road.
‘We no fit pay for house in Abuja, and our work is here’, Sani told me. ‘So we just stay here with our family’. Agwanberiberi people are like Sani and Audu, who are in the age bracket of 18 and 45.
When Sani said that his work is ‘here’, he meant that he was among the workforce who served the city of Abuja and his immediate estate as bricklayers, builders, caterers, prostitutes, cleaners, maids, transporters and the like. If you visit Agwanberiberi in the mornings, you are likely to find only mechanics, food sellers POS people and women. All of the inhabitants would have gone to town to eke a living, and the children either would have gone to school or joined their parents in looking for daily bread.
But in the evenings from 6pm till dawn, the place is a vibe and a buzz of human activity. Those who want to look good for the following day often would visit Audu for a cut or a shave. They would walk from the untarred road through the narrow streets of mud and grass.
Music would blare from insides of the cement sack buildings, and the young ladies generally come out for a stroll. Life in Agwanberiberi is a mix. There are no schools, no hospitals and nothing to indicate that this is Abuja.
There is only one toilet in Agwanberiberi, and those who want to use it must pay N100 otherwise they stroll into the bush and do their business. One evening while taking a stroll through Agwanberiberi, a police van with armed personnel patrolled. They were greeted by some of the young men smoking by the corner.
None seemed to be on edge at the presence of the police van. We were to learn though that the police often came to ‘greet’ the Agwanberiberi people and would leave with monies often contributed by the youth leaders. Our inquiries concerning how the Agwanberiberi town sprang up in the very heart of Abuja met many brick walls.
A source within the community who initially said she would take us to the Seriki backed out at the last minute. According to her, if the Agwanberiberi people are afraid that the government may demolish their homes if their existence is known. ‘They would hold me and my family responsible.
I would suffer the consequences. We are happy the way we are here. If you can please tell them to provide a primary and secondary school, hospital and toilet facilities for us’, the source told me.
This investigation was unable to establish ownership of said land where the Agwanberiberi are settled. What is certain though is that the Agwanberiberi are hemmed in by well-built estates and residential buildings. It appears to be only a matter of time before they will be completely displaced.
Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria is a city of contrasts. Those who serve the high and mighty live in shackles inside the city, and side by side these rich and mighty in their beautiful homes..
