Lovers of arts and crafts would certainly find a visit to this quaint village both interesting and entertaining. Welcome to Ushafa pottery business centre located at the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. Ushafa is one of the Gbagyi villages on the outskirts of Abuja, where the business of making pottery is part of virtually every household.

At Ushafa traditional ways of pottery making passed down from generation to generation among the Gbagyi people, coexist with modern techniques used at the pottery centre to produce various art and clay products.

Ushafa also goes by the name 'Bill Clinton Village' derived from the then American President's visit to the community in 2000. During the visit, Clinton was accorded the traditional title of Danmasanin Ushafa.

But if Ushafa derives its uniqueness from the former American President's visit, what makes it unique is the Pottery Centre located right in the heart of the village. Indeed, the centre which was established in 1991 under the Better Life for Rural Women programme of the deceased former first lady, Mariam Babangida, is a melting pot of pottery business within and around the federal capital territory.

It was set up to give a more modern setting for an art as old as the Gbagyi people themselves as well as a centre for skills acquisition. Apart from the rural women, the skills acquisition programme at Ushafa pottery centre is targeted at the youths, most of who are from educational institutions from within and outside Abuja.

When this Reporter visited Ushafa at the weekend there was a beehive of activities as women, children and the youths busied themselves making decorative and household items from clay which they obtain from Zhigogi, River located about six kilometres away from the centre.

Saratu Simon, a middle aged woman, is the head of the female traditional potters at the centre. She told this reporter that she has lost memory of when she started the pottery business.

"I inherited pottery making from my great grandparents and I have been using the proceeds from it to support by aged husband", Said Saratu with a grin on her sweat soaked face.

Saratu who took this reporter through the traditional process of pottery making said they [women] trek a long distance to the Zhigogyi River to obtain clay-the raw material for pottery making.

She laments that patronage for their products at the centre had been on the decline in recent time. The clay products at the centre are for different purposes and they come in different shapes and sizes which determine their cost, she said. For instance, flower pots costs between N500 to N1000 depending on the size while the water pots are sold between N400 to N500.

But Saratu, like several other female potters at the centre, is not in a hurry to quit the pottery business because "through it I take care of my children's school demands and support my husband.

Silvia Simon, another female potter at the centre said she learnt the business from her grandparents. She produces five pots in a day and an average of about twenty pots in a month. These she sell to interested buyers and uses the proceeds to support her husband in taking care of their children who are in school.

"The pottery business used to be very profitable because we were having a lot of customers but the patronage is now on the decline. Our customers were mostly foreign tourists but nowadays they only come here to watch us at work without buying our products", Silvia said. As she busied herself putting finishing touches to her pot Silvia adds: "in spite of that low patronage we are now experiencing, we cannot abandon the trade because it is our only means of survival."

Saidu Abubakar is the chief porter who supervises others on both the traditional and modern ways of pottery making at the centre. As he takes this Reporter through the modern process of pottery making Saidu said the centre has trained countless number of women, children and youth in pottery making.

"The women from this community were formerly doing pottery at home. But with the establishment of this centre, they have been introduced to the modern techniques. We also train students from various institutions from across the country who come here to learn pottery making skills", he said.

Among the pottery products produced at the centre using modern methods are, bottle vases, candle stands, vases of different sizes as well as complete dinner sets. Like the traditionally made pottery products at Ushafa, the modern ones also come in different shapes and sizes which attract different prizes.

But unlike the locally made pottery products at the centre, the modern ones attracts higher prices, ranging from N1,000 to N60,000 depending on the size and art work.

The different ways the clay is produced also differ. Whilst the traditional method involves the use of pure clay, water and sometimes pieces of discarded pottery, the modern process involves a variety of chemical additions. For instance, kaolin [China clay] is added to the normal clay. The ratio of the clay to kaolin is usually 70 to 30 or 60 to 40, depending on the finished product.

Water is then used to properly blend the clay with the kaolin after which the mixture is poured into porous sacks to let out excess water. The mixture is then poured out of the sacks in low circular, rectangular or square structures called clay beds. The clay beds are built in sizeable airy rooms to enable the clay dry naturally as most of the remaining water is drained out through the bottom of the clay beds.

The clay is then moulded into various household objects as well as decorative pieces which are commonly found in different parts of Abuja and beyond. After the moulded objects get dried, they are placed in Klin and fired.

The Klin is a structure made out of insulation bricks that conserve heat as a smouldering fire is made within it to bake the clay so it hardens. The temperature within the Klin may reach up to 1100 degrees centigrade while the pottery is baked for up to about five hours and left to cool for another 12 hours or more. They are then taken out for glazing and painting.

Saidu Abubakar, the chief porter told this reporter that government is encouraging the participation of private investor in the development of the Pottery Centre at Ushafa so as to preserve the age-long pottery making heritage of the people.