Source: Daily Trust 
Leader of the women stone crushers at Udo Udoma street in Uyo, Madam Ekaete Udom said crushing of stones by women is a business that has helped the women to fight poverty in their immediate families

even though they do not allow their children to inherit it because of the hard nature of the job and the effect it is having on their health. She said those of them that found themselves doing the job, work very hard to ensure that their children do not do the same to earn a living.
"We are doing this job not because we want to do it but because there is no alternative job available to us. It is a very difficult job even for the men. But you can see that most of the people doing it here are women. We use these sledgehammers to be hitting the stones until we crush them into smaller sizes just as the crushing machines do. Thereafter, we separate the stones in big and small sizes. We also separate the dust differently. When you do that job for one day, you would like to go and rest for at least a week. But no way! We still come out the next day.

"Even at that, we still do our usual work at home when we get back. We wash plates, cook, sweep the house and bath the children. Before the advent of the present administration in the state, very few people go to school. I have not been to a school because I do not know the value. Your parents will invest a lot in your education, when you finish the school you will not see job to do. So, those of us that do not have money to trade, we crush stones to fight poverty in our families. If you can make good money from this business and buy commercial motorcycle (Okada) for your husband, that family has said 'goodbye' to poverty.

"You know, commercial motorcycle business is the major industry in this state giving most of our men job. It is the second largest employer of labour after government in this state. So, the pride of every woman you see crushing stones here is to get money and buy motorcycle for her husband first. After that, some would like to set up business for her daughter or son. Businesses like barbing saloon get a shade in the market or open a place for the child to be selling recharge cards. I have told you we are not kin about school because when you finish there will be no job for you," she said.

Madam Ekaete said the women crushers do not go to the bush to source for the stones they crush. Rather, they buy the stones from men that source for them and transport them to the towns where the crushers buy and crush them. She explains that the stones are of different types and the price largely depends on the type of stone and the quantity. She said when they buy stones of N20,000 and crushed them, they are sure of selling same about N70,000 or more.

Another female stone crusher in Uyo, Madam Margaret Obot said on a good day, she sales crushed stones of about N10,000 to N15,000. But that the normal day sells is usually N3,000 to N5,000. She said she used the proceeds of the money she made from the stones crushing business and sent her first son abroad. She said her daughter is now learning tailoring at Aba in the neighbouring Imo state and promised to open a tailoring studio for her when she graduate.

"When I started this work, I thought I could not do it for long because of the difficulty in it. But some of the women I met doing the job encouraged me to go ahead. First, it was the problem of joint pain. My joints were paining me seriously. But the women recommended some drugs and herbs for me. I got a lot of relief after taking those drugs and herbs. But one day there was trouble in the area I live. Some women came to beat up my friend who lived at our neighbourhood. She is the leader of their Susu (local money contribution). They said she could not pay some of them because some money got missing in her custody. "I didn't like the way they wanted to disgrace her. When they refused to listen to our plea to either give her time to pay or even report to the police rather than beat her where her young children were watching, I got angry and joined her to fight the seven of them. Any of them I hit once, she will just fall. I knocked down three and the rest ran away. I didn't know that I was that strong until that day. Even men are now afraid of me because I have big muscles that I developed from the crushing of stones. Also, the pride of an average family is to send one of their own abroad. I have sent my son abroad. I am proud of my achievements in this job," she said.

When contacted for comment over the plight of the women stone crushers, an official of the Ministry of Women Affairs in the state that pleaded for anonymity said the state government is making adequate arrangement to ensure that all children of school age are enrolled in schools under the state policy of free and compulsory education. She said women will also be taught various trades that include tailoring, hair dressing and weaving among others and government will assist them with soft loans to set up their businesses after graduation.

"With the current pledge by the Federal Government to appoint women into 35 percent of all appointive positions which the state government is also adopting, we hope to see more programmes for the women in the state that will relieve them from such hardship. But that also goes to point out that Nigerian women are not lazy," the source said. 

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