Kajola Market, Ayetoro Gbede in the Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, is constantly packed with activity every other five days, when market men and women from almost all across Kogi, Ekiti, and Ondo states congregate for the purpose of buying and selling.
The market men and women that patronize the market deal primarily in agricultural items, notably root crops, vegetables, processed food stuffs and grains amongst others.
On a certain market day in late February 2021, when a DAILY POST reporter paid a casual visit to the market, he observed a gang of youngsters subsequently identified as Tiv from Benue State.
On this particular day, the Tiv teenagers, dressed in t-shirts bearing the Tiv teenagers Association, Ijumu LGA, were in an evidently well-attended gathering at a corner of the vast market.
In other regions of the market are spots that have come to be known as yam depots, where trucks of all sizes are seen carrying healthy tubers of yam for shipment to other parts of the nation, mainly Lagos.
Sources in the town told this reporter that, in addition to yams, the village and others in Ijumu LGA have become commercial hubs for vegetables, cassava, and rice production, among other things. According to accounts, this is the result of Tiv youngsters bringing their farming skills and experience to the areas.
Chief Enoch Maiye, a community leader and sub-Obas in Ayetoro Gbede, ascribed his village’s newfound status to the arrival of Tiv people and how they were welcomed and accommodated by the community.
“The Ayetoro community and Ijumu people in general are quite hospitable, which is what we have offered to Tiv people, making them feel at home and encouraging them to continue farming. They feel at home in our communities and are highly accepted by everyone. “You cannot take that away from their success,” he stated.
