Chief bookseller at Mujaddadi Shehu Dan Fodiyo Friday mosque, Alhaji Mujitaba Musa Assada has described his profession as a “self-reliant” one because from selling books, he manages his nine-member family while expanding the business.
In an interview recently, Alhaji Assada spoke about the benefit of being entrepreneurial. “I have been in this business for 27 years and now I am 42 years old. It has been successful since I started the business, here (Sokoto). I buy the local books written by Sokoto caliphate scholars and then still go abroad to buy international books from there.”
Assada who is the chairman of booksellers in the Mosque however narrated his challenge. “Currently there is no trade in the markets, but they (sellers) sell books for N200,000; N180,000 or N150,000 daily depending on the situation.
“Any business has its problems. Our own challenge is that at times, we buy books at higher prices only to sell at lower prices.”
The book seller also said they travel as far as Saudi Arabia and Egypt to buy books, buying more books in Cairo where they are cheaper than in Mecca.
“We used to go to Egypt three times a year and once to Mecca, where we buy Qur’an and Hadith, and other great books from Islamic scholars.
“In Sokoto, we publish local books, others are taken abroad to be published and then returned to be sold. For now, due to the dying press in Zaria, Kano has taken over the market and you can get up to 20 million different books in the state,” he said.
The association’s chairman who specialises in selling Islamic books said that it is his family’s profession. “We grew up seeing our parents and grandparents doing it and we will not leave because it is useful. However, we have never been involved in any government subsidy programme; no one has spoken to us about technical support for our 82 members, which we believe can help us to expand the business and make it better positioned to create more jobs.
“We need help to grow our investment, there are people who need this business and we want the government to help us, “ he appealed.
