With the closure of the Nigeria Coal Corporation, Enugu, in 2005 by the Federal Government, the coal workers have been bemoaning this unfortunate development. Not only that they were made to lose their means of livelihood, they have also lost the glow and beauty of their once enviable residential quarters. Edozie Udeze who visited the quarters in Enugu, writes on the state of the places and why the workers now feel cheated, hopeless and sad.
THE Enugu Coal Camp was a place every one wanted to be. Not anymore. It was a place where economic and social lives boomed in Enugu, the capital of the then Eastern Region. The camp was deliberately planned and built by the colonial masters to house coal miners. The camp had well trimmed flowers and beautiful lawns, it was the centre of attraction for most Igbo elites. The idyllic life of the camp is captured in Cyprian Ekwensi’s novel Coal Camp.
It was through Ekwensi, Nigeria’s foremost urban novelist that most people had a peep into the beauty of the coal camp and how the boys who grew up there were feared and respected throughout Enugu and the then East. “People used to have fun to their fill”, Ekwensi wrote on one of the opening pages, “because life started and ended at the coal camp where workers spent money as they liked.”
That was years ago. Things have since changed. The Coal Camp has since become a relic of the past, a past many still dream about while many more wished to forget.
At its peak in the 1920s through 1960s, coal was one of the economic mainstays of the Nigerian economy. The colonial government had then built what it called colliery quarters within the coal camp for its teeming workers to make them comfortable and also enable them report for duty early. At inception these quarters located at Iva Valley and Coal Camp were properly built with well laid lawns and path ways.
Living in the past
However, with time and as Nigeria discarded coal for oil, the conditions both at the coal mines and the residential quarters began to decline. By the time the coal corporation was finally declared economically moribund in 1999 by the Obasanjo administration, the centre could no longer hold. The level of deterioration of most facilities and social infrastructures had gone beyond human comprehension. Today, the colliery quarters in Enugu are no go areas in terms of beauty and suitability for human habitation.
Inspite of its horrible sanitary situation, people still live in those quarters. The mud blocks used in building the houses have begun to crack while some may cave in soon. At the moment, the football field has been turned into a mechanic workshop while some of the available spaces have become market stalls and motor parks. All these have disfigured the once opulent and beautiful environment that those who had seen the glorious days now bemoan their fate.
According to Elias Onyegbu, who was once a camp-master, overseeing the well-being of the quarters it was part of the strategy adopted by the colonial government to attract young people to seek for employment at the mines. “Yes, those days were good. People were happy because coal and rail worked hand-in-hand to boost the economy of the nation. You can see I am now on crutches due to an accident. I do not have money to pay for medical treatment because government has refused to pay us our retirement benefits. Even our colliery hospital at Iva Valley has been sold to a private individual and so we have nowhere to go now for treatment.
“The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) has been selling our quarters bit by bit. In Kogi State where we had Okaba Coal mines, which was part of Nigeria Coal Corporation, the houses there were sold to those occupying them. Why they have chosen to sell this place without considering us is what we do not understand. Now, they said we should be paying rent to the federal government even when we do not have money,” Onyegbu, who joined the mines at a very tender age in 1957 and retired in the 1980s, is embittered that the good old days of the coal mines cannot return.
“After 35 years and with the honest contributions we made to promote the energy sector, government is treating us like lepers. It is not good and that is why we won’t abandon this place until we are treated well,” he said.
In his own account, Onyemaechi Ohaneje, who joined the mines in 1976 but was retired prematurely in 1992, bemoaned the social and economic conditions of those who worked for many years under strenuous conditions. Recounting how coal had brought abundance, he appealed to the federal government to look seriously into their plight. “Now, I am retired, but my anger and frustration and those of my other colleagues is that government has disengaged us without paying us. Now out of 54 months arrears they owe us, only half has been paid. All other entitlements have not been paid up till today. The facilities here are broken down and we keep hearing that soon the remaining houses would be sold. Now the beauty of this place has gone to the dogs because some parts of it have been sold to those who have succeeded in messing it up.”
Before the despoliation of the colliery quarters began, it had only one entrance which was manned by security agents provided by the estate. Today, there are not only countless exits and entrances; the gate is no longer fashionable. “People trespass freely here and no one can boldly challenge anyone. Those years of protection and security are gone. We are now at the mercy of all kinds of people who stroll in and out of here at will,” Ohaneje stated with anger written all over him.
After holding a meeting with its members, the chairman of Nigeria Union of Coal Camp Retirees, Enugu branch, Gregory Eze told The Nation that so long as their full entitlements are yet to be paid, they cannot stop asking for what is their own by right. He said, “Our complaints are plenty. First of all, you can see that this field where we are having this meeting is now a mechanic workshop. This was where we used to play all kinds of sports, wrestling, football, hockey, inter-house sports and so on. Those who feel that they know better have taken it over. Secondly, the federal government owes us our pension arrears. As at the moment, we have only been paid 52 months based on basic salary. I reported to them that this is wrong but they did not listen,” he said.
He added, “Now, we have about 1,200 persons who have not been paid. The other 1,300, who have been paid were not paid their complete entitlements. The federal government paid only basic and I sent a letter to Abuja to that effect but no one has hearkened to us.”
Eze, who retired as a senior accountant in-charge of pension with the coal corporation, is not happy also that they were disengaged without being paid. “Till date, that too has not been paid. In fact, it has not even been rectified by the federal government. Worst still is the issue of accommodation. It is on record that some of our quarters have been sold to outsiders by BPE. And this was not done to others and we then ask why are they treating us like this? Okaba was under Nigeria Coal Corporation, the Tin Mine Corporation in Jos and others were properly disengaged with all their entitlements paid to them. They even received their monetisation: Now, I don’t know why they want to sell our houses exorbitantly so that we cannot afford the prices by the bidders. This is our primary concern. They should as a matter of expediency open the bid, make it transparent and then encourage us to have enough money to pay for it. If not, what then can we say we gained by working with the coal corporation for say 30 or 35 years?”
Ijeoma (not real name) is a student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) who has been living in one of the apartments at the colliery quarters for the past five years. She narrated how she had had high expectations of the place based on the stories her grandfather who was a staff of the coal corporation told her. “My grandfather owns this apartment and it was through one of my aunts that I came to stay here. So, it is more or less a family house. However, the sanitary condition here is very bad. Even the residents themselves do not help matters. They dump refuse and dirty things in discriminatorily. And then, they erect illegal structures everywhere. You can then see with your eyes, how disorganised, dirty and ugly the whole environment looks.”
Decrying the retirees for not caring so much about their personal hygiene or those of the people around them, she said: “There are no toilet facilities here. The old ones they had have been put out of use by government officials who obviously felt that at this stage of modernity, pit latrines should not be found among civilized people. This is why we use small buckets to empty our bowels at night. Very early in the morning we would then empty them inside the nearby bushes.”
She regretted that the miners have since not deemed it fit or necessary to provide alternative toilets for the residents. “Even the old men and women who always lay claim to the houses they occupy, do not help to keep this place tidy and habitable. Even if you say government retired you without adequate compensation and has withdrawn most of the facilities, what are you doing to uplift the standard of life in your place of residence? You see, this is why I cannot wait to get out of this estate. Since I came, there are many of my friends I cannot bring here. It is so terrible, so disgusting but I have no choice because I do not pay rent to anybody.”
She, however, submitted that the people live a communal life imbued with plenty of love and care for one another. “Even social life here is also good. Once something bad happens to any of them, you’ll see them gather to render assistance. My grandfather also talked about the old times when suspicious characters were not allowed inside the place. All that have gone awry now,” she added.
However, investigation by The Nation revealed that the toilets were destroyed by the state government because they were not being taken care off. At a stage, they became an eyesore and neighbours began to complain. After several attempts to make residents build new toilets failed, government decided to pull them down to avoid cholera epidemic.
At Iva Valley, same story
At the Iva Valley colliery quarter, the scenario was almost the same. The only difference is the location; it is near the former State House where Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe ruled the Eastern Region from. So close to the seat of power, the Iva Valley colliery quarters is a replica and mockery of civilisation gone sour. The road leading there is riddled with potholes while the estate itself is a total mess. Sandwiched between what is known as Forest Hills and the Iva Valley Camps one and two, it is supposed to be one of the choicest residential areas in Enugu. However, it is now a place meant for the down-trodden; people who have no means of meaningful livelihood. Indeed, Iva Valley had long lost its glorious days. It is all now begging for attention and rehabilitation. As you approach the areas the only visible signs to show that it was once a well paved settlement are the mango, the orange and guava trees indicating that this place was once a beehive of social and economic lives.
For Audu Yinusa who was transferred from Okaba Coal Mines in Kogi in April 1977, “we saw Iva Valley as the most beautiful place in Enugu when I was transferred here. I thought Christmas had come. Everything was beautiful. Business boomed around here, for the coal boys were prepared to spend their money on the nice things of life. When I came even my wife was overjoyed because the quarters were well-planned. Every two days, they would send sanitary people to remove the dustbins, provide us with new baskets for our refuse. They would inspect the toilets to see if they were still intact for our use.”
He recounted how they worked in the mines in those days, “We were being paid daily. It was N2.10 kobo per day. But later we went on strike to agitate for salary increase. Later, it was increased with overtime. The problem that led to the decline began when former President Shehu Shagari was in power. That was around 1982 when they began to interfere.”
Yinusa, who confessed that if the hand of the clock turns again, he would like to work as a coal miner, said that even though he was retired before reaching retirement age in 1992, he wouldn’t mind to retain his residence when the auction opens for that purpose. “Government said we could pay small money to own this house. But we heard that they want to auction it to the highest bidder. That is what we cannot stand. In fact, we are still here because we want to retain our houses. Government has to give us money to pay so that the houses will belong to us. For me and my family we like it here. Enugu is the only home we know.”
Musa Haruna was a senior driver before he was disengaged in 2005 after 30 years, “You see,” he said, “government promised us in 2005 that they would treat us well and turn this estate into an Eldorado. They also promised us that our houses would be sold to us when the bidding takes place. You can see how beautiful this place is by being sandwiched between a hill and two valleys. We love the thick forests surrounding the hills which have been our homes for close to 30 years. How do we lose the place now due to government unjust policy?” an angry, Haruna asked.
Even though Francis Mmaka did not work in the mines, his father who did, told him enough. He was told of how the two quarters were established and why coal camp will ever remain the cradle of Enugu as a city. “My father worked with the mines. He rose to the rank of a foreman. Coal was the oil boom then and along with the rail and the P & T, Enugu was a place to be. The house I own here now at the Coal camp was built by my father.”
Even when their own quarters were provided by the Colliery management, most of the big boys among the workers preferred to build and own their own houses. Mmaka’s father was one of such group of more enterprising coal workers. “As they did so, they attracted all sorts of businesses to the place. Indeed the Iva Valley settlement that came a bit later was as a result of the daring moves of some more enterprising coal boys. They felt that they needed to decongest the colliery quarters, which to them was becoming too small and tight for most families. In fact, I used to visit some of my pals there then and thought it was the best place throughout Enugu.”
He recalled how he and his peers had dreamt of finding work at the mines until the dream was truncated by the sudden closure. “The discovery of coal gave employment to many people; people from far and near. Now, if it is revived I would like my children to work there to fulfill my own lost dream. It will also make them feel good about where their grandfather worked. My father made fortunes as a mine worker and it will be good if it can be used once more to generate energy. It will accommodate many graduates and young school leavers and this issue of incessant power outages will be a thing of the past.”
