Bacita is an uncelebrated rural community in Kwara State. But it has contributed immensely to the growth and development of the country’s economy.
The town was famous for the Nigerian Sugar Company (NISUCO) located at Bacita in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The company, NISUCO began operations in 1964 as the first integrated sugar factory in Nigeria. It boasted great potential for economic and social growth, not only for Kwara State but also the entire country.
No doubt, the company was the backbone of the town where over 70 per cent of the houses in the area, including a primary school that has graduated countless prominent people are located.
The housing estates, even though some of them have become the worse for wear, are Patitunku now called Goshen Estate, Waziri Quarters, Sha’aba Quarters, Booth House, Guest House and others that have been either abandoned or decrepit.
Ahmed Umar, a resident who lives in one of the housing estates, said: “I can say almost everything in Bacita is about the sugar company.”
Umar, who relived his growing up experience in the land, also said: “I remember the great impact the company had on me and my siblings while we were growing up. I remember what I experienced, and comparing it to the state of things now, one may not be that wrong to say or assume that the area is mere shadow of itself.
Mrs. Victoria Aina, a former staff of the company who worked in the Accounts Department also narrated her experience.
She said: “My children attended NISUCO Staff School and they had the best set of teachers in the state. My children were taken and brought back home in their school buses. They are very intelligent because their foundation was solid.
“But it is so sad that the same school that produced intellectuals has died-out because of the collapse of the company, the privatisation and death of the person who established the sugar company.
“I heard the present owners are not interested in education. They claimed it will be a distraction and that the fund to run the school effectively is not available.” Saheed Olawale who had his primary education from the NISUCO Staff School and who now owns a video game shop said: “Because of the existence of the company, my siblings and I were able to attend the company’s staff school.
“Those who didn’t attend the school were always envious of those of us who did. But even among those who were being educated in the school, there was still class distinction and struggle. The children of directors were always conveyed to and from school in the school bus.
A trader at Varsity Junction also shared her experience on the then sugar company.
Mama Akeem, as she is fondly called, spoke about the alarm clock that alerted everybody in the town.
“I remember one does not need to own a clock because the factory’s alarm clock would always alert one about the time. If at all you missed anyone, be sure not to miss or hear the alarm once its 12 noon, 1:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m.
“The sound of the clock was so loud that it reached the unexpected distance. I really miss those days and I don’t mind having it the way it was or even better because life was a lot easier then. Business thrived well. But now, most people prefer to buy things on credit, and knowing their condition, you may not have the guts to keep on asking them to pay.”
Findings revealed that the major means of transportation then were the few cars owned by the company bosses and majority of the residents rode bicycles.
The roads were not tarred but there was no need to complain because the major things that made the company thick were not in lack.
The privatisation of public companies during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration brought an end to NISUCO, Bacita as it was sold by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) to a private investor, Josepdam Sugar Company, a division of Josepdam Group of Companies.
But calamity struck and what many who are indigenous to the communities described as the best step any government in the country had taken to revive the economy, suffered another setback.
The tragedy was the death, in a helicopter crash, of the chairperson of Josepdam Group of Companies, Mrs. Josephine Damilola Kuteyi at Ife-Odan in Osun State.
The town, which used to enjoy life, economic activities and education for its people is now populated by school drop-outs who prefer to acquire skills like tailoring, hair dressing and trading.
Most males have become conductors and drivers who convey market women to neighbouring towns like Share, Mokwa, Jebba, Bode-Sadu, Lafiagi, Patigi, Belle, Yelwa, Shonga and Ilorin to sell farm produce.
The females who drop out of school because of teenage pregnancy didn’t stop at the pregnancy, they automatically become married girls.
Mr. Godson Ekwe, a former staff of NISUCO lamented the low level of education in Bacita, claiming that the major occupations among the people are farming, driving, hair dressing and other forms of skill.
He said: “The highest educational qualification for the female youths is the secondary school certificate examination because they, most times, get pregnant and that ends their potential.
“The youth need attention as most of them are not inspired and empowered. Most of them don’t dream big because they don’t see beyond Bacita. They now see themselves as local champions. They need to be encouraged.”
These experiences do not indicate that the town is totally inert. It still experiences some flashes of vibrancy every market days as people from other areas come to the town to transact business, especially in farm produce.
The markets cannot be compared to some of the small markets in the cities because they have little or nothing interesting or special to offer city dwellers that go to the community on visits.
A chat with a senior management staff of the company, who does not want his name in print, revealed that the company will soon begin operation as there two foreign investors who are currently involved in the management of the moribund company. He explained that the investors are capable of reviving the company.
On the activities of the company in the past he said: “With the procurement of equipment such as steam turbine, electric motor, sand casting, foundry practice, sugar filtration, boilers, sugar melter, crystalliser, evaporators and evaporators’ heaters, we don’t regret buying it. Even until her death, our late chairman never showed any sign of regrets.
“As at 2011, we had 1,500 workers. But because of the death of our chairman, the workforce reduced by 70 per cent which impacted negatively on the company and the community.
“The demise of the chairman led to lack of employment as so many members of staff were laid off. It also led to low economic activities and relocation of many people.”
He explained that the factory was in perfect shape because they had refined sugar from Brazil for more than 10 months.
Contrary to the belief that reptiles have taken over the factory and that the equipment are in bad shape, the senior staff said: “We stopped refining basically because of lack of funds. All we do is refine sugar like Dangote and any other sugar companies. We don’t produce sugar for now.”
He further revealed that the initiative by the Federal Government for all sugar companies to embark on Backward Integrated Policy will help Josepdam to achieve its objective of going into full-scale sugar production which includes milling, refining and distribution of sugar and its by-products.
With the introduction of the policy, refining of sugar from the imported raw materials will be stopped and it will give room for the planting, harvesting, milling, processing and refining of sugar products to be done by indigenous sugar companies. This will put an end to the importation of raw materials from Brazil.
“Currently, only agriculture, administrative and factory departments are functional. In the field, skeletal works like irrigation of field and maintenance of canes on the field are ongoing. The factory is not producing because of stoppage of importation of raw sugar, but the equipment are in proper shape,” he said.
Continuing, our source said: “The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is looking at the possibility of putting back Sugar Company in healthy perspective by the involvement of foreign investors with expertise and finance. The investors will settle the debts and then become shareholders in the company.”
Speaking on when the company will become fully operational, he said: “It will take more than two years to get us back on track because we will start work from the field and it takes about eight to nine months for sugarcane to germinate.
“The process of getting Josepdam Company back on track is set and we hope that before the end of 2014, something tangible will be done because we want to take advantage of the new policy introduced by Federal Government.
“The policy is called Backward Integrated Policy and all the company needs is fund to kick-start. Once that is done, other sectors in the company will come alive and the needs of the people will be addressed.
“Roads will be constructed. The community and its environs will have better electricity supply, schools will be assisted and we would be able to perform our corporate social responsibil
He affirmed that the company has the capacity to employ not less than 7,000 workers when it starts full operation. This will extremely reduce the level of unemployment in the country.
Currently, people who constitute the working age in Bacita work in the Josepdam Sugar Company, Duraclean Company, Union Bank, Ogo Oluwa Hospital; St. Brendan’s Hospital or school teachers.
