Basket making: An ancient craft that refuses to die
……makes Nsukka Enugu and Ihiala people millionaires
Like crude oil or black gold as it is popularly known, everything that comes out of palm tree is used for one important thing or the other. In fact, there is a popular Igbo adage that has it that nothing that comes out of palm tree is totally a waste, it is either recycled or used for another vital thing.
So, from the root of the palm tree to the palm fronts, they are being used for one particular important thing or the other.
One of such bye products of palm trees is basket..
Even with the social stratification attached with those who engage in this craft, the art and skills remain one of the biggest employers of labour particularly in Nsukka and Ihiala.
Basket makers in Nsukka
The skills has remained alternative means of livelihood for those who cannot get white collar job. It was revealed that baskets are of different sizes for different types of uses. Usually the one for conveying tomatoes from Northern Nigeria is the biggest size.
Report disclosed that contrary to the popular opinion that it was for school leavers, graduates also go into the basketry while waiting for the better job opportunity.
One of the basket makers Samuel Eze said that he has been in basketry for more than fifteen years.
He said, “I have been in this basket making for fifteen years now. Before now, all the basket makers in the village converged in one centre to make their baskets. They shared everything together. But today, it is no longer like that. Each and everyone of us now has a centre where we make our individual baskets. This is because many customers now come from far away Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and other far Northern Nigeria for the product and we have to meet up with their demand.”
Asked how many baskets he can make in a day, the 62 year old grand father said that he can make more than ten baskets every day if the materials are available.
“If I have all the materials available, I can make more than ten baskets a day.”
On the process of getting the materials for basket making Eze said that” you know it is a hard work and you have to climb the palm trees to cut down palm fronts, process the raw materials before you can start making the baskets. The one I make is used to carry tomatoes down from Jos Kaduna, Kano, Gombe and other northern states where tomatoes are being cultivated in a very large commercial quantities. Though the materials are available, nobody owns the palm trees as far as getting the raw materials is concerned. One thing about palm trees is nothing from the tree is a waste. Each time we get the palm fronts, we get another bye-product like broom which is also another source of income to our children or women who process it.”
On the lucrativeness of the basketry, Mr. Eze told our reporter that ” the price of basket is very poor. Each one is currently being sold at N200. Though the price fluctuates, the highest price you can get is N250 especially from June each year. This is because the months of April, May and June each year are the peak of the basket making. This is because these are the months when tomatoes are being transported with baskets from Northern states to other parts.
Asked what he has achieved with basket making since more than a decade he has being in the art, he explained that ” before I started making baskets, I didn’t have any house of my own. I didn’t build any house. But you can see four rooms apartment in my compound now. I built it with the proceeds I got from basket making. Apart from that, I have also bought motorbike which we are using today with what I realized from basket making. I have also trained my children in secondary schools with basket making. So, I have been able to make remarkable achievement with basketry.”
On how the skill is being learnt, he explained that earlier before now, some little amount was charged on the apprentice.
“But today, there is no such fee. Any one who wishes to acquire the skill just approaches any of the basket makers and he will be taught the art free of charge.”
Another basket maker, Jonathan Ugwu also from Orba said that he started making basket when he was in secondary school.
” I started making baskets when I was in secondary school. My focus now is that after making the baskets for the next three years, I will save some money and use it to establish small business. ”
The 23 years old Ugwu said that since he can make at least fifteen baskets a day, he can as well save over one hundred thousand naira from basketry every year and this will help him set up small scale business to compliment what he’s getting from the basket.
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