Like Lagos’ Vespa market, where shoes are sold, and Computer village, Abuja’s GSM village is a Mecca as far as phones and computers are concerned.
Located in area 1, it is a haven where a large percentage of Abuja youth eke out a living by selling computers, phones, or their accessories.
Some of them don’t sell but repair. Surprisingly, some of the ‘hustlers’ at the market neither sell nor repair, but work out prices between buyers and sellers, in order to earn a percentage.
Residents of the FCT and adjoining states like Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi and Kaduna travel down to the market to buy phones or computers just because the prices are relatively affordable there.
In an interview with Blueprint yesterday, the Chairman of Association of Abuja GSM Villager Traders, Ndubuisi Egbo, said over 5,000 youth are ‘hustling’ in the market.
According to him, if the market wasn’t in the territory, streets would have been full with unemployed youth searching for non-existent jobs.
“Right now we have 732 members. Then Each of the members have about three attaches, making over 5,000 youth that we have here. If other places have the same thing, unemployment would have subsided in Nigeria, ” the Chairman said.
Although many residents think that the market is brimmed with a lot of criminals, the Chairman did not believe so.
According to him, “whosoever that you see in the market is registered. If you don’t do anything, we send you away.”
Surprisingly, many graduates are also working in the market. Salisu Abdullahi, a market official, told Blueprint that “many graduates have found employment in the market. It is due to our effort that has encouraged them to settle down”.
“We have the cheapest and best quality here in the village. We also have the best technicians at the lowest rate which you cannot find in other places within the city”, Abdullahi added.
Corroborating Abdullahi, Emeka Magnus, a software engineer, said he is a graduate of Computer Science but roamed the street with no job for two years before setting up a shop at the market.
Magnus said he now has many customer and makes more than N10,000 “any day that market is good.”
Asked whether he would readily leave the market if a white-collar job comes his way, he curtly responded: “No, I can’t work for anybody. I can’t wait for salary; I prefer hustling here.”
Another ‘hustler’, Mohammed Mohammed said he came from Jigawa and was an apprentice at the market for 18 months before having his own shop where he now sells and repairs phones.
Mohammed said he was able to buy “a small car with the money I make here, and my house is almost complete in Dutse.”
Some of the customers who spoke to Blueprint pointed out that phones and computers are cheaper in the market, hence the mad rush it receives daily.
Hajara Musa, whom our correspondent met in a computer shop, said she came all the way from Suleja to buy a laptop.
“There are laptop shops in Suleja, they are cheaper here, so I came to buy one here,” Hajara said.
However, the ‘hustlers’ said a number of challenges have been hampering their prosperity. A computer engineer who gave his name simply as Ebuka said the challenges include poor electricity, activities of touts, insecurity, poor infrastructure and leadership.
Ebuka lamented that their works at the market require much electricity but they rarely see it.
“We don’t have light. That is our major problem. We use generators, spending a lot of money daily,” he complained.
He added that, “we also have selfish leaders in the market, and that is a problem to our collective success. But, majorly, we are pleading with the government that since it cannot employ everybody, thousands of youth have employed themselves here, so they should help us with infrastructure so that we can function well.
