Tin was mined and smelted on a large scale by people on the Plateau. This picture of a thriving tin industry on the Plateau during the nineteenth and early twentieth century’s is confirmed and archival evidence.
The paper seeks to bring to light the role played by the Edo people in the development of Tin shed on the Jos-Plateau. It explores the link between Tin Shed activities and the Edo people.
The main area of study is Jos-Bukuru area in Plateau State. The beginning of the practice of tin mining belongs to antiquity; the tin mining process has impacted significantly on the dynamics of the whole complex of the people of Jos.
The study concludes by noting that even though the Edo people played a significant role in tin mining activities in Plateau state, particularly in the Tin Shed, this is well appreciated, studied and sufficiently documented in the history of Nigeria.
Introduction
The paper examines the role of the Edo people in the development of Tin sheds on the Jos Plateau, from 1900-2000. The historical emergence of tin sheds in Jos cannot be discussed without looking at tin mining because it was as a result of tin mining that Tin- Sheds were established on the Jos-Plateau by the early miners.
Colonialism paved the way for the exploitation of mineral resources in Nigeria. These mineral resources found in Nigeria included Tin and Columbite on the Jos -Plateau and both were mined for export to sustain the colonial administration.
In fact, it was because of the tin deposits that the Jos-Plateau made its name and was featured on the colonial map of Africa and indeed the world. In the past, tin export was among highest foreign exchange earner for the country until after 1962, when petroleum became dominant and it began to decline.
There appears to be no doubt that Nigeria is a highly endowed with mineral resources. For some time, tin was mined and smelted on a limited scale by people on or near the Plateau.
The discovery of tin beads smelted by the Nok people nearly 2000 years ago provide evidence that the industry was of considerable antiquity. Tin industry is believed to have contributed to the development and growth of Jos, providing what it calls “engine growth” behind the development of the state economically.
Tin –shed activities in Jos started a very long time ago. Miners had once described Tin-shed as a bee hive of activities, but gradually as tin mineral became tough to extract, the lake had lost its attraction.
Once tin is completely extracted from an area, leaving no more tin to be mined, most miners usually leave the area in search of other better pond leaving those interested in extracting iron ore to scrape from the scattered remnants within the surrounding earth and the bottom of the lake. Mining is a major pre-occupation in Plateau state transcending decades and generations, leaving behind numerous artificial “lakes” especially like the ones in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area.
The Jos Plateau has been one of the world’s major suppliers of tin. The world’s largest known deposits of columbite, an ore of niobium found associated with tin, have also been exploited since the 1940s. Smaller quantities of tantalite, wolfram (tungsten), kaolin, zircon, and uranium are also mined. Lead and iron ore are found in eastern and central Plateau state.
It is against this background that this paper examines the role of the Edo people in the Tin Shed activities in Jos-Bukuru complex. The paper is divided into five parts, following the introduction; the second part discusses the peopling of Jos and Bukuru metropolis.
The third part discusses the tin sheds significance/importance in the mining industry on the Jos-Plateau. While the fourth part focuses on the nature and growth of Tin Sheds in Jos- Bukuru metropolis; part five duels on the impacts of tin sheds on the Edo people and the State of Tin Shed on the Jos –Plateau today. Part six is the conclusion.
The area of study
Known for its heterogeneity, the state has about 40 ethnic groups, including the Yergam, Ankwei (Goemai), Angas, Jawara (Jarauci), Birom, Miango, Fulani, Hausa, and Eggon. The mining industry had attracted European, Igbo (Ibo), Bini and Yoruba immigrants into the state. Jos is connected by road with Wamba, Akwanga, Keffi, and Lafia sssand has an airport located at Yeipang near Jos. Lafia, Pankshin, Wamba, Shendam, and Akwanga are also sizable markets and mining centres7.
Understanding Tin Sheds significance/importance in mining industry on the Jos-Plateau
The tin shed is centrally located treatment plant designed to further upgrade tin concentration recovery from alluvial deposits to about 70 to 75 pet sn (90 to 95 pet cassiterites). The tin shed consists of relatively simple series of gravity method including the use of jigs and tables. In some cases (especially if the tin shed is owned by a large company ), a tin shed can be relatively complicated using acid leaching to remove carbonates, flotation to remove sulfides and magnetic or electrostatic method to remove iron materials, zircon, ilmenite, columbite and monazite.
Tin Sheds are not always located near the mining area and basically known for two most important things; namely, magnetic separation of cassiterites from other magnetic properties; and buying of tin and a value addition area.
The activities of tin sheds normally commence after tin mining of crude has taken place in the fields The traditional tin miners extracts tin from the rivers or tributans generally at or shallow rapids, equipped with short hoe- like implements and large calabashes. They loosened the tin bearing gravel which they recognized from the dark color and scooped it into the calabashes when sufficient gravel has been collected in the calabashes it is then washed and the concentrate is collected , bought and brought to tin sheds for further processing.
According to Julius Alege an Edo Tin Shed Manager there are two types of raw material; we have the crude/ virgin material and also we have the tailings. The crude material is the material that has never been used before, they are removed from about 20-40 feet’s below the ground while the tailings are normally stored in bags for over 5-10 years and they have been used and recycled over and over again.
The first process of processing tin in the tin shed after the concentrates or tailing are brought from the bush is the “BNF SEPERATOR” which is made of different belts called the “Covey Belt” used to covey the material, it removes magnetic iron material from the columbite, separates sand , iron and tin.
Also to note is that the BNF SEPERATOR is the new model machine used in separation of crude material unlike the RAPID MAGNETIC SEPERATOR which was used during the colonial period and is still presents in some tin shed like the Umoh tin shed mining complex at Algadama.
The magnetic ore separator is efficient magnetic separation equipment that can be used for wet dressing of the following ores such as magnetite,ilmenite,baked pig iron, etc. of sizes less than 3mm and for the separation of wolframite.
Secondly the tin and columbite is carried to the “Air Floatation Machined “. The agitating floatation machine is advanced mineral processing equipment, which using slurry vertical cycle and air blower to press into the low pressure air for flotation.
Also it is used in non-ferrous metal and non- metallic mineral selector and it is used to determine the grade of the material. The low grade goes to one side and the rich grade which is the needed material goes to another end. The low grade is called Number6; the high grade is called Number 1 and 2. The air float further removes the remaining iron that has not been removed from the separator.
Thirdly it is taken to the office for breathing; through that breathing you would know the real grade of the material. You can get 18.4, 18.5 grade depending on the material. When the material is 18.9 and above it is a low grade and when the material is 18.9 and below it is high grade that actually attracts high prices.
From the breathing office it is taken to the balancing bipe, where the material is measured. In other to sale Tin it weighs 126grams while columbite weighs 100grams, this is so because tin is heavier than columbite.
After then the tube machine is used on the material to know the grade of the material. When it is 11, it can be 18.8, 18.4 for the material. The highest grade determined by the tube is 18.0 for columbite and tin 18.8, 18.7 or 18.6 depending. From here it is taken to the analysis machine after it has been pounded and screened into powder.
The analysis machine is used to note any impurities in the material and also used to determine the percentage of the material. When it is 40% it is low but when it is 60-70% it is high. From here it is taken to the scale , a bag of columite is 36.5 kg for bag , and normally sold for 80 pounds while tin weighs 32kg sold for 70 pounds.
Nature and growth of Tin Sheds in Jos and Bukuru metropolis
The history of Tin Shed is as old as the history of tin mining on the Jos Plateau. However, it was never given due concentration by scholars and writers. The people on the Plateau were mostly concern with the mining of crude tin and not how they are processed Some of the pre-colonial mining sites included Rishi, Gaskori and Rusau, Tilden Fulani, Narabi which had tin deposits.
The occurrence of tin in Nigeria gave rise to the growth of tin sheds to upgrade the tin quality, the mining and smelting of tin like the smelting of iron by primitive methods were known to the people of the Jos-Plateau and surrounding districts long before the British occupation of Nigeria. Indeed, the search for the source of tin in 1902 by the mining department of the Niger Company started after some Europeans merchants had seen Hausa traders with tin metal around Ibi on the Benue.
The mining area extends to the south as far as Wamba; in the west to Kafanchan, in the North to Bura and in the east up to the Jarawa Hills. The maximum extent of the tin producing area on the Jos region amount in longitudinal direction to about 240km and in a latitudinal direction to about 120km. large scale mining of the mineral started around 1911 and Nigeria then ranked as the sixth world tin producer and the largest producer of columbite.
Tin production on the Jos-Plateau increased rapidly from 1.36 tons in 1904 to 5,573 tons ten years later, reaching its peak production level of 15,842 tons in 1943. From this peak, production gradually declined until the late 1950s when it started to fall rapidly. By 1984 it had fallen to an all time low of 1.264 tons per year.
Prior to discovery of petroleum in Nigeria , tin mining was a major revenue and foreign exchange earner for the country , the industry then comprised large number of foreign mining companies with few small scale indigenous miners.
During the tin boom era of the 50s production hit 12,000 tons /annum. However, due to the depletion of the sub-surface deposites production cost went up and this coupled with the downturn of world tin price, resulted in decline in the nation’s tin production to all time low level of under 1600tons in 1992.
The early Tin Shed Mining Companies which operated in the area (Jos-Bukuru) included the following as illustrated in the table below.
The Amalgamated Tin Mining Company former known as Nigerian Tin mining company and now known as Consolidated Tin Mining Company had more influence in the area and operated there for a longer period than any other company and had its headquarters at Bukuru. By 1939, A.T.M.N. controlled 26% of leased mining land, 47% of tin ore production.
Why the Edo people were attracted to Tin Sheds on the Plateau
In 1904, the occurrence of workable deposit of tin on the Plateau was proved and mining started almost immediately and this gave rise to the establishment of Tin Sheds. Production was restricted since mining was carried n by hand, but the greatest problem facing the industry during the first decade was the access to deposits.
According to Isichei, the average daily yield in the nineteenth century was one calabash. Tin processing also took place at various Tin Sheds on the Jos-Bukuru area. The activities of tin sheds normally commence after tin mining of crude has taken place in the fields. The traditional tin miners extracts tin from the rivers or tributans generally at or shallow rapids, equipped with short hoe-like implements and large calabashes.
The Edo people came to Jos Plateau in the 19th century because of the rapid economic expansion brought about by tin mining, because the economy of Jos was mainly based on the exploitation of tin ore. Between 1904, when the tin deposit were identified in the Jos Plateau, Plateau state capital city of Jos earned for itself the nickname tin city following the discovery and subsequent large scale mining of tin for many decades in the Jos city and in much of the Northern Plateau.
Thus the tin rush on the plateau led to the influx of immigrants both within and outside Nigeria to the area. This included the Europeans, Lebanese, Indians, Cameroonians and Nigerians. Nigerians such as the Edos, Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbos, the arrival and settlement of this foreign element made Plateau a multi-ethnic society and these brought changes to the way of the people.14. These and many more that will be discussed in subsequent paragraphs are what attracted the Edo’s to the tin industry on the Jos Plateau.
By the nineteenth century the tin industry was a large employer of labour, Tin was used for in the manufacture of objects of adornment like bracelets, household utensils, lamps, military hardware, and knife sheads and for mending metal equipment.
It was also used for polishing metals against rust, used in the production of rings, as a finish for lamps and plates. In conjunction with iron, tin was used as a solder, and it was also traded. In fact, tin was a crucial factors in the colonization of the Jos Plateau in the early twentieth century.
Commercialization was one of the factors responsible for the influx of Edo migrant to the Jos Plateau. This took place at the beginning of the 19th century when trading in tin products reached the trading posts of the Benue River were it attracted the attention of the Royal Niger Company. The Royal Niger Company became interested in the source of the tin, following which it launched two expeditions in 1902 and 1903.
In 1903, Col. Henry Law traced the tin in the alluvium of the Delimi River and followed it up to the Plateau. He later established a trading store and a camp at Naraguta in 1905. From the Naraguta camp the mining activity spread rapidly southward to the principal sources of the alluvial tin at Bukuru and Ropp.
Further exploration work led to the influx of British and Europeans mining companies who exploited the best available reserves. Thus by 1915, the company had established a trade station in Jos and sold items of local demand.
Some of the Edo people came to the Jos area for the reason of market which developed as a result of tin industry which further resulted in the development of big market centers such as Jos, Bukuru, Mangu, Shendem etc. a new urban group of traders developed, they continued to increase because of the lucrative prospects of economic potentials which were in Jos.
The huge concentration of labor in the tin mines from 1904 guaranteed a sure market for all kinds of merchandise- textile, food, beverages, alcohol and motor vehicles. So the Edo people seize the opportunity provided by the mining industry to advance their commercial activities. For example, a survey of Dorowa in 1945 revealed that the squatting population consisted of cloth traders, food traders, tailors and others.
These is to say that the coming of the Edo people on the Jos Plateau did not just happen at once , they came at different years motivated by different factors into the area. Up till today the Edo people are still in Jos and have made Jos their home due to the wealth and fame the Tin industry brought to them over the years of its glory and still brings to them now.
Impacts of Tin Sheds on the Edo people
Tin shed which was established as a result of mining activities on the Plateau impacted on the lives of the Edo migrants on the Jos-Plateau. The coming of the Edo’s into Jos increased the cosmopolitan nature of the area. With the adoption of the Jos area as their new home, the Edo people added to the social transformation that was already taking place as a result of the tin mining activities which had attracted other ethnic groups as well.
Jos assumed a leadership role in the spread of the modern culture, especially at the time when other areas and cities like Sokoto, Zaria, Kano, and Maiduguri were yet to acquire modern features. To this effect, in the whole of northern Nigeria people coming from the tin city of Jos were considered civilized because of the interaction and influence of western civilization.
Tin sheds which developed as a result of tin mining on the Plateau stimulated trade among the Edo’s and also encouraged the circulation of money. Tin was the principal agent of capital penetration of the Jos-Plateau, through the activity no aspects of the lives of the people of Edo’s engage in the business was not affected by this industry.
The colonial government issued out mining leases to private companies which were to last for 99 year and expire on 31st December 1999. According to Plotnicov, by the end of March 1910, there were up to fifty syndicates with declared aggregates capital of at least two million, five hundred thousand pound sterling registered as mining camps and local markets.
It’s an uncontrovertibly fact that the tin shed industry shaped the course of the society on the Plateau., For example, there is the general consensus of most people that the tin shed contributed a lot to stemming the tide of unemployment and attracted an increasing number of Edo immigrants to the tin sheds and also on the mines. The tin shed created jobs among the Edo’s in Jos.
Also, it must be stated is that through tin sheds activities on the Jos Plateau. The Edo’s on the Plateau and even the Plateau indigenes were accorded the opportunity to acquire a limited range of skills, the establishment of primary and technical training institutions, clubs and recreational centers.
The Tin Shed provided certain benefits to Nigeria in general and Plateau state in particular, the most important of these was to earn foreign exchange as well as to serve as a source of revenue for central and regional governments. This mining sector together with its associated mineral was the second largest contributor to government revenue before the discovery of petroleum.
And the banking sector grew with mostly settlers patronizing the banking sector which further helped in promoting commercial activities, giving loans to both indigenes and non-indigenes. Tin production contributed substantially to the economy of Nigeria, the plateau tin fields produced 80% of the Nigerian tin.
This was at the period when cocoa from western Nigeria, palm oil and palm kernels and rubber from eastern Nigeria, cotton, groundnut, hides and skin from the old mid- western Nigeria were the other sources of revenue and foreign exchange for the country.
Tin shed in Jos which developed in relation to mining also is in connection to the development of early and effective transport and communication links with the rest of the country, especially the Bauchi-light-railway and also the railway from the south which reached Jos in 1927.
This again led to the expansion of the mining industry and the influx of migrants. Tin shed activity led to the employment of workers, which first started with mining and is been seen as the principal agent of capital penetration of the Edo’s on the Jos Plateau and no aspects of the lives of the Edo in the business was not affected, it also affected the economy, social life’s and landscape of the Jos Plateau21.
The state of Tin mining on the Jos-Plateau today
Tin shed as it is mostly called by miners had once been a hive of activities, but gradually as tin mineral became tough to extract, the Shed has lost its attraction. Tin mining has lost some steam in Jos because there was less and less tin to mine, Nuhu Ayuba about 60 years old, in charge of digging and bringing crude materials from the bush to the Imoh tin shed in Algadama said that Tin also called ‘Kuza’ is very hard to get now unlike before when Kuza was everywhere, due to the fact that the Jos environment has been exploited and other Tin states as a result of excessive mining so raw materials need excessive digging and quite expensive to buy in the bush. He also said that the job is stressful because after been dug it is washed, dried and brought in bags to the tin sheds.
The Tin industry was principal agent of capital penetration of the Jos Plateau and it affected the economy, ecology of the region, the adversely affected component of these was the vegetation, soils and landscape.
The one fertile agricultural land of Jos Plateau as a whole now turned into a devastated position had been and is still a thing of concern to the indigenous farmers and government who had lost a good percentage of land to the mining activities.
Also Due to the decline in the availability of raw materials for Tin shed to operate, profit has greatly reduced and fluctuated due to world price of tin in world market. According to many tin shed workers profits has greatly reduced because the market for tin has dropped.
Batholomew Aseaba an Edo man in his late 60s, a miner and a tin shed operator told me that profit is fluctuating and it is not favorable due to the world price. He said unlike in the past when the tin mining was at it heights they made a lot of profits some of them bought cars, houses, and made a lot of investments but with the high price of tin in the world market profits are not accruing like in the past.
Also Julius an Edo man working with Koman tin shed Dadin Kowa, has said profits has dropped vehemently because before they can process up to 20-50 bags of tin a day but with this decline in material and high price of tin in the market they are able to produce 5- 10 bags a day depending on the demand, These has lead to a decline in profits.
Tin mining has left scars and extensive dereliction everywhere on the Jos Plateau. The soil has been stripped of its vegetation, river systems disturbed and wide-scale agricultural land expose base to soil erosion. The fragile local ecology and economy have been permanently reversed in many unprecedented ways.
Tin mining flourished in the study area from the beginning of the nineteenth century and left behind a post-mining environment scarred by numerous mine ponds and dams surrounded by heaps of mine spoils (dumps/overburden) and a devastated landscape. For many years past, Jos Plateau has witnessed incessant soil destruction by many operations.
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Around Bukuru mine tailings neglected excavations and unfilled sample pits have an indelible disfiguration of a once rich and beautiful region. One of the major effects mining activities left in the area was the damage it caused on land and soil. Mining activities impoverished land and as active tin mining was going on there was corresponding devastating effects, which was the result of absence of necessary machineries to control it.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s future lies not on its endowments on mineral resources, but on the application of the benefits of exploitation of these resources towards the development of the country. Mining and minerals have played and will continue to play a key role in the development of Africa’s economies. The mining sector is significant to the economy in the areas of employment generation, source of raw material for domestic industries as well as foreign exchange earnings.
Nigeria is well with natural resources, ranging from the better-known oil and gas, to dozens of solid minerals. Unfortunately, the exploration of solid minerals were neglected over the years, just as the boom in the oil sector beclouded policy making, resulting in an over-dependency on a single sector.
Also of note is the fact that Tin Production contributed substantially to the economy of the Bini people in Plateau State. Tin Sheds contributed aa substantial proportion to the industry in Plateau State since its inception in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, it has undergone tremendous changes and has experienced its ups and downs.
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