These days, it is increasingly becoming common to see young men and even women scavenging for used mental containers from refuse dumps for onward sale to scrap dealers. As the unemployment rate escalates, more Nigerians are finding succour in the business hitherto given less attention.
Baban Bola in Hausa and Akpakala-ti-gwom in Ibo, those involved in the business are daily smiling to banks. For Mallam Muhammad Ibrahim, managing director, Kesto Nigeria Enterprises, who also doubles as chairman, Suleja Scrap Dealers Association, dealing on scraps is a highly lucrative business that has enabled him to carter for the needs of his aged mother, two wives, four children as well as other relatives. According to Ibrahim, an indigene of Suleja, a town which serves as gate way to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, it took him three years to learn the trade of selling scrap metals from his master, who is still operating at Dei-Dei, a satellite town in the FCT. He told this magazine in an interview: “I deal on scrap metals such as iron, aluminum and copper. Apart from supplies from those who pick the items from refuse dumps, I buy products from technicians. In most cases, I purchase condemned engines as well as vehicles which, are subsequently slashed to pieces for sale to melting companies in Lagos.”
Checks conducted by this magazine in and around the Federal Capital Territory revealed that motor mechanics and other artisans are also keying into scrap business as they now ensure that condemned engines and other vehicle parts are assembled for sale to recycling agents. 
Interest in the business is recording new entrants as more people are taking part as a way of complementing their income. The growing popularity of the business has led to the springing up new scrap collection sites.              
Mallam Ibrahim told this magazine that there are 38 registered members of the group in Suleja with more people waiting to join. He also said that operating on a large scale requires huge capital. For instance, it costs N130, 000 to rent a trailer to convey scraps from Suleja to Lagos. A scrap metal, according to him, is sold for N40, 000, while a kilogram of copper goes for N700; aluminum N130 and steel N20.
Newsworld observed that in some cases aluminum scraps are sold to blacksmiths who in turn produce local pots and other household utensils from such materials. Sani Abubakar, a blacksmith whose shop is located behind IBB market Suleja, told this magazine that the items he produces from scrap aluminum are sold in other parts of Niger State as well as the FCT. According to Abubakar, big restaurants are among major customers that patronise him. “I sell locally fabricated spoons, buckets, pots and other kitchen utensils,” he said, adding that he was introduced into the trade by a friend after several attempts to get a job failed. 
Abubakar, a secondary school certificate holder, proudly stated that “at times in a month I realise over N50, 000 as profit. Besides, occasionally my profit margin goes up to about N100, 000 when bakery operators engage me in the production of baking pans.”
Behind the popular IBB market, Suleja blacksmiths, who also double as scrap dealers, showcase their ingenuity to beat hard times and ability to produce household items from scraps through the array of their product on display. The metal scrap dealers operate side by side with their used plastic and bottle containers recycling agents in the area. This category of scrap dealers more often than not engage in trade by batter, like exchanging condemned rubber footwear for new plastic cup, bucket or any other container.
Sani Musa, a plastic recycling agent in a chat with Newsworld in Suleja, said that he has been in the business for about 15 years and during this period, he has witnessed tremendous successes, moving from “mere scavenging for plastic and bottles to a major dealer supplying to companies in Kano.”
Keen observers averred that since the 1980s, trade in all forms of scrap metals, plastic and glass materials have been on the rise in Nigeria. 
Despite the thriving trade, metal scraps consisting of broken down ships, boats, barges, heavy duty trucks among others constitutes nuisance to the nation’s environment. However, the metal sector in Nigeria, experts posit, is yet to reach its full potential in the development and consumption of metallic products such as iron, steel, copper, aluminum, tin, lead and zinc. Judging from current estimates, the annual per capita consumption of steel and aluminum in the country is about 10kg and 0.3kg respectively. The corresponding world average in respect of both metals is 130kg and 5 kg respectively. The metal policy of the federal government is geared towards the need to develop a vibrant metal sector, where government will play the role of sole administrator and regulator with the private sector as owner-operator with a view to enabling the country become a major regional and world producer of aluminum and steel products, leading to a production target of 500,000 tons of primary aluminum and 12 million tons of steel products by the year 2020. 

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