For more than a thousand years incense, popularly called \u201cKa\u2019aji\u201d in Kanuri and also known as \u201cTuraren Wuta\u201d, has been used by the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab people \u2013 and some other tribes across the Lake Chad Basin \u2013 and is considered an important part of their culture.<\/p>\n
The fragrances are processed from raw scented wood, such as sandalwood, mixed with perfumed oils.<\/p>\n
Borno State, and particularly Maiduguri, is recognised as the centre for incense making and for many it has become a profitable business.<\/p>\n
But, recently, the price of the ingredients used to make incense had spiked.<\/p>\n
Hassan Mohammed, an incense trader at Maiduguri\u2019s Monday Market, said raw woods were imported by dealers from countries such as India, Saudi Arabia and Morocco and the oil perfumes were brought from Dubai, Mumbai and China.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to buy one bag of wood for 65,000 naira, but now a bag costs 180,000 naira. People are still buying it but the market for it now is much lower than before. We used to sell the products across Nigeria and Chad but because of the hike in prices, we sell it only in Maiduguri now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the insurgency, which had made transportation difficult between the countries, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, had affected many businesses and the economy as a whole.<\/p>\n
According to culture, apart from the bride price \u2013 the dowry \u2013 paid by the groom, he was also expected to give money to the bride\u2019s parents so that they could buy incense for the wedding.<\/p>\n
Incense is used to freshen homes and neutralise odours and to perfume clothes. Some believe it protects homes from evil spirits. And others believe it is an aphrodisiac.<\/p>\n
There are different varieties, with each serving a different purpose. Gap Gap has been described as a fine fragrance \u201cthat sparks memories and the joys of yesteryear\u201d; Hawi, some say, has \u201can unmistakable aroma of authenticity\u201d; Halut is \u201cdeeply woody\u201d; Sandal flex \u201cmakes you and your home smell heavenly\u201d; Kus Kus is used \u201cfor the body, clothes and home\u201d; Dambu is \u201centicing\u201d and Khumra \u201cbrings calmness, it clears the head, it spikes the libido, bringing love and warmth to the man and home\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hafsat Ahmad Sharubutu, a regular user of incense, said: \u201cThe prices of incense have hit so hard that I cannot buy as many as I did before. I used to pay between 1,000 naira to 2,000 naira. But now, for good quality incense, I have to spend 5,000 naira and upwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halima M Baba, a businesswoman who has spent 33 years making and selling incense in Maiduguri, said: \u201cI have benefited for many years from my incense business and have always made a good profit from selling my products across all the states in Nigeria and beyond. But now prices have skyrocketed. I used to pay 600 naira for Halut, now it costs 2,500 naira; Hawi used to cost 800 naira, now it costs 2,500 naira and Gap-Gap use to be 600 naira and now it costs 1,200 naira. I also used to pay 7,000 naira for one bag of Furanum but that now costs 30,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the increase in costs could affect contracts she made with the parents of brides \u2013 prospective grooms had to give money to the bride\u2019s parents to pay for incense. \u201cA contract can cost anything from 100,000 naira to 250,000 naira and upwards. It is part of the culture but at the rate this is going it might be out of reach for some parents and grooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many had abandoned the business because of the increase in prices and low profits. But Baba said she had no intension of quitting her business, even though her customers always complained about how expensive her incense was.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe inherited incense \u2013 it is part of our culture, part of our everyday life. We are proud of the perfumed incense we make and use. But not everyone can afford such high prices, which has prevented some women from using incense anymore. If the prices continue to spike, it will have a grave effect on the future of incense makers, sellers and buyers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baba said dealers in incense ingredients had to reduce prices to preserve the age-old culture of incense, \u201cnot only in Borno State but also in many regions of the Lake Chad Basin\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For more than a thousand years incense, popularly called \u201cKa\u2019aji\u201d in Kanuri and also known as \u201cTuraren Wuta\u201d, has been used by the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab people \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":20433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26858,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20431\/revisions\/26858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}