All roads now lead to the newly found diamond village on the Mambilla Plateau of Taraba State, where Nigerians across the country and other foreigners are flocking in search of hard currency. FANEN IHYONGO, Senior Correspondent tells the sweet and bitter story of how people make ‘quick money’ in the area now popularly referred to as the ‘Blue Village.’

The story sounds unconvincing. A jungle turned into a town overnight. A wilderness springing up in barely nine months to become a densely populated settlement with an average population of over 200,000 persons. That is the true story of Mayo-Sina, a mineral rich area on the Mambilla Plateau in Nguroje, Sardauna local government area of Taraba State.

Mayo-Sina is now popularly referred to as ‘The Blue Village.’ Just ask anyone within its environs that you want to locate Blue and he will show you the route.

Over 2000 years ago, the area had been a quiet vast land where the mountain people graze their livestock. No one had ever thought of the area as a dwelling place, what more, becoming the fastest growing settlement in the country and perhaps the world. Today, the rich mineral deposits of the area have changed its story. “Blue diamond” and other precious stones in Mayo-Sina have brought all the people that are now ‘industrialising’ the area.

Booming economy, expanding growth

The people – miners and buyers, have come from across Nigeria and the neighbouring West African countries. In the Blue, you will find, for instance, a Yoruba who has come from Ibadan or Lagos, an Igbo from Anambra or Enugu and a Hausa from Kaduna or Sokoto. You will also find many who are indigenes of Taraba: Kaka, Mambilla, Jukun, Ichen, Chamba, Tiv, Kona, Fulani, Kuteb, Mumuye, Panso and Jenjo to mention only a few. There are also miners and dealers who have come from Niger, Cameroun, Ghana, Chad, Ivory Coast Togo, Benin Republic and Senegal.

What attracts the most attention in the Blue Village is not even the mining sites but the settlement. You will marvel at how the place was swiftly built up, and how the dwelling structures have continued to expand at a geometric pace. One observer said the area has grown faster than Nigeria’s federal capital territory Abuja and may perhaps go down in history as the fastest growing settlement in the world.

Within the few months of its formation in January this year, Mayo-Sina is already exhibiting the features of a typical urban settlement, in terms of pattern, population, social and political characteristics. Several associations and trade unions have been formed. The features of societal social stratification -the distinction between the upper and lower class of the inhabitants are starkly visible in the types of buildings they erect. You can see the difference between the patriarch and the commoner, the rich and the poor etc. The settlement agglomeration -slums and sewage disposing systems have been formed. Many churches and mosques have been built. For example, the Roman Catholic Church and Deeper Life have opened their branches there after the Christian Association of Nigerian (CAN) Secretariat had been opened. Many families who are said to have permanently relocated to the area are thinking of establishing a school in the area for their children to attend. The people are also yearning for a bank to open a branch there for safe keeping of cash.

There are three commercial viewing centres where people watch movies and the local and European premier league matches such as La Liga, Seria A, Bundesliga and the English Premier League (EPL) etc. Clubbing joints have been opened and commercial sex workers are not left out. They have reportedly secured a place with a plan to build a brothel where they can ply their trade freely. Food restaurants, bars, boutiques, provisions, drugs (both native and orthodox) cosmetics and electronic shops have been opened. Small machines like motorbikes and generators are also sold.

GSM centres where people buy and repair mobile phones, charge their phone batteries and make commercial calls have been opened. A nearby knoll provides ‘natural’ network and the people are also planning of inviting the GSM network service providers (MTN, Glo and Airtel) to come and launch their masts in the area.

At night, the Blue village glows like a mega metropolis on a hill or a galaxy of celestial bodies viewed from a telescope. Its gleaming and illumination are in the fact that it is a town built in the jungle. The place bubbles till midnight but everyone except their security operatives must close by 9:00p.m. You can club till dawn but the law is that you stay indoors. The Blue has a tight security, made up of a joint army, police and vigilante group. Residents said there has not been any case of armed robbery since the place was found. “Some houses are made of grasses or polythene, but there has not been any case of burglary,” one miner told The Nation.

The multiplier effect of the factors of industrialisation is at play. Different traders have flocked to the area with their services and commodities. You will find zinc, wood planks, cement and other building materials to erect your shelter. There are even car dealers for anyone who hits the jackpot and wants to buy a car on the spot.

A huge army of persons -men, women and children have flocked the Blue village, and many more are immigrating there on a daily basis. The demographic pull factor there is diamond, which is easily turned into hard currency. Before the Blue Village was discovered, a lot of mineral deposits had been left untapped on the Mambilla Plateau for centuries.

“We are all here to find diamond. The diamond is money. It has brought every person you see here. The town you are seeing grew because of the search for Blue,” said Mrs. Helen Joseph, a Kaka indigene from Baruwa, Gashaka local government area of Taraba State. Mrs. Joseph, 36, has spent only two weeks in Mayo-Sina, but she said she is making it. “I realised N10,000 the first day I arrived here,” she told The Nation. She said she heard the news from neighbours and decided to come and witness what was happening in the area. But since coming, she said she is no longer thinking of leaving.

Michael Akura, 47, is Tiv from Benue State. He said he also heard the interesting gist about the place and decided to go there. Akura who has completed a month in the Blue Village described the local mining business as lucrative.

Hamidu Umar, 42, is a local miner from Sokoto. He was seen at the Blue Vllage with his son and three of his brothers searching for precious stones. He said he has been in the business for 18 years, from which he takes care of his wife and other family members. He said he has got more than N5 million since he arrived the Blue village in March.

Money spinners

The Nation also spoke to the buyers who are referred to as “dealers.” There are two types of dealers. There are middlemen or agents who buy directly from the miners -referred to as labourers. The middlemen sell to the main dealers who have come from different parts of the continent.

Hamasumo Salihu, 45, is another veteran dealer in local mining. He said for the past 15 years he has not done any other business than mining. “This is what I have been doing as a source of living for the past 15 years,” he said. He said he had ventured into local mining just to keep body and soul together. But along the line his luck shone and he achieved a lot from the business. Sitting next to Salihu were two other dealers: Mustapha Aliyu, 28, and Ismaila Gidado, 25. Aliyu and Gidado came into the diamond field one day in July and since then have become partners in the business of buying and reselling precious stones.

[b]The cost of diamond depends on its quality. Quality here is determined by its purity, size and colour. The blue diamond, for instance, is more expensive than the white or green diamond. One gram of pure blue can cost from N200, 000 to N1million, depending on its quality and the bargaining forces and type of dealer involved. Abdulkadri Ibrahim, 33, who has 14 year experience in the business said a single stone costs more than tiny diamonds assembled together, even if they weigh the same grams. The market theory of demand and supply also works here. So the cost of diamond in Mayo-Sina also depends on bargaining and purchasing powers as well as the eagerness of the labourer to sell his commodity. One labourer had sold a diamond weighing 59 grams to an agent for N8 million who later resold it for N20 million. The highest sale has been N32 million by a young man of less than 20 years. Eye-witnesses said the buyer had even enticed him with a Kia Jeep gift before buying the commodity for N32 million. Many others have also made between N500,000 and N2 million. Another woman sold tiny diamonds weighing 89.3 grams for N200,000.[/b]

Looking at the site, you will think at least 20 bulldozers are at work. No, the miners are using blunt implements such as hoe, digger and bare hands to dig the earth in search of the precious stones. The cold weather provides a clement atmosphere for miners to work throughout the day.

Many of the miners and dealers had gone for Sallah break when The Nation Correspondent visited the site last week. Those who have become residents of Mayo-Sina said the place is usually so crowded that people walk sideways. “If you had come here before Sallah, and you miss a partner two steps behind you, he would not be able to locate you,” one resident said.

Part of the population, sources said, come from other neighbouring areas like Gembu and Nguroje to work and go home every day, while others have become permanent residents in Mayo-Sina. The place has become a tourist destination where other people go to find out what is going on there.

Speaking to The Nation, the people of Mayo-Sina have called on the attention of the state and federal government to come to their aid, by providing them with mineral deposits exploration and mining devices. They want clinics, schools and other basic social amenities.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/18-hours-in-tarabas-diamond-fields/

one of those hidden towns in nigeria.

All this writeup and no pictures?!

powerblaze:
All this writeup and no pictures?!

I tire o.

Reminds me of the movie blood Diamonds where they shot a lot of nigga. I see a blood diamond case scenario happening there if the military do no take u the initiative to protect the miners.

powerblaze:
All this writeup and no pictures?!

You would have to pay a visit urself if you want pictorial evidence. There are hundreds of undeveloped mining towns littered all over the length an breadth of nigeria. I visited a few back in 2009, it was a eye opener to the fact that nigeria is very..very blessed.We just need to put our heads together and make the country great once more.

overhypedsteve:
No pics?

powerblaze:
All this writeup and no pictures?!

updated

The irony of this all is that the Northerners are allowed to mine their minerals themselves, make as much money as they like without paying a dime to the Federal purse and at the same time, getting regular monthly allocation from Niger Delta crude proceeds while the Niger deltans do not even have access to the oil in their back yard.

rozayx5:





updated

A picture of the sprawling town would have been more appropriate. Nevertheless, this is some wonderful discovery. The people should be careful though. Lead poisoning could be as fatal as ebola.

powerblaze:
All this writeup and no pictures?!

Is it pix u are talking about. What of what these locals are doing to the environment. Have u asked urself what uncontrolled mining would cause like erosion due to deforestation, landslides e.t.c. Besides who owns claims to those lands thsee people are digging on?

Dusting my shovel taraba here i come

wonderful.
locating hidden treasures

treasure hunt state of mind

If you Have ever heard of artisinal mining then you will understand ur ignorance

Sunnybobo3:
The irony of this all is that the Northerners are allowed to mine their minerals themselves, make as much money as they like without paying a dime to the Federal purse and at the same time, getting regular monthly allocation from Niger Delta crude proceeds while the Niger deltans do not even have access to the oil in their back yard.

Sunnybobo3:
The irony of this all is that the Northerners are allowed to mine their minerals themselves, make as much money as they like without paying a dime to the Federal purse and at the same time, getting regular monthly allocation from Niger Delta crude proceeds while the Niger deltans do not even have access to the oil in their back yard.

That is why poverty will always rest in the North

To think they can cheat the federation and be blessed by God shows how foolish they are.





GEJ till 2019

Metallurgist:
If you Have ever heard of artisinal mining then you will understand ur ignorance

It is you who don't understand his view.


In the last Confab, Northerners opposed an increment of solid mineral derivation from 5% to 18% because they do not want the FG to exploit their resources after seeing how profitable it is.


So he isstalking from the political-economic angle


Now apologize to him

Metallurgist:
If you Have ever heard of artisinal mining then you will understand ur ignorance

It is you who don't understand his view.


In the last Confab, Northerners opposed an increment of solid mineral derivation from 5% to 18% because they do not want the FG to exploit their resources after seeing how profitable it is.


So he isstalking from the political-economic angle


Now apologize to him( sunnybobo3 )

Sunnybobo3:
The irony of this all is that the Northerners are allowed to mine their minerals themselves, make as much money as they like without paying a dime to the Federal purse and at the same time, getting regular monthly allocation from Niger Delta crude proceeds while the Niger deltans do not even have access to the oil in their back yard.

This NigerDelta Oil this, Oil that talk is getting boring. The presence of oil in that region has birthed a brain-dead, intellectually-challenged population. They are not interested in anything else, but oyel money just so they can use it 2 buy fast cars and bang supermodels.
See the Useless Monorail that that one called Amaechi is building in Port Harcourt. A monorail that leads to nowhere. Monumental waste. No vision what so ever!! Brain-dead! Why didn't he rather replicate Silicon Valley in Port Harcourt? Empower people technologically, and save money.

Metallurgist:
If you Have ever heard of artisinal mining then you will understand ur ignorance

You are the ignorant one here dude.

The laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vests all minerals in the hands of the Federal government. The Federal government is meant to issue mining licences, regulate the operations of these miners and proceeds from the mining activities remitted to the Federation account in form of taxes. While this is implemented in the oil industry, the government turns a blind eye to solid minerals which are bountiful in the Northern part of the country so that the Northerners mine their solid minerals, sell them and pocket the proceeds 100% without making the statutory remittance to the Federal purse. This they do in full glare of the public with little or no action by our security agencies.

This means that the Northerners are already controlling their resources. If that be the case, why should the Niger deltans not agitate for resource control?

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

I know of illegal gold mining in Osun State. Many secret millionaires. This blue diamond mining is also illegal and these people are having illegal fun. The same type we are having in Rivers and Bayelsa. Sharp guys will make billions before yawa gas.

abagoro:
I know of illegal gold mining in Osun State. Many secret millionaires. This blue diamond mining is also illegal and these people are having illegal fun. The same type we are having in Rivers and Bayelsa. Sharp guys will make billions before yawa gas.

hmm naija i hail

mkpakanaodogwu:
Dusting my shovel taraba here i come

Sunnybobo3:


You are the ignorant one here dude.

The laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vests all minerals in the hands of the Federal government. The Federal government is meant to issue mining licences, regulate the operations of these miners and proceeds from the mining activities remitted to the Federation account in form of taxes. While this is implemented in the oil industry, the government turns a blind eye to solid minerals which are bountiful in the Northern part of the country so that the Northerners mine their solid minerals, sell them and pocket the proceeds 100% without making the statutory remittance to the Federal purse. This they do in full glare of the public with little or no action by our security agencies.

This means that the Northerners are already controlling their resources. If that be the case, why should the Niger deltans not agitate for resource control?

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Last time I checked, a Nigerdeltan is the president of the country and has all the powers and security apparatus under him to stop the illegal mining. If he wants to develop the mining fields and send the money to the federation account, nobody will or can stop him. So bros quit your whining and start asking your president why he doesn't want to develop all the beautiful mining fields scattered all around the country, from coal in Enugu to tin and Columbite in Jos and gold in zanfara.

this naija sef. how can people be mining diamond or whatever natural resources illegally. Some miners even came from outside the country.

Hmmmm

Good development, I believe every part of the country has something to offer. They should also check Nasarawa State, there's a place that the Chinese have been digging up sand which many believe contains diamond and taking same to their country in the last 5years.

Soon, that place will become a death zone. Criminals will invade there and destabilize everything. The inhabitants need protection.

SkySpirit:
Good development, I believe every part of the country has something to offer. They should also check Nasarawa State, there's a place that the Chinese have been digging up sand which many believe contains diamond and taking same to their country in the last 5years.

Imagine! Oil exploration and our overdependence on it has made Nigeria forgo other natural resources. Foreigners come here and exploit us horribly!

Sunnybobo3:
The irony of this all is that the Northerners are allowed to mine their minerals themselves, make as much money as they like without paying a dime to the Federal purse and at the same time, getting regular monthly allocation from Niger Delta crude proceeds while the Niger deltans do not even have access to the oil in their back yard.

If you had read carefully, you would have noticed that the article suggested that everybody: Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and even foreigners from neighbouring countries, including the locals were all converging to the area.

Besides, the Niger Deltans you mentioned are similarly helping themselves to the oil (through illegal bunkering) just as these ppl are illegally mining for the minerals - pls be more objective and stop being biased.

rozayx5:


hmm naija i hail

I studied Mineral Resources Engineering at some point... Bro, the north is fvcking rich with this things. Forget all the naija delta or oil allocation. If you need solid minerals, the north got them in huge capacity.

The bad thing, as some have said, there are no effective policies in place and the mining industry in Nigeria is in comatose.

That's why those who studied the course often opt for geology or geophysics at Msc level.

2sExy1:
I studied Mineral Resources Engineering at some point... Bro, the north is fvcking rich with this things. Forget all the naija delta or oil allocation. If you need solid minerals, the north got them in huge capacity.

The bad thing, as some have said, there are no effective policies in place and the mining industry in Nigeria is in comatose.

That's why those who studied the course often opt for geology or geophysics at Msc level.

.

See, foreigners too, from all over West Africa, and they’re not being persecuted or hurt by Nigerians. Moreover, Nigerians aren’t hurting them though they’re misbehaving. Note- visiting a foreign Nation without the requisite papers and then going on to exploit their natural resources without permit is the epitome of behaving badly short of committing murder.