Spilling the blood of protesters in Garden City

By Ruona Agbroko
October 18, 2009 12:12PMT

They lived in a vast shanty town, but the ramshackle community was built on valuable waterfront land coveted by the powerful. In their continuing protest against forcible removal by the state government to make way for a new private development, the residents of this Port Harcourt slum are now paying for their resistance in blood.
Five people are declared missing and more feared dead, with at least another 11 people nursing gunshot injuries. Several others say they were clubbed, whipped and had their personal effects looted by law enforcement officials during a particularly bloody crackdown on Monday October 12. Police are reported to have downplayed the casualty rate.

Eyewitnesses say that officers of the police force and army initially drove through a crowd staging a peaceful protest to disperse it. The security officials later came back; shooting in the air and also directly at the people, before marching through the waterfront community to lash out at and beat the protesters for well over an hour. Israel Okorie was chanting anti-government slogans when he was shot in the back. He spoke to NEXT via telephone.
"We were there by 7:30am to 7:45am. We say the first two armoured tankers that came. When they came, we were telling them that please, they should not touch our place, they should tell the governor to leave us alone; our places are not for sale.
When were talking to those ones, we saw a number of army vehicles, one small armoured car in front, with another white Hilux at the back, filled with army (men). They were in a convoy, coming from Prison Road, wearing camouflage. The next thing, they just opened fire on us, they were just shooting our women. They drove to Dockyard where they parked the armoured cars and Hilux next to the first cars that came."
Mr. Okorie said that he ran to the nearby Warder Barracks. He said: "they shot for more than three to four hours."
Joy Henry, a shop owner, told NEXT she had just opened her provisions store for the day when the protest began. "I had to run for my life when I heard the shooting," she said. She would return later to find that a bullet had passed through the metal door of her miniature store, lodging itself inside one of many tins of Bournvita she sells for a living.

Ojike Opiom's household was not so lucky. "I first saw people moving round and round, so I stayed inside my house. Next, I heard some gunshots. I saw people carrying people with blood passing by, blood, everywhere, Bundu people, Bundu people," he told NEXT.
It would take the loud wailing of his daughters before he realised his first son, Victor [pictured] was one of the victims. The 29-year old electrician had defied the orders of his father and wandered out of the house. He came back with a gunshot to the hand for his efforts. "I was not among the protesters. I was just standing and looking. Government shot me," he said, while his father rebuked him loudly in the background. "Can you fight government?" the elder Opiom asked.
‘We are at the warfront.'
NEXT reporter counted at least 16 bullet holes in the maze of private residences, shops and cars in Bundu-Ama. Initially, residents shouted at neighbours who spoke up, while others accused the press of complacence. But soon, a resident held up an empty bullet cartridge, another accepted to have his picture taken. They came out, each interviewee seeking out another; a neighbour, a colleague, daughter: all were victims. As reporters moved through the site, scantily-clad children pointed out the community's sad attraction; a wall which still sported a bullet casing.
"We are at the warfront in Bundu," Voke Ovie told NEXT in vernacular. "The kind of weapons we saw with them are not normal police weapons. Even inside the house, everybody was under the table," he explained.
Neighbours of Austin Ogwah, one of the victims whose house was visited by NEXT, said the attacks were haphazard. Soldiers reportedly burst into Mr. Ogwah's residence and shot him in the stomach. He was rushed to the Teme Hospital. Peter Frank, another resident, told NEXT he was walking along the community hours later, when he was approached by three "army men" and told to lie down on the floor. He was beaten. Shola Oginni, a taxi driver who abandoned his car by the road said it had been towed by policemen who were seeking a bribe before he could get back his vehicle, "please help me beg them. This is my only source of livelihood."
There are reports among women of houses broken into, personal effects taken and goods stolen without payment by the soldiers.
Why Bundu?
Despite the incident, the enumeration of houses at Bundu-Ama went on as planned. Mr. Hassan was quoted as saying on Tuesday October 13 that his men "normally dominate waterfronts as part of our patrol policy in the state. Our presence their had nothing to do with the enumeration exercise."
This assertion was denied by the residents.
Mr. Okorie said; "I saw them. They were shooting and going inside Bundu, while the people doing the enumeration were marking the buildings."
Voke Ovie said the situation was uncalled for. "They shot us, just to carry out the marking of houses alone. They should provide an alternative for us before they chase us away from here, at least," he said in broken English.
All residents spoken to said they had not received formal explanations why their houses were being enumerated.
Ada Williams, head of the community told NEXT on Wednesday that the October 12 incident would be the second attempt at enumeration of houses in Bundu-Ama and both had been done via intimidation.
"Last week Tuesday (October 6), about 7:00 am, 7:30am , I was informed that there were armoured cars and troopers, vans, loaded with army, police, all going into Bundu community. They said they came to enumerate the houses. I didn't even take my breakfast, just to avoid this problem. I saw the head of the enumeration team, one Mr. David. They said that the boys met them, that they are not aware of what they came for. I asked them, why do you come here with force? You are intimidating us, this is a civilian government. If you are to enumerate these houses, why don't you inform us? We are to work with you. I do not have the powers to forestall your activity. You have the option to go ahead, or look for a way to meet with us, let us arrange. This matter is in court. The court has instructed the government and we that we should maintain status quo. And we are going to court on the 13th. Let's wait until after the court verdict. They apologised and left. There was no resistance."
Mr. Williams said the exercise was not a priority. "They do not have any developmental plans. We have not seen anything that is too serious for this government to demolish the waterfront. It should not be taken as a priority for now because there are so many other projects that can benefit the people."
Repeated attempts to speak to the Rivers State government officials failed. Phone calls to Osima Ginah, the state's Commissioner for Urban development, were not answered. Nor did he respond to two text messages sent to him. The story was the same with the phone calls made and text messages sent to Ogbonna Nwuke, the state's Commissioner for Information
Repairing the damage
The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid organisation issued a statement on Thursday October 15 on its website that its personnel had "received patients reportedly injured in a demonstration against the demolition of the Bundu-Ama waterfront area in Port Harcourt so far treated nine casualties from Bundu-Ama" at the Teme trauma centre, located in Diobu.
Its statement read that; "all of the injuries were the result of gunshot wounds. People suffered from abdominal and chest wounds as well as bone fractures. Two patients required immediate surgical care."
Tonikey Napoleon Kalio was one of the patients. Derefaka Kalio, his brother, confirmed to NEXT via telephone that the father of one was admitted at Teme Hospital.
"I am taking care of my brother who was shot in the stomach. They shot him at Bundu, on his way to work. Right now, my brother is unconscious."
He also expressed anger at the government; "I am going to hold Amaechi responsible if anything happens to my brother. We have had other governors before him and it wasn't like this. If anything happens to my brother, Amaechi will have to kill two brothers," he said.
Bob-Manuel, brother to Belinda Gladstone, a student who was shot in the leg, said he was "tired of the questions."
A still unidentified corpse with gunshots to the face was also deposited at the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital. It is still lying there, with no answers about its identity and the motives of those who killed him.

Our education system is failing our children

By Ruona Agbroko
October 4, 2009 10:28AMT

Within 10 days of each other, Nigeria's two secondary school examination bodies released results of their last examinations to much national anguish.
On September 10, Promise Okpala, chief executive of the National Examinations Council (NECO) announced that only 10% (numbering 126,500) of 1,200,765 candidates who registered for the body's examination passed five subjects, including English and Mathematics.
The nation had hardly recovered from that when the West African Examination Council (WAEC) released its Senior School Certificate Examination results on September 18. Iyi Uwadiae, an official of WAEC said some 25.99% (about 356,981) of 1,373,009 candidates achieved five credits including English and Mathematics.
The minimum result for admission into the nation's universities is five credits, including English Language and Mathematics. Students have been known to make up for shortfalls by using results from both NECO and WAEC to put in their admission applications.

Exam malpractice as culprit

Yusuf Ari,a spokesperson for WAEC told NEXT in a telephone interview last Friday, said that the examination body cannot be blamed for the mass failure.
He said: "WAEC is just an assessment body that gives you standardized tests, and our examiners access you. Generally, from one exam to the other, the issues remain the same. Candidates do not appear to have a sound understanding of the English language in which they are supposed to write the exam, the language factor is an issue because the instructions they are expected to follow, some of them do not follow it." The results of 109,201 candidates were withheld by WAEC this year. Mr. Ari identified exam malpractice as reason for this, adding that; "We have been achieving some success. We have our ways of monitoring an identifying those who are involved in malpractices. Malpractice is a societal problem, a moral problem, and people are becoming increasingly conscious." His counterparts at NECO were not so optimistic. Media reports quoted Mr. Okpala as saying exam fraud was a big problem. He also identified Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers State as most notorious as regards the trend.
An alumnus of the University of Ibadan who spoke under condition of anonymity said even undergraduates had cashed in on the development to make quick money.
"Weeks before, you see your mates reading textbooks on Government, Commerce, English language, Biology and other secondary school texts. On the mornings of JAMB or WAEC exams, all the hostels are empty. They charge from 10, 000 upwards per subject," he revealed.
In July, WAEC blacklisted 66 schools in Edo state, barring them from enrolling their students for next year's West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), over lack of "adequate facilities". The schools, all privately owned, have since gone to court to contest the decision. Mr. Ari said the development was not new to the country's education sector. "WAEC periodically inspects the classrooms, laboratories and facilities of schools. At anytime, any school can be recognised, as well as delisted", he said.

A history of failure
This year's results, depressing as they have been called, put previous ones in a dim shade.
In 2008, only 13.76% of 1,369,142 WAEC candidates achieved credits in five subjects. In the November 2006 examination, only 11.6% of 423,518 candidates reached the five-credit mark.
Mr. Ari's assertion that students were ill-prepared for the exams and teaching was inadequate was met with mixed reactions.
Mrs. Victoria Umukoro, a parent, told NEXT the results were "a reflection of the disregard the government has for the education sector.
"Look at what is happening to ASUU now. Even the secondary school teachers have been going on strike regularly over (the) Teachers' Salary Scale, just when the children are about to write exams. How many of them were able to make up for the May/June exams after the teachers' strike that occurred around February this year? All this counts, instead of them saying the teachers are not working. Government too should play its part." Mrs. Umukoro cited the Niger-Delta and JTF crisis in May, when elders in Okerenkoko and Oporoza, both affected communities, claimed the O'level exams of their children and wards were disrupted.
A vice-principal at Iwo Grammar School in Osun State, M Akanmu, said the harsh economic situation was also to be taken into account.
"The students are not ready to learn; most of them ride okadas (motorcycle) before and often after school. Too many of them are looking for how to support themselves and their families; such that there is really no time to read. Also, if the government can look into getting more teachers, that would help." Mr. Akanmu said he has had to combine administrative work with teaching as a result. "There are also too many students in each class. You find you cannot blame teachers who do not have the time to go and check each student's practice exercises during the 40 minutes of each class period. All these things must, in some ways, affect their results," he said.
Mrs. Umukoro's twin girls will be re-enrolling for the November/December WAEC examinations this year. Their mother has employed private tutors to make up for the shortfall. But Mrs. Umukoro said she cannot guarantee their success.
"I can only try my best. They can only try theirs. Our children are not the only ones failing each year; the government too is failing, as they fail," she said . Majority of the students don't know anything and had no wish to. I was amazed at the brazenness of their cheating.

*Photo by Abiodun Omotosho

Paying the price of urban renewal

By Ruona Agbroko
September 5, 2009 02:11PMT
It starts to drizzle and Obinna Davidson finally lets his tears fall, probably relieved that his siblings and the journalist poking a recorder in his face, will be unable to distinguish between his tears and the rain. The Rivers State government began a demolition of structures at Njemanze, Port Harcourt, where Mr. Davidson has lived since birth, on August 27, and will proceed to neighbouring Abonnema Wharf community [pictured] after that.
Both are waterfront settlements in the state capital where, according to UN-HABITAT, the United Nations agency for human settlements, at least 45,000 people live. The scene at the Njemanze waterfront would rival any of the world’s worst hurricanes; only, this “disaster” is man-made. A bulldozer hums in the background, reducing an estimated 800 buildings to debris, some of which finds its way into the water and floats to the creeks beyond. Armed soldiers patrol the area, causing residents to occasionally run in fear and making news hounds thankful for zoom lens. Mr. Davidson joins about 40 men, children and burly women who defy the soldiers and roam the vast area, which was once home to them.
They scavenge through the heaps, some retrieving planks which they claim will be sold for their upkeep. Watching the remnants of a small refrigerator float by, he turns his back and finally speaks; “We are here to see what we can carry. Government is a disappointment; many people have gone to the village... There were more than two villages here, and these are the amounts of people they chased away from here.

Many old people have died because of hypertension.” His brother, a little boy of about eight years, chips in: “When school starts, nothing for us,” and Mr. Davidson continues, “They say it is because of bad boys, for safety of the people, that is why they destroyed the place; some say it is for cinema... We don’t know what is going on, but they should have had more patience with us, that is all I want to say.” A question of how Being the capital city of oil-rich Rivers State, Port Harcourt, a town set up around 1914, strictly for the movement of coal from Enugu, witnessed an influx of rural populations that began reclaiming land along the Bonny River as far back as the 1940s.
According to Datubo West, another resident of Njemanze, the oil boom and increased scarcity and cost of accommodation in the ‘upland’ areas forced the people to sand-fill land, resulting in the over 50 densely populated waterfront communities, which existed side by side before the demolition began. In February 2009, Osima Ginah, the state commissioner for urban development, reportedly disclosed that all waterfronts would be demolished, beginning with Njemanze and Abonnema.
Jim Tom-George, the spokesperson for the Abonnema Wharf Community House Owners Association, told NEXT the organisation wrote to Mr. Ginah four times - beginning from August 2008 - and received no response. In February 2009, he paid them a visit, to issue a seven-day pre-eviction notice.

This culminated in the demolition which took place between February 10 and 13, 2009. During the exercise, 40 to 50 buildings were demolished along the upper part of Abonnema Wharf Road, by Njemanze. About 10,000 people were directly affected, according to C.W. Enwefah, the secretary-general of the National Union of Tenants of Nigeria. This was despite a court ruling requiring Mr. Ginah to effect a halt on demolitions as the case was still being heard.
Calls and text messages to Mr. Osima Ginah and his counterpart, Ogbona Nwuke, who is the Commissioner for Information, on why the exercise went on despite the court case, went unanswered. An official of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, who pleaded anonymity, was quick to distance the organisation from the large-scale demolitions; “We are not the ones demolishing. It is the urban development people; it is commissioner for urban development, the ministry of urban development that is in charge of that demolition in Njemanze and Abonnema,” he said.
Mr. West, whose business premises in Njemanze has been demolished, says; “we need a government who has human feeling, not a Pharaoh. We are squatting about, scattered. They went as far as saying that everybody here are criminals “We demonstrated on the 3rd of August, asking that as they settle the landlords, we the tenants should be included. The police threw teargas, beat up women just at the UTC Bus Stop, on the way to the government house.” Mr. Enwefah said about 1000 residents were arrested, while five have been charged to court over “a non-violent demonstration”. The UN-HABITAT embarked on a fact-finding mission to the area in March and released a formal report asking for a stop to the demolitions and dialogue between tenants and the government.
This became necessary due to the numbers of residents affected in the area. Johnson Falade, Habitat Programme Manager, Nigeria, said in a telephone interview on Thursday: “When our report came out, we instead saw more of the bulldozers being pulled out.” Diamond Ojiaka, another tenant, told NEXT: “As I speak to you, my marriage is at stake. My wife, Mary, with our new-born baby, has had to go to our village, Buguma. They are carrying the landlords along, what about us the tenants?”

Auchi community fights losing battle with erosion

By Ruona Agbroko
August 24, 2009 04:02PMT
Aliyu Shaka is in his late 30s and still lives with his father. Dark-skinned and of average height, he is married with children. No, he is by no means unemployed; he drives a commercial motorcycle for living and takes pride in it. His reasons for still living in the house he was raised in decades ago were entirely compassionate - his father's house lies squarely on the fault line of a devastating gully erosion.
Right next to Number 10, Union Bank Road, Warrake, is a deep gully into which a house has recently sunk, and from which personal effects and building materials could still be seen.
The gully is flanked on the other side by a house whose walls fell and the occupants had to flee before the rest of the house got submerged. All around Warrake are other such gullies. The area is deserted, and the few residents remaining were in no mood to talk. Their grouse is understandable.
Mr. Shaka said his residence in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State is a tourist centre of sorts for all the wrong reasons. "Mostly, students from the Auchi Polytechnic come here to look at the gully, shake their heads, or laugh. Politicians too will come, promising. Yet, we have not seen lasting solution", he says in smattering English.
The elder Mr. Shaka built his house in 1962. The dilapidated state of the building corroborates this. His son says life was bearable until 1995 when a bank employed a construction company to build drainages to protect its premises from flooding.
"At first a company called Nigercat built some gutters that turned into a gully. Another company called Paloosa worsened everything and now they have all gone. They gave them a contract for a bank, not far from here and they began making small gutters along our side. By the time the rains came, the gutters were wider and deeper, until houses started falling inside them. The whole area has now been cut off. At first, Paloosa were buying bags of cement and dumping them inside the gully, hoping to fill it. But the rain would just come and flood everything. Today, about nine buildings have been swallowed, and many more abandoned."
A question of geography
In Auchi alone, other areas affected include Egelessor, Gaz Momoh, Oben Zogo, Iyekhin and Akpekpe Grammar school road.
As these areas lie on sloping land, the porous red soil and heavy rainfall are a natural recipe for gully erosion. Add extensive, indiscriminate logging activities and bad drainage systems to the mix and the residents' fear that whole communities could be sacked becomes justified. Clem Agba, Edo commissioner for environment and public utilities says; "we are expected to have about 25% of forest reserves [in Edo]. In terms of paperwork, it is showing that we have 12%, but when you go out to the forests and actually do an inventory, we have 8%. And this is seriously contributing to the flood and erosion problems we are having. There are areas where logging is not allowed in the state, to allow for regeneration of the forests."
Last year, Mr. Esoimeme, chairman of Ibore community in Esan-Central local government council told journalists that: "Erosion has created a very big gully, about 80 feet deep. You know our people bury their dead ones round their houses and these erosions have carried many of them away; graves have disappeared and we see bones of our dead ones washed up when it rains; it is very pathetic.
If the situation is not remedied now, it may consume and make the towns go into extinction."
Mr. Shaka says: "For long, we have complained. When PDP was in power, they said Auchi did not vote for PDP and so they are now using vote aspect to determine what they are supposed to do. That is why this thing is getting worse. Nobody has died yet, but houses are collapsing inside the gully. How it happens is this; heavy rain will fall from morning till evening. After some hours, you hear a sliding sound and that's how people become homeless."
‘We are used to it'
In June, the Edo State House of Assembly accused the formerLucky Igbinedion administration of not executing contacts awarded for erosion control between 1999 and 2007.
Media reports at the time quoted the Speaker, Zakawanu Garuba, an Auchi indigene, as saying "the state cannot solve the problem alone, that is why we are also appealing to the federal government to come to our aid."
Mr. Agba confirmed this, "I have visited [the erosion sites] with the honourable minister of environment and permanent secretary of the Ecological Fund. As a state, we have also written to Mr. President to say that what we have clearly goes beyond the capability of the state. We are seeking funding from the federal government through the Ecological Fund to deal with the erosion in Auchi and Queen Ede in Benin. We have had a couple of meetings with the Ecological Fund team but we are yet to get the funding or the necessary approvals.
In the interim, Mr. Shaka's house remains standing at Warrake, marked by a big red ‘X'. He confirms that his aged father and their family have been asked to evacuate. They say we should steer clear but what do you want me to do? What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go? I cannot leave my father alone. All my brothers are not around; some of them are in Port Harcourt, Benin, working. Even my house is in Auchi here but I cannot go to my house and leave my father here. So that is why I am still here.This is our area. We even enter inside the gully and come out. All these houses are abandoned. It's not a new thing to us, since government has made us to get used to it."

*Photo by Hyacinth Iyerosa

No easy road to Lagos from the east

By Ruona Agbroko
August 17, 2009 11:43AMT

If they were lucky, potential travellers on the Benin Ore federal road would have a discussion with Bello Ogbeiwi before they started because Mr Ogbeiwi has seen it all. The driver with Edegbe line has been working on the route for 25 years and has driven through the gradual deterioration of the road.
Mr. Ogbeiwi, who has been travelling on the route for the past 25 years, said movement on the road was easier than it was some weeks back.
"The road has been far worse," he said. "Occasionally, they do some patching here and there. Right now, they say they (government) are on it, so we are hopeful. The Benin side is good, but when you want to enter Ogun State, it is another thing entirely. A driver has to be experienced to be able to minimise the harsh effect of the road on his passengers. It takes over five hours to get to Lagos.
In fact, I think the only people who will gain from this road being bad are those who hawk fruits, food and drinks along the way." In May this year, the Federal Government signed a raft of contracts worth ₦140 billion towards the rehabilitation of 32 major roads across the country. One of the benefitting roads was the Lagos - Benin expressway, which had been begging for attention for years.
Section I of the Sagamu - Ore - Benin road was awarded to Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC) at ₦9.7 billion, with a completion period of 30 months; while the Sagamu - Ajebandele part of the road, (Section II), awarded to Borini Prono Nigeria Limited, worth ₦2.4 billion, is to be completed in 18 months.
This was the first major effort in years to repair the perennially bad road that connects the western part of Nigeria with the east, the south and the middle belt - linking 12 of the nation's 36 states.
On August 6, 2007, the then newly appointed Minister of Transport, Diezani Allison-Madueke stood on the road, before a gaggle of newsmen, and cried. She apologised to Nigerians for the long years of neglect that the road had suffered and promised that the ministry would spend over 80 percent of its resources for the road's rehabilitation and repair.
Before Mrs. Allison-Madueke became Minister of Mines and Steel Development a little over two years later, not much had changed about the state of the road. Yet, everyday, thousands of people and large quantity of goods pass through the road. Its deplorable state has attracted more media attention than any other road in the country.
NEXT's travel on the road about two weeks ago, showed that work was ongoing at various points. However, the long duration of the contracts and constant maintenance, even when completed have become a source of concern for travellers.
"There are virtually no options for an alternative movement of people, goods and services between the East and the Western parts of this country," Comfort Agiri, a woman travelling between Benin and Lagos said. "It is only through this road, which is why people will continue to use it regardless of how it is." Edegbe Line is one of the more popular bus operators on the Benin-Lagos route.
One of its drivers, Mr Ogbeiwi, provided some insight into the travails of his profession. "About 40 buses leave from here (Edegbe line's terminal) each day for Lagos, each with at least 11 passengers," he said. "Add that to the other big transporters, at least six, that are on this same route and you can see the volume of traffic we have on the road each day.
That is apart from traders, those using smaller transport companies or people coming from the East, and even the North."
The curse of potholes
Indeed, the woes of travellers on the road peaked in 2007 during the Christmas period, with motorists and passengers spending up to ten hours between Benin and Ore. This stretch used to be covered in less than three hours. As a result, passengers from the Eastern states boycotted the road altogether, whilst air flights doubled. Mrs. Allison-Madueke's famed visit happened during this period.
With transport fare in the region of ₦3,200, passengers resorted to resignation and resentment. "The thing is to adapt", said a middle-aged man. "If you want to get to Lagos on time, you must enter the road on time, that's all." Beatrice Adankpa, a student, spoke in similar manner.
"What can we do? The ministers, senators and governors are the ones enjoying. All they have to do is jump on a plane and reach Lagos in 40 minutes, not so?" As though corroborating this ‘helplessness', leaving Ondo State and heading towards Sagamu presents a pitiable scene.
A section of the road has been severely eroded, and lies open-ended towards a 3-feet ditch filled with trees, all shooting out from a river of muddy water. There are no boulders, no handrails nor signs to protect or warn motorists of the danger ahead.
"Do you know how many people have died here? Imagine people passing here at night and no warning, no signboard, armed robbers...In fact, I need to drive faster. Night is coming."

*Photo by Hyacinth Iyerosa

Trailing after the bulldozers

By Ruona Agbroko
August 2, 2009 12:37AMT

Over four weeks after the Edo State government commenced the demolition of illegal structures across its capital, Benin City, varying quantities of wreckage still dot the city, posing aesthetic, environmental and health challenges to residents.
In particular, residents and traders who live or work on the Lagos-Benin-Ugbowo road, told NEXT on Sunday that they could not decide which was more of an eyesore: the former clutter of shops opposite the University of Benin's main gate [pictured], or the unsightly mounds of debris they have been reduced to, by government bulldozers.
"The story is the same everywhere," says Pedro Imiefoh, a banker. "These heaps are all around Benin City, with rain falling on them for weeks on end. Mr. Oshiomhole is demolishing without raising structures in place. In BDPA, main gate, they are leaving heaps of rubbish everywhere after demolishing. He is not going about things the right way." A fruit seller at the nearby Ekosodin junction, who refused to disclose her name, said the Edo State government could not be blamed entirely.
"How else will he satisfy Edo people? I know it is not nice to look at, but if these things are not here, the people may say he is not working," she said. "For instance, why else do you think the new police patrol vans the government bought were first driven in convoy all around the streets of Benin? It was to show the people he is doing something at least, because they don't have patience. Leave Oshiomhole alone. Edo people are the problem too."
Early into the state's demolition exercise, five members of the Edo State Inter-Ministerial Committee on Environment were reportedly dismissed for demanding bribes from owners of illegal structures. Mr. Oshiomhole has, also consistently said illegal structures built along all right-of-way in the state capital will be removed.
According to the governor, the demolition is in line with his government's commitment to the restoration of the Benin City master plan.
Clem Agba, the Commissioner for Environment and Public Utilities, said the attitude of the people is a challenge. "They don't care," he said. "Our people would rather trade on the streets than stay in the market. Most of our people have built all sorts of illegal structures on drains paths, on moats, compounding the problem of flooding in the state and that's why we have started removing all illegal structures, so we can have access to our drain channels and de-silt them."
Trading blames
However, Mrs. Faith Chukwuma, who owned one of the affected shops at the Uniben main gate, said even if hers was an illegal structure, the government officials gave the traders just three days notice and had provided her with no replacement or told her where to stay.
"Look how this place is smelling, my sister. When rain comes, or sunshine, we suffer it all. I had a big shop. The demolishing affected me. What I want is that they are supposed to tell us where we are to stay. I cannot go inside the market, this is where there is business," she said in smarting English, as her child played nearby on one of the rubbish heaps.
A barber, who simply identified himself as Mr. Desmond and also spoke in pidgin English, said; "my shop had been burnt beforehand. I was still trying to rebuild the place. Before we could pack anything, they destroyed everything. Before we could even pack our property outside, they destroyed everything. Now I am on the streets, now, Now I only work when customers call me. That is how I get my daily bread now."

Mr. Desmond repeatedly reminded NEXT he voted for Mr. Oshiomhole in the 2007 elections.
"I used to feel this government is working, but with this demolition, I do not feel the government is for the masses or the poor, the way things are now. Things are tough," he said.

Long awaited treatment for Schistomiasis

By Ruona Agbroko
July 15, 2009 01:00PMT

It took five weeks, four news stories, two visits and a plethora of phone calls from NEXT to irritated government officials and aggrieved residents. But finally, on Wednesday, July 08, one of the resident of Ijoun, a community in Yelwa North local council of Ogun State, Hans Oshinowo confirmed to NEXT that “they (government) have brought the Praziquantel drugs for the children [pictured],” as elated indigenes of Ijoun screamed in the background, making the conversation almost impossible to continue.
Speaking via telephone, Mr. Oshinowo said: “People from the Primary Health Care Co-ordinator came on Monday (July 06) evening, while on Tuesday someone, I think from the Ministry of Health, came. They distributed drugs, did tests and even took about 10 of the children to the Primary Health care centre for attention. It all happened so fast. We were surprised. We are grateful to your NEXT newspaper.”
Schistosomiasis is also known as bilharzia. The disease causes anaemia, bladder dysfunction, kidney and liver disease, and impaired learning in children. NEXT reports on the impact of the disease on children in Ijoun began on June 06 with a 1000-word article featuring pictures and detailed accounts from the community’s chief, an ailing child’s guardian, residents and health care officials.
Two weeks later, NEXT was one of only two newspaper houses notified of an emergency meeting with newly-appointed schistosomiasis coordinators from all 20 local government areas of Ogun State.
At the meeting, which was organised by the state Ministry of Health and Abiodun Oduwole, its health commissioner, an intervention plan was rolled out with promises to get drugs to schistosomiasis-endemic areas, including Ijoun. Treatment of water sources in the rural areas was also on the cards, according to Mrs. Oduwole. The emergency meeting held on June 16.
However, when NEXT visited Ijoun again on Saturday July 04, it was to hear Samuel Abiodun, the community’s chief, say with overwhelming sadness in Yoruba; “we have not used our eyes to see any drugs, neither has our water been treated.”
It was back to working the phones for NEXT.
On the morning of July 06, Oyin Sodipe, the director of Public Health care and Disease Control with the state government, could not be reached for her comments on the situation. Kafil Emiola, the State Schistosomiasis Coordinator, answered NEXT’s telephone calls but immediately switched off her phone when asked about the non-availability of the drug (Praziquantel) to residents, weeks after the government said it had purchased the drug.
On his part, Mr. Ogunjimi, the assistant Schistosomiasis coordinator, Yewa-North Local Government Area, simply told NEXT: “Sorry for the delay. They will get the drugs,” when asked to state categorically if the drugs would ever get to the affected patients in Ijoun.

Now about the water
Regardless of whether it was for reasons of self-preservation, or a result of plain heckling, NEXT is pleased to see that eventually the children parents and people of Ijoun have the ears of their government.
However, more important at this stage is the implication of Oshinowo’s remark that “they are yet to come and treat the water. They promised to do so soon.”
It is obvious that if the people in Ijoun keep drinking from, bathing and washing their clothes in just one small stream, no amount of drugs will stem the scourge of this water-borne disease.

Life is a struggle with urinary infections in Ijoun

By Ruona Agbroko
June 6, 2009 06:47PMT

The road to Ijoun, a village in Yewa-North local council, Ogun State, gets smaller as the forest that flanks it gets denser with foliage. A once-white signboard welcomes you to the "Home of economic buoyancy and profitability," but the reality is the opposite.
Residents say that, for years, Ijoun has been a home for urinary schistosomiasis, a parasitic water-borne disease that causes anaemia, bladder dysfunction, kidney and liver disease, and impaired learning in children.

Inside the village, bare-breasted women emerged from houses, sporting rusty aluminium roofing sheets that complemented the red clay roads. If health is indeed wealth, then poverty is rife in Ijoun.
Its children have distended bellies and stick-thin legs and its adults are bitter at their helplessness. They kept demanding if NEXT brought drugs, saying they were tired of being asked questions, and having their children's samples taken repeatedly with no corresponding progress.
‘Ko se bo mora, ("we can't keep covering this") a toothless guardian yelled at her neighbours, as she dragged a child holding a glass bottle containing his blood stained urine before NEXT.
She implored him to hold the bottle aloft and get his picture taken. Maybe he would get a cure soon enough, she said, with a shrug.
The child, seven-year-old Jimoh [pictured with guardian], asked NEXT in impeccable Yoruba to promise the said picture would not be seen by his friends. In the end, only Jimoh and his family were willing to talk to NEXT.

Ignorance is grief
According to the Carter Center, an organisation owned by former US President Jimmy Carter, an estimated 22 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, are infected by Schistosomiasis.
Although it is incurable once contracted, schistosomiasis can be prevented and its transmission controlled with a single annual drug dose of the drug Praziquantel (about N30 per dose). However, the words ‘Schistosomiasis' and ‘Praziquantel' are met with looks of bewilderment in Ijoun; practically all the residents are illiterate. The disease is instead, named "eje inu ito" (blood in the urine), after its most obvious symptoms.
The dense foliage and lack of potable water are apparent reasons why the disease thrives. "There is no single water, no borehole in this area; only one small stream where everybody washes, bathes and still drinks", says Hans Oshinowo, a settler in the community.
Mr. Oshinowo said the residents are also to blame. "They do not come out to say they have this disease, maybe out of shame. They also do not listen to the Baale (Chief) when he says they should take care of the stream."
While Samuel Abiodun, the community's chief, said the problem has gone on for years and puts the number of cases at ‘about 200', workers in the public health centre, a mere five minutes' drive away, said they "got to know only two weeks ago", after media reports prompted local government officials to investigate.
Mr. Oshinowo said the investigation was only a routine of the officials which would yield no results. "They have come only twice. Each time it was to collect samples, look at the stream and go away; nothing comes out of it," he said.

A 2008 report by dons from the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta titled "Geographical information system and predictive risk maps of urinary schistosomiasis in Ogun State, Nigeria" projects that "of 809,222 school aged children living in Ogun State, 801,075 (98.99 percent) are living in areas that can harbour the infection." It adds that risk for "infection of urinary schistosomiasis increases in the south-westerly direction of Ogun State", with Yewa-North LGA, where Ijoun is located, being among "places of maximum risk."
Despite the Carter Center's assertion that Nigeria is the most schistosomiasis-endemic country in Africa, the country's World Health Organisation office in its 2007 annual report, states that "mass drug administration for schistosomiasis control is limited to Plateau, Nasarawa and Delta States due to lack of the drug (Praziquantel)".

This corroborates Ijoun residents' assertions that despite a high prevalence of cases, they have received no drugs.

NEXT's telephone calls to Abiodun Oduwole, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, were unanswered. Meanwhile, the residents, oblivious to the bureaucratic processes that diminish their chances of a respite from this scourge, still hoped that so long as samples had been taken, "government will do something."

Residents of Ijoun speak their minds
The worried monarch, Samuel Abiodun, Baale Iseunijoun (spoke in Yoruba)

Government should help our children that are urinating blood. We have had this problem for about three years. People have come from Abeokuta and Lagos. They have only come to do blood and urine tests. They have not brought drugs. We don't have water. No good roads. No higher institution, only one secondary school. Since you have asked, we will go and inform the local government formally.

The helpless guardian Madam Olugbejesi (spoke in Yoruba)
This boy has no father. His father is dead. We need help from the government to take care of this child's ailment.
His mother abandoned the children and has been going about, marrying all sorts of men. I try my best, but we don't have money to take care of ourselves, as you can see.

Ogun trains officials on schistosomiasis control

By Ruona Agbroko
June 17, 2009 12:19PMT



The Ogun State government has purchased a large quantity of drugs to fight schistosomiasis -a water borne disease caused by worms- which is prevalent in parts of the state, the state commissioner for health, Abiodun Oduwole has said.

Mrs. Oduwole said this on Tuesday, during a meeting with schistosomiasis control coordinators from the 20 local government areas of the state.
The meeting was held two weeks after NEXT published a report on the impact of the disease on Ijoun, a rural community in the state. The health commissioner told participants at the emergency meeting cum training for the coordinators, that the state government has allocated some (undisclosed) funds for the exercise.

To battle the source of the disease, Mrs. Oduwole said that copper sulphate will also be used to treat the water bodies in all the affected communities, to kill the snails in the rivers.
The snails serve as vectors for the parasite causing the outbreak. All the state's schistosomiasis control coordinators present at the meeting were trained on the correct dosage of praziquantel tablets to be administered on the victims and the use of copper sulphate.
The government also promised to sink more boreholes in the affected region. Mrs. Oduwole also said that the state government was ready to provide modern toilet facilities in the villages to stop people from defecating in streams, which they drink from, as the parasites also reside in eggs in the water.

Neglected disease
Kafil Emiola, the state's schistosomiasis control coordinator, said that the state had previously established a programme to combat the infection before "it went moribound."
Oyin Sodipe, the director of public healthcare and disease control with the state's ministry of health, said the ministry had asked 20 local governments to send their schistosomiasis program coordinators to attend the training. "Even the local government areas that are not endemic with schistosomiasis are invited," she said.
"We want to ask if there are cases and actively search for these cases, so we can update the prevalence data of the disease in the state." Mrs. Sodipe said that the ministry had to comb the nooks and crannies of Lagos to get the drugs.
"Schistosomiasis is a neglected disease and agencies do not fund the control of this disease, unlike polio and the onus lies with officers to convince the local government chairmen to be forthright in the allocation of the drugs," she said.

Journalism works

By Ruona Agbroko
June 19, 2009 09:59PMT



Exactly two weeks after a NEXT report on the impact of Schistosomiasis on children in Ijoun, a rural community in Ogun State, this NEXT reporter's phone rang at 22:19 hrs on Sunday June 14.
Seun Oyelade, Information Officer of the State's Ministry of Health (MoH) had sent a text message inviting NEXT to an "emergency meeting for Schistosomiasis Control Programme Coordinators" two days later. Though Abiodun Oduwole [pictured], the State's Commissioner for health said she had not seen the article, officials of the MoH, including its Chief Epidemiology Officer, Yomi Bamiselu repeatedly asked; "how did you people get to know?"
At the training programme, which was organised by the Ministry of Health, Oyin Sodipe, the agency's Director, Public Health care and Disease Control told the health workers; "it was the press that reported that we have ‘schisto' in Yewa-North (LGA); that should not be, we want to know everything about ‘schisto' or any communicable disease whatsoever in your communities from you." Some of the Schistosomiasis officers told NEXT they had been selected less than a week earlier. A circular handed out at the meeting stated that already, 11 endemic LGAs had been identified. These are; Yew South, Abeokuta North, Sagamu, Odeda, Ewekoro, Odogbolu, Remo North, Ijebu East, Ijebu North East, Ijebu North and Yewa-North (where Ijoun is situated). However, Mrs. Sodipe said that "though our local governments are few and far in-between, we will be delivering drugs and commencing intervention measures to even non-endemic areas immediately after this meeting."
‘We're not talking about Schistosomiasis alone'
Excerpts of interview with Abiodun Oduwole, Ogun State Commissioner for Health
What is the role of the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) and do you have sufficient manpower at the local government level? The DSNOs are in the local governments. They are to let us know when we have outbreaks of the diseases. We're not talking about schistosomiasis alone. We have one DSNO and one Schistosomiasis officer per LGA. These officers have been provided with the drugs, This essentially includes copper sulphate which will treat the rivers and kill the snails which are the hosts of the disease, and the drugs that would treat the patients. We have about 428 primary health care centres; they're catering to our people in the rural areas.
What long-term measures are being put in place to check Schistosomiasis?
The government is sinking borehole in all the local government areas, through ORUWA (the Ogun State Rural Water Project). When they sink the borehole they involve the communities in their maintenance. Another thing is we have to educate our people, especially the children, not to wade in fast moving water where you have these snails breeding, getting rid of this disease is not a once and for all thing... it has to be on a continuous basis.

Do you see Schistosomiasis being fully eradicated in Ogun State?
Well if we treat the water on a regular basis, if we continue to provide potable water and educate the people, it's just a matter of time; we would eradicate a lot of other diseases, not just Schistosomiasis.

Please tell us more about the Epidemic Preparedness Fund?
An Epidemic Preparedness Fund has been approved by the governor so that when you have something like this, you can quickly mobilise from the fund to organise trainings, workshops, sensitize the people, go on air, and things like that... and you can take some of the officers to the rural areas because it is one thing to have a DSNO and a Schistosomiasis officer, this and that.
But another thing is to see the State Epidemiologist coming, or the Director of Primary Health Care coming, it lifts their spirits, it encourages our people that you are moving very near to the grassroot and that costs money.

What challenges, if any did you face in putting together this intervention plan?

We had to source the drugs (Praziquantel) and it's quite expensive, but then, because we already have the money, it wasn't a problem.


What would you like to tell Ogun State residents about this disease?
The people should use the potable water that the governor is putting up, it's not possible to have potable water at everybody's backyard but they could trek and get the water where it is sited. I would like to assure that though not everything can be done at once, all local government areas will be touched. They should take care of the children and counsel them not to wade in water. We also have a school Health programme in place. It's not only about treating diseases, its educating these children and it will be incorporated into the curriculum of schools so that these children are also aware of what is happening and you know children have a way of communicating with each other, it is the best way to stop the spreading of all communicable disease.

PROMISE AND FAIL

By Ruona Agbroko
July 7, 2009 12:58PMT

Three weeks after Abiodun Oduwole, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, said that the state government had purchased a large quantity of drugs to fight schistosomiasis (a water-borne disease caused by worms) across the state, indigenes of Yewa-North Local Government Area have told NEXT that they have yet to receive any such drug.

After a report was published by NEXT on May 31 about children [one pictured] affected by the disease in Ijoun, a rural community in the state, an emergency meeting was held by the Ministry of Health on June 16. Oyin Sodipe, the Director of Public Healthcare and Disease Control with the ministry, told NEXT at the meeting that 20 schistosomiasis programme coordinators had been chosen for training on monitoring the disease in all local government areas of Ogun
State.

Mrs. Sodipe had said that they “will be delivering drugs and commencing intervention measures to even non-endemic areas immediately after this meeting.” She disclosed at the meeting that an Epidemic Preparedness Fund had been approved by the governor. She said that to battle the source of the disease, copper sulphate would also be used to treat the bodies of water in all
affected councils. However, when NEXT visited Ijoun on Saturday, July 4, residents said that “drugs have not been brought here.”

“We have not used our eyes to see any drugs, neither has our water been treated,” said Samuel Abiodun, the head of the community, in Yoruba.

Mrs. Sodipe could not be reached for her comments on the situation, while Kafil Emiola, the State Schistosomiasis Coordinator, answered NEXT’s telephone calls but immediately switched off her phone when asked about the non-availability of the drug (Praziquantel) to residents three weeks after the government said it had purchased the drug.
The Assistant Schistosomiasis Coordinator, Yewa-North Local Government Area, who simply gave his name as Mr. Ogunjimi, in a phone interview, told NEXT that the coordinator had gone to Ijoun over the issue.

“I am very far away from the local government headquarters but my coordinator has gone down there from Ayetoro. The drugs have gone to the State Primary Health Care coordinator, but the delay was that we wanted to choose a date. Hopefully today [July 6], they will do everything,” he said.
Asked to state categorically when the drugs would get to the affected patients in Ijoun, Mr. Ogunjimi said, “Sorry for the delay. They will get the drugs.”
Speaking with NEXT, Seun Oyelade, Information Officer of the Ogun State Ministry of Health, sought 30 minutes to “have an accurate picture of the situation.” She later sent a text message which read: “Officers who participated in the meeting that day were supposed to have given the drugs out.
But we are going there for inspection tomorrow.” Schistosomiasis is also known as bilharzia. The disease causes anaemia, bladder dysfunction, kidney and liver disease, and impaired learning in
children.
Although not eradicable once contracted, schistosiomiasis can be prevented and transmission controlled with a single annual dose of the drug Praziquantel,which costs about ₦30 per dose.