Warri’s image as an oil-rich city and commercial hub of the Niger Delta is threatened by filth and slums, reports Chux Ohai
Mercy
Filatei lives in a small island, just behind the Ogbe-Ijoh Waterside
Market in Warri. She lives with her husband and their two children. The
place is called Fenigbene Camp and it is inhabited mostly by Ijaw
fishermen, traders and a few boat builders.
A
few weeks ago, Mercy’s husband, Timi, went in search of a job in Lagos.
Like most other male residents, he was tired of earning a meagre income
from fishing and living in a squalid condition at the camp.
Mercy
tries to augment his earnings by selling roasted fish.With the little
money she makes, she is able to feed their two children and take care of
the home-front.
This
Saturday afternoon, she is back in her regular spot near the entrance
to the camp. A short distance to her left, some boat builders are
already busy at work. And behind her, a few dugout canoes paddled by
women are ferrying passengers across the river, just as the pleasant
aroma of roasting fish filled the air.
Most
of the residents of the camp seem to be absorbed in a quiet struggle
for survival. Like the Filateis, many of them appear determined to rise
above the squalid conditions that define their existence in the
community.
“The
residents of Fenigbene community are self-made people. They are not
enjoying any amenities. Instead, they have been providing their own
needs without assistance from the state or local government.
“There
is nothing coming from the government to the people. All they have been
doing is make empty promises. After every election, they forget what
they pledged to do for the people. This is what we have been facing in
this town. There is nothing we can do about it, other than to hope in
God’s intervention,” Chief Porto-Novo Dieyei, the Pere-Egbewei of Isaba
Kingdom, says.
Unfortunately
it appears that the efforts of the people have not amounted to much.
The ‘island’, which was barely reclaimed from the water, is still a
study in squalor. The ‘soil’, made of thick layers of saw dust, is so
fragile that only wooden houses and similar structures can be erected on
it.
In
addition to the absence of potable water and electricity supply, there
is no school or health care facility in Fenigbene. The people depend on
the river, which is currently plagued by water hyacinth, for their water
supply. Since they could not build toilets in the camp because of the
nature of the ‘soil’, they have no other choice than to empty their
bowels in the same water.
“It is not enough to say that the residents live on the margin, they are the margin themselves,” Dieyei says.
Yet,
while admitting that its condition is bad enough, a former councillor
with the Warri South Local Government Area, Mrs. Rose Tulu, says the
community falls under the joint supervision of the local government
council and the Warri South West LGA.
In
an interview with our correspondent, Tulu says it is the duty of both
LGAs and the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission to
improve on the welfare of the residents of the community.
“Fenigbene
is part of Warri South LGA and Warri SouthWest LGA. The community is
highly populated. We have always known it to be a fishing camp. It is
the duty of parastatals like the DESOPADEC to execute some developmental
projects in oil-producing communities.
“Sometimes,
government officials themselves need to visit the communities under
their supervision to see things for themselves. It is the duty of the
representatives of the government to monitor the progress of contracts
awarded for developmental projects,” she says.
But
the problem is not peculiar to the community, as Dieyei notes. “If you
look around, you will discover that there is no potable water in
Ogbe-Ijoh Waterside as a whole. The roads are bad and there is no
drainage system. Development is slow and poor.
“Unfortunately,
DESOPADEC, which was created by the government to spread development to
the grass roots, has neglected communities like Fenigbene. Officials of
the commission are only interested in developing the communities of
their friends. DESOPADEC is involved in what I would describe as
‘man-know-man business,” he says.
Infrastructural decay
Further
inland, the same pitiable conditions are prevalent in parts of Warri
that are densely populated. There is appalling evidence of
infrastructural decay in places like the Okumagba Layout, Ugborikoko
quarters and Essi Layout.
Investigation
shows that apart from the Warri-Sapele Road, which is the major road
that leads to the city; Okere Road, Airport Road, Refinery Road, which
is still under construction, and parts of the Government Reservation
Area, tarred roads are few.
The
city does not only lack a functional drainage system in many parts, it
is also filthy. The gutters in most parts of the city are clogged up
with refuse, just as the canals and other water channels are permanently
blocked by filth that has accumulated over a period of time.
Although
construction work on Okumagba, which is about 3km long, has been
on-going for quite some time; there is no end in sight yet. The project
appears to be abandoned.
Yet,
none of the backstreets in the densely populated areas, such as Iyara,
Enerhen, Okere-Urhobo and Okumagba Layout, is tarred. Those places are
not ‘motorable’ and they are always flooded whenever there is heavy
rainfall.
Slums
The presence of slums further diminishes the image of the oil-rich city and the commercial hub of the Niger Delta.
“Whenever
the name, Iyara, is mentioned in Warri, it evokes trepidation. It is
the city’s most dreaded bad spot believed to be the inhabited by
undesirable elements,” says Edet Akpan, a commercial tricycle operator
in the city.
Located
in Essi Layout, Iyara Street is often associated with bizarre and
dramatic events. It is said that a woman who sold fried bean cakes (akara) on the street once confessed to witchcraft publicly.
The
woman was said to have told a gathering of stunned listeners that the
oil, which she used in preparing the delicacy, was actually the blood
of the people whom she had killed at night.
After the confession, the crowd had promptly lynched her and set her body on fire.
Apart from such scary incidents, Iyara has the unenviable record of being the filthiest and most disorganised part of the city.
“This
is the Ajegunle of the Niger Delta. It is the headquarters of armed
robbers, kidnappers, drug addicts and prostitutes. Even law enforcement
agents are scared of visiting the place,” Akpan states.
But Iyara is better known and detested for its shocking squalid condition rather than crime.
Lamenting,
Chief City Enikwuemehin, who lives in the area, says, “You can see that
there is no development here. We have been trying our best to keep
going without external help. We have been doing everything possible to
help ourselves instead. No government official has ever bothered to find
out how we have been coping under such conditions.
“I have been living here for almost 34 years. We neither enjoy potable water nor regular supply of electricity in this area.
“We
don’t have even a common primary school here. Our children attend what
you would call ‘akara’ schools. The nearest school is at the next
community known as Donuma.
“Despite
the fact that we pay our taxes and vote during elections, no government
has ever given thought to developing this community. Nobody knows why
this is happening. If you visit this place during the rainy season, you
will pity the residents of this community. Apart from the fact that the
whole place is flooded, all the debris from different parts of Warri are
actually collected in floodwater and deposited here.”
Also 80-year old Pa Emmanuel Ejegbah describes Iyara as a ‘forsaken place’.
“I
was born and bred in this city. And I’m still here. Iyara has been
neglected by successive local government administrations. This place has
not witnessed any appreciable change. You can see it for yourself. Even
Warri hasn’t changed much these past years. Maybe, a few places have
been developed, but I don’t think it is something to be happy about,” he
says.
Although
another resident of Warri, Ben James, works with an oil company in the
city, he has lived in Onifoghara Street for about 16 years. Like the
other parts of Okumagba Layout in Warri Local Government Area, the
street is filthy, not tarred and always flooded during the rainy season.
The
adjoining streets are littered with refuse, which gives them the
appearance of one huge waste dump. Faced with this condition, the
residents are exposed to mosquitoes, even as the stench emanating from
open gutters filled with stagnant water pollute the air.
“There
is nothing we can do about it. We cannot tar the roads. Only the
government can do that. It is not as if the streets are not regularly
swept by the residents. Part of the problem is that there is no means of
refuse disposal. You can see that there are no refuse bins here.
Second, the streets are not tarred. So there is no way they can be neat
and tidy all the time.
“Some
time ago, we thought the authorities were about to give the streets a
facelift. Truckloads of sand and gravel were deposited on the roads. But
that was all. The next thing we discovered was that all the sand and
gravels were swept away as soon as the rains came,” James tells our
correspondent.
Overcrowding
There
is an indication that the Warri population increased over the last six
years, despite the figures of the 2006 national census, which put it at
more than 500,000. The result is that the oil-rich city is overcrowded.
Dieyei
attributes part of the problem, especially in Ogbe-Ijoh, to the recent
demolition of residential houses and other structures in an Ijaw
community, Lotiebiri, in the heart of Warri metropolis.
Apart
from the loss of property and businesses valued at several millions of
naira, many families were displaced. Some of them had no choice but to
either return to their kith and kin for shelter or seek cheap
accommodation in the ghettoes.
Warri,
no doubt, occupies an important position in the Niger Delta. Apart from
being the commercial capital of the region, it is central to
exploration in the region.
The
oil-rich city boasts a seaport, a stadium with a capacity of 25,000, an
airstrip that operates local flights, a refinery, an Army garrison and a
Naval base. In addition, the operational offices of major international
and local oil companies are located in the city.
At
one time, about 50 companies operated in Warri. But, following the
outbreak of hostilities among the component ethnic groups in the city,
many of the companies were forced to close shop and relocate to other
parts of the country. The exodus gave rise to unemployment, as they had
to shed most of their staff.
Recalling that period, Emmanuel Etukudo, former Area Manager of NITEL in Warri, says,
“When
the companies left, they took away their investments and lay off the
bulk of their staff. The result was that many people, particularly the
youths, were unemployed and in their desperation, they took to armed
robbery and other vices in order to survive. Even those who really
wanted to work were unable to find jobs.
“The
situation, worsened the condition of people living in the squalid parts
of the city, as nobody cared for their welfare anymore.”
In
spite of the general picture of decay, there are bright spots in Warri.
Among other efforts, the Delta State Government embarked on the
rehabilitation and dualisation of major roads. Some of the affected
areas include Okere quarters and Enerhen Junction.
The
state government banned commercial motorcycles from operating in the
city and outlawed the barricading of major roads during parties.
Also,
during a recent inspection of the ongoing road project on Okumagba
Avenue, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan blamed the heavy rains for the delay
in completing it. He said, “The problem has been the rainy season. We
seem to have longer days of rain and it is difficult to construct roads
anywhere around the state.”
Security
One
of the changes that has taken place in Warri is the restoration of law
order. Once, the hotbed of kidnapping, robbery and ritual killing in the
Niger Delta, the oil city is relatively peaceful nowadays.
The
presence of security personnel assigned to the Joint Military Taskforce
and the existence of neighbourhood vigilante in various parts of the
city has helped in curbing crime to an appreciable extent.
Also,
the presence of newly installed street lights powered by solar energy
on major roads and streets has furthered boosted crime fighting in
Warri. As a result, places like Enerhen Junction, which used to be
favourite haunt of hardened criminals in the metropolis, are now safe at
night.
TalkOfNaija
