Nigerian watch repairman goes missing in Kaduna

The sound of ticking is the predominant sound inside Bala Muhammad’s tiny watch repair shop, tucked away on a bustling street in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna.

It’s like a time capsule from another era with countless clocks hanging on the walls and small tables in the entrance filled with his tools and clocks in various states of repair.

His store is located on one of Kaduna’s busiest shopping streets – nestled among construction material suppliers.

Until a few years ago, he still had a steady stream of customers stopping by to repair their watches or install new batteries.

“There were times when I got more than 100 watch repair jobs in one day,” the 68-year-old man, better known as Baba Bala, told the BBC.

But he worried that his skills – taught to him and his brother by their father – would fade away.

“There are days when there are no customers at all,” he said, blaming people using their mobile phones to check the time for his drop in transactions.

“Phones and technology have taken away the only job I know and that makes me very sad.”

But for more than 50 years, the watch boom has helped families make a comfortable living.

“I built a house and educated my children with the money I earned from repairing watches,” he said.

His father used to travel around West Africa for six months at a time – from Senegal to Sierra Leone – to repair watches.

At one time, Baba Bala lived in the capital, Abuja, where many of the country’s upper class lived – and he made a good living taking care of watches for the wealthy.

He reckons his best customers are top officials of the state-owned oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

Some have Rolexes – these can vary widely in price but an average one costs around $10,000 (£8,000).

He said they were beautiful – and encapsulated his love for all watches from Switzerland. He himself owns a Longines, another prestigious Swiss brand, which he only takes off when he goes to bed.

“If I walk out of the house and forget it, I have to go back and get it. I won’t be without it – that’s how important it is to me.”

In his shop, he has a beautiful large framed photo of his father, Abdullahi Bala Isah, taken as he looked up from his desk chair a few years before his death in 1988.

Isah was a famous watchmaker and his acquaintances in Freetown and Dakar would call him on trips when they had enough watches for him to look after.

He also regularly visits Ibadan, a metropolis in southwestern Nigeria – a literary center and home to the country’s first university.

Baba Bala says that no one in the family knows where his father learned his profession – but it was probably during the British colonial period.

He himself was born four years before Nigeria gained independence in 1960.

“My father was a famous watchmaker and his skills took him many places. He taught me when I was young and I am proud to have followed in his footsteps.”

Baba Bala became deeply interested in understanding the intricacies of the wheels and levers inside watches when he was 10 – and was delighted to discover that as he grew older, it became a source of spending money. Abundant snacks.

“When my classmates went bankrupt in middle school, I had money to spend because I repaired watches.”

He remembers his skills even impressing a teacher: “He had problems with some watches and took them to many places but they couldn’t fix them. When he told me about it, I was able to fix all three of those watches.” see the next day.”

At one time, watches were considered as important as clothes in Nigeria and many people felt lost without them.

Kaduna used to have a dedicated area for many watch sellers and repairers to set up their businesses.

“This place has been demolished and is now empty,” Baba Bala said sadly, adding that most of his colleagues are dead or have given up the business.

One of those who admitted defeat was Isa Sani.

“Going to the repair shop every day means sitting around and not having a job – that’s why I decided to stop doing it in 2019,” the 65-year-old told the BBC.

“I have land and my children help me farm on it – that’s how I can get by.”

“I don’t think wristwatches will come back,” he lamented.

The young men working at the construction supply store next to Baba Bala also agreed.

Faisal Abdulkarim and Yusuf Yusha’u, both 18 years old, have never owned watches because they have never seen a need to use them.

“I can check the time on my phone whenever I want and it’s always with me,” one person said.

Dr. Umar Abdulmajid, a communications lecturer at Yusuf Maitama University in Kano, believes things can change.

“Conventional watches are definitely dying, and with them jobs like watch repair, but with smartwatches, I think they could come back.

“The fact that a smartwatch can do more than just show you the time means it can continue to appeal to people.”

He suggests that those who repair old watches learn to grapple with this new technology: “If you don’t move with the times you will be left behind.”

But Baba Bala, who returned to Kaduna from Abuja to open the shop about 20 years ago because he wanted to be close to his growing family, says this does not concern him.

“This is what I love to do, I consider myself a watch doctor – plus I’m not young anymore.”

His close-knit family remains loyal to his profession – his wife and all five of his children wear watches and often visit him at the shop, where some of the watches on display are relics forgotten by old customers.

“Some people brought them years ago and didn’t come back to get them,” he said.

But Baba Bala refused to give up and remained open every day – his eldest daughter, who ran a successful clothing store nearby, helped him pay the bills when his business slowed.

With nothing much to keep him busy – or customers’ gossip and chatter, Baba Bala says he now often listens to the company radio and enjoys Hausa language programs on BBC World Service.

In the afternoon, his youngest son, Al-Ameen, came to visit after school – his only child who showed interest in learning the art of watch repair. But he wouldn’t encourage him to take it up as a profession.

He was pleased when the 12-year-old boy told him he wanted to become a pilot – continuing the family tradition of seeing more of the world.

In the cockpit, he will be faced with many watch-like dials – not unlike his father’s workshop.