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Tag: Bacita

  • Once upon a sugar factory

    The Nigerian Sugar Company, Bacita, Kwara State, once flaunted its sweet profile, employing over 4,000 happy workers. Now comatose and stripped down to about 200 agonising staff, the firm has since become a study in bitter decline, ADEKUNLE JIMOH reports

    Moribund Bacita Sugar Company in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State is begging for attention. The company that once had about 4000 workforce now has about 200 workers with a backlog of unpaid salaries. Indeed both serving and retired workers are being owed between 25 and 40 months’ salaries, it was gathered.

    About 400 communities make up Bacita, a predominantly agrarian settlement catapulted to limelight by the sugar company. Established in 1956, the company prided itself on blindness to race, colour, creed and religion. It bustled with life. Now Bacita is a ghost of its former self.

    Then, suddenly, it was sold in what was understood as part of then President Olusegun Obasanjo administration’s privatization policy. But rather than spur on the firm to greater glory, Bacita began to decline after the sale. As the years went by, things got worse for the sugar firm.

    Scores of community members and ex-workers of the company recently staged a peaceful protest to elicit the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    The protesters held aloft placards, some of which said: “PMB hurry and rescue us,” “saboteurs are using AMCON to frustrate your government,” “Buhari the hope of Bacita,” “Federal Government of Nigeria, bring back Nigerian Sugar Company Bacita,” “Bacita people are suffering”.

    One of the workers who pleaded anonymity said there was a time the “surrounding of the company was overgrown with weeds and men of the underworld were using that as cover to perpetrate crime. But the community members last year came and cleared it for us. Then we wrote a letter to the National Assembly, presidency and three television stations but no response.

    Edu local government chair, Alhaji Umar Yusuf said, “We are facing a lot of challenges here with respect to the moribund Bacita Sugar Company. We have been lamenting on how government and foreign firms can come in to revive it. Unfortunately nothing yet has been done about it.

    “We are appealing through you media people now to the federal and state governments as well as foreign firms to come to our aid to revitalise this company.”

    A retired employee of the company and ex-chair of National Union of Foods, Beverages and Tobacco, Mohammed Adamu accused the receiver-company of romancing with the former owners of the company.

    He said, “Exactly two years ago Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) appointed one A. B Sulu-Gambari as the receiver for the sugar company to reposition it but to our surprise the receiver has been romancing with the indebted owners of the company.

    “We are aware that there are saboteurs within AMCON partnering with the receiver to frustrate the effort of Federal Government in taking over this moribund company.

    “Over 40,000 youths have been left unemployed and the economy of over 40 communities in this area has been crippled. We will like to use this opportunity to remind President Buhari and the Federal Government that the company has over 30,000 hectares of sugarcane farm with production capacity of 300 metric tonnes of sugarcane per day.

    “The company also has sugar refining capacity and is well positioned for backward integration into planting, harvesting, milling and processing as well as refining of sugar.”

    Also speaking, former staff of the company Augustine Ezechi, who hails from Delta State, said he now fetches and sells firewood to earn a living.

    He said, “I came to Bacita in 1986. Earlier I was working with the company. I rose to become a manager. Suddenly, when everything scattered, I went into farming and hewing firewood. That is how I have been surviving.

    “The company began to collapse when it was privatized as the company was given to a wrong hand. It was handed down to one Josephine Kuteyi. She came and started having issues with people in the community. She was not happy with us. She went and brought people from Coca-Cola to manage the company.

    “These people didn’t have the expertise to manage it. The company was running aground. She started bringing raw sugar for refining here. In fact, at the sugarcane plantation nothing was happening there and eventually everything got out of hand. She herself died in the process. Now to refine the raw sugar is impossible. The whereabouts of the children is unknown. Before you knew it Federal Government brought in Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). AMCON brought in some people called receivers. These people came and worsened everything. Incidentally, the day the receivers came security men did not allow them to enter otherwise a lot of things would have been looted away from the company.

    “The company has no problem. It is the father company to all sugar companies in the whole of West Africa. Even the Savanah Sugar Company at Numan, Adamawa state many of us here left to go and bring it up. Some other sugar companies are coming here to poach our workers. We feel that Federal Government has forgotten about us here.

    “The solution is for Federal Government to come to our rescue. It is either FG resells it to somebody who will manage it well or it should take over the company after about two years it can decide to sell it off as nothing is wrong with the company. Everything is intact. All the instruments that can be used to bring it back are there.

    We have three Senators from Kwara State, even the Senate President is from Kwara and they cannot work for the reactivation of the company. During the election time they come canvassing for vote and we will vote for them.”

    Speaking on behalf of the village head, Alhaji Haruna Soliu, a retired worker of the company, Mohammed Musa said: “This company started in 1956 and it was commissioned that same year during the time of Sardauna of Sokoto. Present at the commissioning were Western Region Premier Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and Sir Okotie-Eboh.

    “Then they elicited the cooperation of the community for the smooth running of the company. And true to type there was harmonious relationship between the company and the community.

    Things have gone from bad to worse for the company. Therefore, we urge the Federal Government to revive this company. Federal Government is placing high premium on other sugar companies than this. This is the best and largest sugar company in the whole of Nigeria.

    “Instead of planting sugarcane on the plantation, they are now planting rice. That was not the agreement at the start of the company. The community is not happy.

    If the company is revitalized many youths will get jobs, unemployment or joblessness is one of the factors responsible for the social vices in the country.

    “The company used to have staff strength of over 4000 but now the workers are less than 200. Those who are working there now are suffering.

    “This company was a major employer of labour in the community during its heyday. Now many of its former workers take to Okada riding, firewood selling and farming. Even the market women are not selling. Our call is for the federal government to take it over again or resell to another company.”

  • Amazing Tsaragi-Bacita ‘bridge’ that Buhari must see

    Amazing Tsaragi-Bacita ‘bridge’ that Buhari must see

    TSARAGI and Bacita are two towns in Kwara State. Everyday, people, vehicles shuttle between the two communities, using the rickety bridge above.

    They are hoping that one day, President Muhammadu Buhari and Power, Housing and Works minister, Raji Fashola,  will see the bridge and order its rebuilding as a proper bridge.

    There is the fear that the bridge will collapse any time from now, because of over use. And then, Tsaragi and Bacita communities will be cut off from each other.

  • Bacita: Kwara’s forgotten industrial town

    Bacita: Kwara’s forgotten industrial town

    The mention of Bacita immediately evokes memories of the now comatose Nigeria Sugar Company. The image of the defunct firm still lies in the town which used to be a commercial hub in Kwara State.

    But today, the town is a shadow of itself, with the once-known industrial town lacking in development.

    The absence of good roads may have contributed to the deplorable nature of the town. The collapse of the sugar company and Nigeria Yeast and Alcohol Manufacturing Company has made life in the town unattractive.

    Located in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Bacita used to be the envy of Nigeria because of the presence of the Nigerian Sugar Company and others.

    But the situation has changed drastically as the town can no longer boast of any development. For example, because of the status of the Nigeria Sugar Company, the staff school, which residents said, used to be the joy of students and parents has become an eyesore.

    The buildings and classrooms are in a deplorable condition. As evidence of the decay of the school, the signpost no longer bears the name of the school as years of neglect seem to have taken toll on it. The name has been erased and replaced with an inscription which reads: “No King as God”, written in a handwriting that depicts that of an idle child trying to master the craft of handwriting.

    A few meters from the gate stood a huge book-like sculpture with the inscription, “Education is the bedrock of any development, allow your children to be educated”, an indication of why the school was set up.

    Our correspondent gathered that apart from the overgrown grasses, there was nothing to suggest that this was a place that was once a centre of academic excellence. The classrooms had been converted to some kind of store by farmers and other people who see some industrious use of the classrooms.

    They dry their shear butter seeds, cassava and other farm produce. Result sheets, text books and receipt booklets were seen scattered in what used to be the headmaster’s office and other offices.

    Ironically, the condition of the school can be likened to the state of the community whose growth has stunted over the years. Many people have, however, relocated from the community and many more are said to be on their way out due to lack of development.

    They have, however, cried out; alleging that the government, both at the federal and state levels, has abandoned them. Some of the residents of the community expressed sadness that government has decided not to remember them.

    Our correspondent also discovered that out of the two roads leading to the community, visitors prefer to use the Old Jebba Road known to many as the Tsaragi/Share Road because of the deplorable condition of the major road, the Mokwa/Jebba Road.

    It was further gathered that visitors to Bacita have abandoned the 18-kilometre road because, instead of spending about 20 minutes to get to the community, travellers spend almost one hour because of its bad nature. The alternative route which is the Share/Tsaragi Road, which most people prefer is peculiar with the plain landscape.

    The road is tarred, which explains the preference. Some of the villages on the road are Patidzuru, Kpankorogi, Manfu, Emigbadzi, Mamu and Emiworogi. Heaps of firewood, which might never be sold are displayed in most of the villages. With about one kilometre separating the villages, our correspondent observed that villages, which appear to be smaller than Bacita enjoy good road network and constant power supply, even though they lack schools, markets, banks and hospitals. In view of that, they have to travel always to Bacita to access these facilities.

    Ironically, the good road enjoyed by smaller villages on the way to Bacita are not present in Bacita as the roads in Bacita still maintain that natural state, with erosion eating into parts of them.

    Motorcycles appear to be the major means of transport in the community where roadblocks and bumps are made with firewood. Unfortunately, the usual bustling that characterised the once-popular industrial town in the Old Kwara State is gone. Walking round the town, it was discovered that most people just move around with little activities going on. Tattered attires of farmers returning from farm also speak about life in the community, with only a few of them with the opportunity to own old bicycles and motorcycles that are better placed off the road. Residents are not happy about the seeming pathetic situation in Bacita. Even with the state of lack of development, worship places adorn the town with only one functioning hospital, few private schools and thick green grasses.

    A view from afar gives you hope because of the company structure which stands out, but on approaching, the hope is dashed as the structure stands among bushes. The community has one government secondary school and one mini-fuel station called Green Space Nigeria Limited.

    Investigation revealed that the major source of water in the community is well water while their major occupations remain farming and petty trades because of the collapse of the companies.

    Dominated by the Nupe, the women have mastered the art of using the abundant groundnuts in the community for commercial purpose. With the groundnut, they make and sell ‘kuli-kuli,’ a local snack and also extract oil which they sell to those who like organic food.

    Residents told our correspondent that “Bacita used to be tourism and excursion centre for students and visitors who came to the state. It really assisted the economy of the country then because of the Sugar firm and NIYAMCO  that were functioning. But now, the moribund nature of the companies has led to the collapse of most activities in the community.”

    Some of them regretted that the “government has forgotten us completely but we will not be surprised if we start hearing that they will come to pay us a visit soon just the way they usually do when general elections approach.

    As election period draws near, they will find their way into the town with blaring siren and party flags for campaign. They act very honest and promise heaven on earth but after the election, they completely turn their backs on us. That is why the community remains the same or worse than what it used to be.”

    A resident, who lives in an estate popularly called Housing Estate,  said: “If the politicians don’t remember us by putting something significant such as good road, potable water and probably help restore what is dying in this village, I doubt if this town will exist for long.’.

     

  • Bacita: Once upon a sugar town

    Bacita: Once upon a sugar town

    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.