Ushafa, a pottery community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is gradually losing the allure of its age-long art. NICHOLAS KALU reports that the matter is made worse by dwindling patronage and neglect from the authorities.
Couched in the rocky mountains of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is the Ushafa community, a quiet agrarian settlement.
Among other things, this community is known for mastery in the art of pottery, a culture, which has contributed to boosting the economy of the area.
Ushafa is also known to have hosted former United States (US) President, Bill Clinton in 2003. In fact, it was christened “Clinton Village”, after that visit. It was a momentous occasion for the people. It was an occasion that brought the community to the limelight.
Those who still remember the visit of the ex-American president recalled that he used the occasion to call on the people not to allow the art of pottery, which he admired, to die.
Clinton would rather be disappointed if he visits the community today, as according to one potter, who did not want to be named, the art has died and waiting to be buried.
Located within the community is the Ushafa Cultural Pottery Centre under the Department of Arts and Culture. A man who seemed in charge of the centre refused to talk and would not even give his name.
At the centre, it is observed that there is no activity. It was gathered that the centre was established by former First Lady, Maryam Babangida in 1990, in a bid to harness the potential of the people under a government programme at that time.
In time past, the centre used to attract visitors from all over the world, who came for the purpose of tourism and to buy the items. These were times a few who are still into the art recalled with nostalgia.
The people worry that beyond the economic implication of such decline, the skill was a part of their culture, which as many others, is at risk of fading into oblivion.
This is worsened by the fact that the youths no longer seem to have any interest in taking it up, as they consider it not as lucrative as they had wished.
Within the premises of the centre, there are two kinds of potters- modern and traditional. The modern section, housed in the main building and operates with machines, seemed completely comatose.
The building also houses the pottery studio where some beautiful works done in the past were displayed. Findings revealed that the modern section has not worked for a long time.
The only signs of life in the premises were the rather slow activities of local potters around 10 small round huts in one corner of the main building. Women were also predominant in this area.
The locals complained that the government has to do more to keep the culture alive and boost the economy of the community. To them, it has continuously witnessed a steady decline within the past decade.
One of the potters from the modern section, who begged not to be named, complained of being abandoned by the government. He lamented that rather than patronising them, Nigerians prefer imported pottery materials from China.
“I want to state that as far as pottery is concerned, we have what it takes to produce the best that can compare to any other ware from any other part of the world. Most of the wares gotten in the country today are from China.
But here, we can even do better than what they get from there. Why go to China to import, when locally what is needed is some support to get the best and improve the local content and culture? The Chinese quality is not even as good as ours. What they get from China is called earthenware.
You realise that the Chinese wares that you use whether as mugs or teacups if you use some of them for two or three weeks, they start fading. The materials used in making the products often mix with consumable contents, be it tea or water. This poses serious health hazards to the consumer.
The Chinese use chemicals like lead in making their products. This is dangerous for health, especially where the wares are used to store food or drinks that we take into our body.
“Here, what we make is called stoneware, which is completely safe. A reason they do not go for stoneware is that heating the work to arrive at this quality takes between 10 and 11 hours at a temperature of 720 degrees for better quality.
Earthenware is just heated for about four hours so it can be mass-produced. But there is no support from the government here. The government can put their searchlight on us here and improve and rebuild.
It’s not that pottery is losing its appeal. No. We are not just able to meet up without help from the government. Right now, only the local potters are even doing anything, which is at a skeletal level. This should not be so.”
An elderly female potter in one of the huts in the local section regretted that things are not as good as they used to be. The woman, who combined the job with attending to her little grandchildren, said she learnt the art from her own mother and dismayed that her only child has refused to learn the skill.
According to her, she makes a wide range of wares including pots, plates, vases, bangles and necklaces among others. She lamented the tediousness of the traditional method of task. She explained that pottery is done with three different types of clay – the hard black clay, the yellowish hard, and the yellowish sandy type.
According to her, the black clay is the most difficult to get. The other two could be easily accessed within the community. Potters go several kilometres outside the village to manually dig up the black clay.
This, she said, is one area the government can help the local potters, by bringing in equipment that would enable them to get the material easily. She also pleaded with the government to help with the mass publicity of their work.
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She said: “I learnt this skill from my mother and it is what I have used in taking care of my family. But my daughter does not want to learn it.
She is the only child I have. I was born and raised in this community. In the past, we used to see a lot of people coming here. Sometimes people used to come and ask for pots and we would be struggling to meet up with the demand. Now we make pots and keep and there is nobody to buy.
This is the only thing we do that earns us income to feed and send our children to school. Now there is no patronage like it used to be. I don’t know why it is so.
The time Bill Clinton visited, he came here and encouraged us to do this business more. Since that time, we have not received any support from any quarters.
“I think the government should help publicise what we are doing here to the outside world, so people can come and buy our work. Everything here is locally made.
I do pots, plates, beads, vases and many other things. We don’t have any other work to do. Besides that, this is a culture and it cannot be allowed to die, especially, now that the young ones do not seem interested in it.
“Another area we are seeking help from the government is in terms of the materials. We suffer to get the clay we use. It is very hard to get. We dig deep holes and enter the holes to get the black clay, which is the most important material.
We get it only in the dry season, not in the rainy season. If you try to get the clay during the rainy season, it may collapse on you and it is very dangerous for us because you have to dig underground to get it. The two other materials are not difficult to get as they can be gotten around the village.
“If they can help us get a vehicle like a caterpillar to help us dig up the clay, it would be good for us. People are not doing this work as much as they used to do it before.
We don’t have the market anymore; that is why some people left the trade. Also, there are people who don’t have the strength to dig the clay. This art should not be allowed to die. I advise the government to intervene and help us in any way they can.”
She regretted that words of encouragement given the community by President Clinton during his visit were not backed by positive response from the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory.
She noted that the community would have made appreciable progress in pottery if the government had taken steps in ensuring that the growth and development of the art.
Also giving his experience, a young male potter, Sule (not real name), bemoaned the shrinking business and development in the community as a result of low patronage.
“So many visitors used to come here in the past, but they are no longer coming because the government is not supporting the skills. Sales have dropped drastically and money is very hard to come by.
“It appears the government is not serious about promoting this art, that is why things are this way today. I remember when this place was set up, there were people that were brought in to learn. After learning there was no support, so everything just died.
“Today people hear so much about the pottery here from outside, but when they come here, they get disappointed. What we have are just the local people struggling through various challenges to keep the culture alive as well as get some little money for themselves.”
A staff member of the centre, who also did not want to be named, regretted that the art was no longer growing as expected.
“This is one thing we are well known for here. When this centre was established, each of the huts for the local potters used to have up to five people then. But now, it is no longer the case. Learning pottery takes years and people, especially young ones, feel it is not so lucrative.
Our young generation is not ready to participate because after everything how much would they sell one pot? The highest you can sell a pot on the local side is N2000. But in the modern section, you can sell a pot from N3000 upward.”
Sule said besides the business aspect, pottery is a culture of the people of Ushafa and that everything should be done to preserve and sustain the culture.
He narrated how women who are still in the art form themselves into groups to enable them pay the cost of transporting clay to their various sheds.
“They are charged N300 per bag by truck owners to get the clay from the bush to destination. Sometimes the truck drivers reject the trips and there is nothing the potters can do.
If the government can make excavators available to them, even if at a subsidised rate, things will be easier for them.
“We also have the challenge of casual workers at the Centre. Some have been casual workers for up to 20 years and this can affect commitment and motivation.
The truth is that the government needs to pay attention to. They should come in and discuss with the people and know the gaps and how they can be filled so that this legacy can be preserved.”
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