It is a cluster of makeshift structures crowned with rusty iron sheets that provides shelter for patrons at the Abuja burukutu market.Directly overlooking the community’s cemetery by the left-hand side, Bakassi is the baptismal name given to the drinking joint by locals who are pre-dominantly, the Gbagyi speaking people of the FCT.Measuring about 100×100 square metres, Bakassi is undisputably one of the biggest burukutu markets in the FCT.Burukutu is a popular alcoholic drink among peoples of the middle belt region of Nigeria. It is a local brew made from fermented sorghum and other proteinous grains. The age-long drink, also known as BKT is highly intoxicating given the fermentation processes it undergoes.
From burukutu comes another brew of alcoholic drink known as pito. While pito, a sweetened variant and bye-product, is usually filtered off from the top, burukutu is the part that settles at the base of the brew mix, the sediment and heavier in concentration. Pito is believed to be purer and sweeter than burukutu since it is lighter and like the refined part of the brew. In any case, these twin local drinks are highly intoxicating, but relatively cheap.
With N30 to N50, connoisseurs are assured of a modest calabash of burukutu. Avid drinkers can go for about 20 litres can which doesn’t cost so much compared to other alcoholic drinks, depending on the bargaining and the seller’s mind frame.
When Abuja Metro visited the market, the regulars at the brewery crowded the place seated in groups, forming a ring round buckets of burukutu, drinking amid wild laughter and dancing.
Four giant trees line up along the fence that demarcates the market with a makeshift school building. On top of these trees were birds of the earth that equally registered their presence at the joint, singing and flapping their wings in ecstasy as if taking part in the alcohol consumption.
The red earth on the walls of the haphazard structures only exposed the fact that the buildings are built with local mud blocks, although some were plastered with mortar.
Women were busy at the brewing spots just few meters away from the shops. Here, the process is strenuous. Giant aluminium pots containing fermented sorghum and water are balanced over huge tongues of flame from burning firewood; the women stir the content with long wooden ladles.
As they do, they engaged in some discussions of interest or arguments over some contending issues. Almost all of these women consume the drinks too as they test the samples to know when they are done. To them, there is no time for the mix to be properly brewed. Only their experienced test buds and eyes determine when the job is done and the sample ready for serving.
Majority of the people at the market are peasant farmers, although some elite civil servants, businessmen and politicians also patronize the market which usually closes at the wee-hours. Yet others buy and take to home for personal consumption or entertainment for home guests and for ceremonies.
While some start their days here, others end theirs at the market where they would drink to stupor and stagger their ways home. It seems like a workplace where young people resume work in the morning and close for the day at night.
At another gathering, at the foot of one of the giant trees, some consumers entertained themselves singing local tunes, playing local xylophone along with corresponding local dance steps.
Their song depicts how deep they have fallen in love and addiction to the brews; and they say: “Whether it is burukutu or pito, we shall drink.”
Dog meat, pork delicacies
Abuja Metro observed that the drinks were served with special delicacy, including dog meat, pork or spiced vegetable.
Given the raw materials used in its production, burukutu and pito drinks can be nutritious if produced under hygienic conditions.
Although, the environment at the Bakassi market is to some extent clean, hordes of flies and other insects hover and perch all over the place, including drinking calabash and cups. It is the more reason most consumers usually cover their drinking containers with some plastic caps.
Kolanuts, cigarettes and local natural libido enhancers are some common commodities hawked around the market. Abuja Metro was informed that some women of easy virtues are also available for a price.
Though burukutu is the dominant alcoholic drink at the market, beer is also sold there for those that don’t drink the local product.
Wazobia shop
A popular place is the Wazobia shop, a small cubicle that can only accommodate about five plastic tables. Gins and local spirits are also sold at this market that also has barbers shops and a music retail shop.
One of the brewers/sellers explained that some patrons that do not have money are involved in some form of pranks to have their way and get some free gourds of pito or burukutu.
For instance, they move from one shop to another demanding for ‘test’ until they are tipsy then they go home without buying even a calabash. Also, some civil servants squander their salary on drinks the same day they receive their pay, seller said.
Those who spoke with Abuja Metro were delighted about the existence of such a market in Abuja.
One of them, Dung, simply said: “Instead of paying N200 for a bottle of beer, that same amount will give me over 5 litres of burukutu or pito.”
Another consumer, a civil servant who is a regular visitor to the market said “these drinks are part and parcel of our culture. We use drinking sessions to discuss and settle some of the problems in our communities.”
He continued: “Burukutu and pito have a strong unifying factor. These drinks create a major platform for the people to interact…helps the rural dwellers to socialize and relax after work.”
For Luka, another connoisseur, pito tastes like Heineken beer, which is why he goes for it any day, anytime. He says he prefers to describe pito as feminine, while burukutu is masculine.
Alhassan, a farmer argued that burukutu and pito are medicinal because of its base material. According to him, the drinks are used in treatment of ailments such as sore throat, acute headache, migraine and acute fever.”
Ayuba, a night guard told Abuja Metro that their forefathers took the local brew but nothing, and lived in splendid health; they lived long. He said that their ancestors “consumed a lot of burukutu and lived normal lives…many of them lived well beyond 100 years.”
Mrs. Hanatu, a seller quipped that: “It is from these drinks that I pay my children’s school fees and feed my family since my husband’s salary is not much and always delayed.”
It was Mr. Pam who ended our visit to Bakassi with his submissions that: “If na oyibo dey make burukutu and pito, dem for don improve, rebrand and repackage it to be hot cake internationally and a huge foreign exchange earner for this country. Nigeria, wake up and realise your potentials.”
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