National Point recently published a special report which highlighted the multi-dimensional poverty status of Rivers State despite its ranking as the second richest state in Nigeria with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $51.529 billion and a per capita income of $5,949 (PPP) according to BudgIT ‘State of States 2022 Edition.’ The state which is ranked behind Lagos which has a GDP of $102 billion (nominal) $267 billion (PPP), received over N1trillion in the last four years.
As a follow up to the report, National Point paid a visit to some slum communities where the poorest of the poor are domiciled. This is to gauge their living condition which has further deteriorated due to the current economic downturn. As part of efforts to also determine the realities of the multi-dimensional status of the state, our correspondent also conducted a quick on-the ground assessment of the presence of the sustainable development goals in the communities, especially in line with billions of dollars accrued to the state through FAAC and IGR in the last four years.
One of the communities visited was the Ikpukulu Community at New Road Borokiri. Ikpukulu is a small island with an approximate population of 11,000 household according to the Community chairman. Apart from the fishing potentials of the community, the area is also a busy site for crude oil theft and illegal refinery locally known as ‘Kpo-fire.’
Madam Iyoyo Agnes stays in a one-room apartment and shares a toilet and bathroom with 13 other households. The house is prone to perennial flooding which is locally called ‘Big Water.’ The “big water wey come last month na di biggest. All our things spoil; the water enter every house,” she stated. While she spoke, two other community members who sat beside her nodded their heads profusely in agreement with her story.
Madam Iyoyo is a fish seller who is also a resident of the community. In a chat with our correspondent, she lamented the decline in fish sales as a result of the daunting economic challenges. She informed that her fish business was handed over to her by her mother whom she said used it to train her and her brothers and sisters. She however lamented that she could no longer use the same business to train her own children as a result of the excruciating economic meltdown. “If na before, when you buy better fish you go dey dance dey go market because you know how much you go make after you sell am! But now, we no understand wetin dey happen again; if my mama dey alive she for ask me if this na the business wey she use train all her children.”
Madam Iyoyo who, bemoaned the negative impact of insecurity within the waterways on her business, said, “Dem dey worry our fishermen well-well. Sometimes wen dem catch our fishermen dem go take deir engine. No be only dem dey worry us; all this kpo-fire thing dey worry us too. Because of kpofire we no dey fit get better fish again.”
She regretted that in order to augment the competing family needs, she now sells other petty soup items every evening.
When asked how much she makes a day she said, “In this my fish business, if na before, when you buy better catfish, you go make like N16,000-N20,000 a day. But now, if you make N5000, make you happy; and sometimes too we make losses wey take all the money we you don save. Sometimes if your fish supplier engine spoil or if anything happen to him boat, you get to support am because if you no support am, him no go sell you market again.”
Madam Iyoyo’s story is similar to Mrs. Boma Charles-Jumbo’s, who is a kpo-fire dealer. She said, “Me and my son were forced into kpofire business because there is nothing to do.” When asked if they can compare the danger associated with the business to the gains, she said, “Every business get risk. Without this kpofire we cannot feed our children. We are not happy doing it, it is because there is no job.”
The story is the same in Egbema Waterfront community. The youth president, Mr. Herbert Alaibi, informed that most of the youths in the community are either “into kpofire or transport business.” He also informed that although some of them are graduates, the only way they make themselves productive is to “engage in what is available.” According to the youth president, apart from poverty, the community suffers from high rate of teenage pregnancy and drug abuse.
He said “If you go round now, you will see that most of the small-small girls are pregnant. That is because they are not going to school; their parents cannot send them to school and because of that, they are now following cultists.”
To the Ama chairman, Mr. Marshall Oriso, there is nothing like government presence in the community. He stated that the few development projects in the community were achieved either through community efforts or donations from philanthropic or Non-Governmental Organizations. Pointing at the community toilet, Mr. Jonathan informed that it was built by an NGO called Support Initiative for Sustainable Development through a European Union Funded Malaria Control Project. “We don’t have government presence here; in fact I don’t think they know that we exist. Any project you see here is either done by us or given to us by NGOs. For example, the free medical you just witnessed here was done by the Nigerian Navy through one of our daughters who works there. They come three times a year, and as you can see, the elderly people are very happy because if not for initiatives like this, where will they get money to get treatment?”
“That toilet was also given to us by SISDEV. They built it when they came for anti-malaria campaign. Are these not the things government should be doing for us?” When told that National Point had earlier this year taken up the challenges of the plight of some slum communities with the Office of the Mayor of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, he retorted “You just dey waste your time. How many times have they asked us to tell them our challenges especially during elections? They will not come, you will not see them!” he declared.
However, Mr Jonathan Nicholas, secretary of Acheseomie Polo and member of the Elders Council of Pere Ama, (Town) said the effects of multi-dimensional poverty in the community are visible in the six communities that constitute the town. He informed that despite the large population of the area which he puts at over 50,000, “There is no single government presence in the communities.” He said none of the communities has a single health care centre, government owned primary or secondary school, market, or good roads.
In his words, “Pere Ama is one of the largest towns in Port Harcourt Ward 7 but, we are the most marginalized in terms of development and government presence. “For instance: no community in this Ama has a health centre, government school or even market. Even the road we are using, we wrote series of letters for several years before NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) came to our rescue. As I speak to you, the part the NDDC constructed is even bad while the other part is impassable anytime rain falls.”
Mr. Jonathan further informed that the effects of multi-dimensional poverty in the area include: cultism, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, juvenile insanity, theft, thuggery and kpofire. “Because there are no livelihood programmes to empower the people, especially the youths, there is high rate of criminal activities in the area. Cultism in the communities is a major challenge. There is also high rate of drug abuse among youths, theft, young girls getting pregnant and also yahoo-yahoo.”
“If you visit all the communities in the Ama, you will not find any drinking water. Any water that is drinkable is drawn from New Road or Almarine; even that one is not safe to drink because the water pipes are channeled through the same drainages that are not flowing. If the pipe burst and the owner is not aware, the water will mix with the drainage water.”
The community leader further stated that the communities are also politically marginalized despite the huge number of households and individual population. He said going by the last community housing census, the entire six communities have over fifteen thousand households with a minimum of fifty thousand people. Inspite of this number, Mr. Jonathan said the town does not have a “single polling unit.”
The findings and testimonies of community members, corroborate recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which indicates that out of the 62.4 percent of people who are multi-dimensionally poor in the state, 73.1 per cent accounts for rural dwellers. The multi-dimensional poverty in the state and other Niger Delta states have sparked national debates on the efficient appropriation of the 13 per cent derivation funds which was intended to improve the living conditions of the people in the region.
The derivation debates have thrown up issues of accountability, corruption and misappropriation by governors in the states. In Rivers State, there are still issues around lack of transparent procurement and budgetary processes that lead to capital expenditures which have has gulped huge sums of money. Apart from some notable infrastructural projects that serve as landmark projects under the Nyesom Wike administration, there is a wide gap between funds received by the administration and the living standards of indigenes of the state. This is even as the poverty status of the people is further exacerbated by the lack of clear actionable response to the rising cost of living occasioned by the removal of petroleum subsidy.
The deepening poverty is, however, a sharp contrast to the rich potentials of the state. For instance, according to data obtained from Statisense, the state received a total of N287.98 billion from the Federation Account between January and August 2023. This is in addition to internally generated revenues and grants. The state is also the largest economy in the South-South geo-political zone.
Inspite of its rich profile, it is however the second most indebted state in the region according to the national Debt Management Office (DMO). Data released by the DMO showed that the state has a domestic debt profile of of N225.5billion and an external debt profile of $87.1m. The state also recently borrowed an additional N200bn loan which the government said will be used for a Ring-Road capital project across six local government areas.
Beyond the lack of actionable response to the escalating poverty crisis in the state, the challenge has also been attributed to the lack of safety nets for the vulnerable population. While the federal government introduced policies like trader money for the poorest of the poor and school feeding programmes to ameliorate the hardship in the land, there is hardly any implementable policy framework that targets the welfare of vulnerable groups in the state. This is more so as the state revenue profile improves by virtue of the removal of petroleum subsidies.
An assessment of the United Nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the communities also shows that the state is lagging behind in the achievement of the goals in rural and slum communities. The SDGs provided for 17 developmental frameworks with 169 indicators. The framework which is divided into specific pillars has a 15 year actionable timeline.
The 17 goals when summarized include, ending poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. Specifically, achieving the goals would also mean eliminating multidimensional poverty in all forms and across all classes of society. However, with just seven years to the end of the SDGs, several indicators show that the state is yet to make any serious in-road in actualizing them especially in the rural communities. For instance, one of the key indicators includes ‘By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
Going by the indicators, the Rivers State has failed in line with the NBS data which revealed that over 63 per cent of Rivers people are multi-dimensionally poor while 73 per cent of those affected are rural and slum dwellers. According to the data, those affected by multi-dimensional poverty live below $1 per day.
Our visit to the communities also showed that many slum communities lack basic social amenities such as drinking water, toilet and sanitation facilities, health centres and well-functioning government owned schools. Our correspondent also found evidence of cultism, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and appreciable number of out of school children.
