Eeking a living from sand excavation, job for the strong and courageous_ sand loader –
By prosper Okoye
Sand Excavation is a thriving economic enterprise in Benue State, for the myriad of people who are engaged in it.
Despite being a veritable source of livelihood, crude practitioners who dominate this business, say the gains derived are accompanied with great pain and challenges.
“Eking out a living from the manual extraction of sand, is not a job for someone who is not strong and courageous,” said 25 years old Sunday Peter, who is involved in the hustle of excavating and selling of sand from the North Bank area of River Benue.
Until he graduated in 2020, Peter said he was able to pay his tuition as an undergraduate student of Business Administration in the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and affords a sparse upkeep from the money he makes as a sand loader at the river bank.
“I will not say I have achieved so much from others who are in the business, since 2016 I started working here. Basically, I believe it is because I paid my school fees, and bought books and other lecture materials I used as an undergraduate,” he said.
The reward system in the business is structured in a strict way that ensures the people who engage in it remain in a particular level.
Peter shared that in the job, “we that load the tipper trucks are paid N200 naira or N250, depending on the size of the truck. Somedays we are owed, because the tipper drivers do not pay for the sand ordered for. Even when we are paid, It is barely enough to feed properly or even to save, from a day’s wage.”
As he threw up sand into a tipper truck that was being loaded, Peter said he preferred livestock and crop farming, to his present job
“I am a farmer. If I can raise enough money, I will go into large scale mechanized farming. This will be a lot easier and more profitable as we do not have enough food in our country.”
Sand business at the river bank is organized into upstream and downstream activities, and supervised by the Landlords.
In the down stream sector, are young adults and children who sail on canoes, to areas of the river where they can dig and scoop out sand, with their iron buckets and shovels.
One of them is 12 years old Terhile. He works among other young adults, in the down stream section.
“I want to give mama plenty money,” Terhile mumbled with a smile.
“Look at my mama there!” He screamed in excitement, pointing at a woman that looks advanced in age and sells fried bons and drinks at the river bank.
Terhile attends primary school, but hasn’t resumed for the new term. He said he is not afraid to go with the canoe to extract sand from the river to the shore, because he can swim.
The upstream sector is comprised of the Sand Shifters, Sand Loaders, Road Creators, Truck Drivers and Boat Owners.
The business in the river bank may not be adequate for some, but works just fine for others. Abbib Abubakar is one.
According to Abbib Abubakar; a 27 years old sand shifter, the sand shifters are paid N200 for every truck that is loaded. On average, he earns as much as N600 to N1,000, depending on the amount of trucks he is able to load in a day.
Abbib’s Father is from Kano state, while his Mother is from kaduna. But he has lived his whole life at the bank of the Benue river.
“I am a son of this river, and I have been working here from my childhood,” he said.
Speaking on how he gets the strength to work, Abbib said, “If I don’t take Luam (turning food in Tiv language), I cannot do this work. I take smoke and take some drug after work to chill; not for energy to work.”
Abbib spoke of how he cannot work in any other place, aside the river bank and his aspirations to”make enough money to buy tipper trucks and boats, so I can be like these our ‘Ogas’ who make money, whether they come to the river or not.”
The experience at the river bank comes with extra costs as in the experience of a landlord, Simon Joseph.
Simon Joseph spoke on the numerous charges he is meant to pay. The landlord said that “all that the government do for us is to collect taxes. BIRS (Benue Internal Revenue System) will come to demand, Water Inland revenue will come to demand, the people from the mining ministry will also come to demand theirs.”
He also spoke about the environmental changes that have adversely affected the business’ profit margin.
“During the dry seasons in previous years, we did not have to use the boats to extract sand from the river, but now we have to pay these people to go into the river and dig sand, this is additional cost, which the tipper drivers have refused to pay,” Simon said.
One of the business people, while sharing his experience with inflation, gave his advice to the government on how to make things easier for his business.
Bello Bawa, who is a 48 years old truck driver, has patronized the sand sellers at the river bank for over 20 years.
With his business, he supports his family that is made up of four kids and his wife. And was able to see himself through school to post graduate level at the Nasarawa state University.
Bello decried the continual increment in running and maintaining his business, as he cited how “the tire [we] bought for N65,000 now sells for N135,000. Cost of diesel and double taxation are the challenges that [we] face in this business.”
He advised the government to assist through the regulation of the prices of Tipper truck parts, and reduction in the price of gasoline.
