We don’t want to die before FG starts paying N5, 000

LG chairs, others flee homes for hotels to evade poverty-stricken citizens
•Our pains, how we survive – Common people
UYO—THE economic downward spiral in the country has drastically hit underprivileged widows and youths at the oil-bearing Akwa Ibom State, who, nowadays hang about the offices and residences of political office holders and roam the streets of Uyo, the state capital, begging for money to eat the proverbial one meal a day.
In Akwa Ibom, there is deficiency of industries and the financial system revolves around government, forcing the unfortunate, who got no reprieve on the streets to trail political office holders and other wealthy citizens to their homes and offices for one financial favor or the other.
In the last three weeks, Niger Delta Voice observed that the situation was the reason why many political office holders, including local government chairs and councilors, supposed to be closer to the people at the grassroots have abandoned their houses and offices to live in hotels to keep away from the down-and-out persons.
Why we besiege homes, offices of politicians
One of the disadvantaged citizens, Emem Udok, said, “There is no job, I do not have money to eat, so I have no option than to beg for survival. Even begging is not easy, those we are beg money on the streets do not have to give us. That is why we go to the homes and offices of top political office holders and other rich men.”
“In fact, they (politicians) are the ones stealing and mismanaging our money, it is their actions and inactions that caused the problem to the nation’s economy. If not, our country is so rich that nobody should have business with poverty in Nigeria.
We don’t want to die before FG starts paying N5, 000
Tony Bassey, who corroborated Udok’s claim, said, “Times are hard for us in Akwa Ibom, it is not a problem caused by the present governor, Udom Emmanuel, but we need him to address the plight of the poor. President Muhammadu Buhari said they will pay N5, 000 to the unemployed, I heard that they said until next year, that is too long, is it when we die to that they will start the payment.”
He advised: “I also want to say that devise the method to know us that are really poor and unemployed, not that politicians will hijack it again or they pay it to members of their political parties.” Bassey said: “Politicians have also devised ways of escaping from us, they asked their security guards to bare strangers at their offices and homes, even at public events, security operatives will not let you near them.”
I beg to eat —Okon, orphan
Ubong Okon, an orphan from Ibesikpo Asutan local government area, who had a crushing accident four years ago, said, “Before I had the accident in January 2011, I was into cement business. But I have spent all I have treating myself and now I am helpless and unfortunately I do not have nobody to cater for me because I am an orphan, I have suffered so much because I fend for myself. I beg around my community before I can eat because of my condition.”
“That accident damaged one of my legs and as you can see, I am still using clutches. However, I do not want to continue to live a life of a handicap. I can use my hands well and that is why I am asking financial help to enable me set up a small business like selling of phones, or recharge cards, which is why I am here.
“The information I got is that a civil society foundation has been empowering the less privilege people and I am praying that they will consider me among one of the people that will benefit from their programme. It has not been easy for me since I had the accident. I have not been able to lay my hands on anything because I do not have anybody to assist me. So I pray to God that the purpose of my coming here today will not be in vain,” he said
How I and my family live—Mrs. Asuquo, widow
Speaking to Niger Delta Voice at Okisu Udung Ulo village in Okobo local government area, a widow, Amasi Asuquo, said: “I used to sell onions, rice, beans, oil and other items before, but lack of money made me to stop. The situation of things has made it difficult for me to feed my five children and me since 1998 that my husband died. I am not getting any support even from my husband family.”
“What I do is to send some of them to people selling food to help them cook and wash plates, fetch water and after that, they can bring some food back for us to eat. Things have been very difficult for me. It is only when I see small land to farm that we can get something to eat. I am looking for financial support so that I can start to sell again and get money to raise my children.”
My father’s death ruined my life
Twenty-five-year-old Ini Effiong Isaac from Udung Amkpe community said that after she lost her father at the age of 10 years, she dropped out of school because her mother could not cope with training of seven children with what she gets from the farm.
She said: “I am not looking for government work since I did not finish secondary school. However, I know I can do business if I get someone to support me with money. I can do restaurant business. I stopped school when my father died, my mother did not have money to take care of all us and because things were very difficult, I was forced to marry very early.”
“But the marriage did not work because after I gave birth to my twins, they later died and I started having problem with the man I was forced to marry so I decided to go back to my papa house,” she added.
My dream dashed —John
Ubong John, 25, from Afaha Ube Itam in Itu local government area, lamented that his dream of going to learn how to mould block after his secondary education in order to assist his poor family was dashed because he could not afford some of the equipment needed to improve on his work such as mould and shovel.
“I even did houseboy work when I used to cook for one medical doctor, but the money I was paid was too small for me to take care of myself and helpless family, and to buy the working tools and that has drawn me back for the work. If somebody calls me to mould block, I borrow mould from some people that have and if they are busy with their own that will make me to lose that job”.
“I can stay one month, two months and I do not get any job at all, so sometimes if I see people that I can help to fetch water or clear their compound, I do such work so that I can get small money like N300.00 and N500.00. Sometimes, it takes one two weeks before you get that kind work that will give you small money to chop,” he said.
Nobody to assist me- Mrs. Gabriel
Mrs. Uduak Gabriel, a widow from Ibeno local government area, asserted, “I need the financial help so that I can start the oil business I was doing before my husband died. My husband and I were making profit from the palm oil business but after he died, I could not continue.”
“Now I am ready to start again because that is one of the businesses that I like doing and I believe it will help me to take good care of my children,” she said.
NGOs think up productive ventures
Non Governmental Organizations such as Applicants Welfare and Development Centre, Foundation for Peace, Economic and Agricultural Transformation, FPEAT, blame escalating youth restiveness and violence, insecurity in the country on increasing poverty, hunger and unemployment.
Speaking, national coordinator, FPEAT, Mr. Abdulmalik Kara, explained that the foundation designed its programmes to improve the living condition of the less privileged persons in the society, particularly youths and widows, by engaging them in agriculture and other economic ventures that would help them to become successful and independent.
He said: “We are targeting the vulnerable groups- the idle youths in the street and at the same time the widows. Now why are we targeting them? So that there will be peace in the society, when people are hungry, there is nothing to put food on their table, they will turn violent.”
“So the approach we are adopting to curb the social threat to our national development through economic and agricultural empowerment programmes. We are supporting them financially, morally and otherwise. Again, we are trying to see how we can reduce youth unemployment. In some parts of the country, we have started engaging some unemployed graduates in the different aspects of agriculture.
“Apart from complementing government vision towards promoting food sufficiency and wealth creation, this will also encourage private sector driven economy in the country where people will be less dependent on government,” he said.
Irritating development
Mr. Ekanem Inyang, a member of Civil Society Group in the state, who described the neglect of vulnerable groups in the communities by government as annoying, said, “There are communities that do not feel the impact of government presence in Akwa Ibom. They have no borehole water, school, market, health centre, roads and yet, they are very big communities.”
His words: “The oil windfall only ends in the pockets of politicians; it does not get to the communities where you find the less privilege people. It is very, very annoying.
FPEAT blames govt
The state coordinator, FPEAT, Mr. Godscare Akanimo, said failure of past and present governments to tackle plight of less-privilege people in the society was responsible for the lingering unrest and restiveness all over the country, adding, “Restiveness in different parts of Nigeria, including the Niger Delta Region have assumed a frightening dimension. It is this among other issues that FPEAT is formed to address.”
He asserted; “I need not emphasize the fact that there is a direct correlation between a peaceful co-existence and a stable economy. This has made us to design lofty programmes to uplift the standard of living of the vulnerable, peasants and less privilege in the society particularly widows and youths.”
He explained without addressing the problems of the underprivileged people in the society, efforts to combat violence and unrest would translate to nothing, which in his opinion, explains why huge resources and efforts by past and present governments towards achieving relative peace seem to yield minimal result.
 Source ;Vanguard