From poverty to prosperity

YELWA Bakar iUsman is a mother of three. She used to be a full-time housewife with no marketable skill and lives in Za’a community of Song Local Government Area of Adamawa State. With no skills, she had to join her husband to farm the small portion of land they possessed. Harvest from the farm was usually insignificant to satisfy their family’s needs. Seven years into her marriage, the mother of three was deeply worried over the vicious cycle of lack and meeting the increasing needs of her growing children.

“I was frustrated in the marriage because we could hardly eat despite dissipating so much energy on farm work and other menial jobs to meet our family needs,” she said, pointing out that it was the grace of God that saw her through her period of pregnancy and child-bearing. Then, friends and family were always on hand to offer one support or the other which soon ended some months after and the whole cycle began again.

“My attention shifted from the challenge to the kind of life my kids would face if we did not act quickly. How could I go through this suffering and allow my children to face the same kind of pains. I pondered on the level of difficulty and uncertainty I will be exposing myself and the children to if we did not deliberately find a way out,” she told Arewa Live.

Usman’s situation like millions of other women across the country gives clarity to the need of global efforts through Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to take decisive steps to help poor people like her and lift them out of poverty.

Looking back, with tears-filled eyes, she said: “Thoughts of going to the clinic scared me. It was always more dreadful when the children’s temperature was high. The clinic was a no-go area for us. It would require money and that, we did not have. You do not go to the clinic with tears, the nurses will shout at you and still would not attend to you. It would have been okay to be insulted and your suckling gets treated, but that is not the case. It costs money to treat the sick.”

It was at this breaking point that she was introduced to the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) driven by a group known as Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN) in partnership with European Union Oxfam co-sponsored project aimed at lifting people out of extreme poverty. Her participation in the programme led to a gradual positive change. Two years on, she is the owner of a grinding machine which she has put to commercial use.

“Today, I make between N1200 and N1500 daily. My children are treated at the clinic and no nurse shouts at me again,” Usman said, noting that she is now making a decent earning and contributing to the family’s income.

Yelwa’s children are also attending school regularly. It did not end there for her. She maintained that the family plans to build a house but that would be after a second grinding machine is in place in order to increase her earnings.

Another family headed by Alhaji Audu Ferefere, also in Adamawa State shared his experience as a beneficiary from the partnership of EU/Oxfam, CRUDAN and Development Exchange Centre (DEC).

Alhaji Ferefere, a resident Malabu community in Fufure Local Government Area, also told Arewa Live that he was unable to meet his responsibilities as a husband and father to his wives and children. In meeting the responsibilities, he often works on other persons’ farmland to raise money to feed his family before going to till his own land. This was his practice for many years as he spent less and less time farming his own land.

Today, Ferefere’s story has changed for the better. Speaking to Arewa Live during a visit to his new business premises in Malabu, he said the multi-partner funded and implemented programme of EU/Oxfam, CRUDAN and DEC had empowered him economically.

“You can see what I have here – grinding machines; one for thrashing of grains, the other for blending. I have four workers, who work here and I pay them daily. By the grace of Allah, I can now meet all of my basic needs.

“My wives are happier and are not placed under any kind of pressure on how to provide food for the family because all items needed to prepare the meal are usually available for them now as against the past when we were always short of one item or the other,”  he stated.

How did things turn around for Ferefere? As is the standard practice, every participant in the loans scheme before being qualified for empowerment would have to make weekly contributions to his village savings and loans association. After several months of consistent savings, he was qualified for a loan.

Unfortunately, initially, his contributions were not sufficient to qualify him for the kind of loan he needed to start his business. Ferefere wanted two grinding machines for threshing grains and grinding. The market value was N680,000. He was not ready to negotiate it for any other thing. Seeing his determination and conviction, and noting that there was a huge gap to be filled, Oxfam stepped in and undertook the purchase of the two machines. This was after Ferefere had made a commitment of paying 20 per cent of the amount upfront.

Ferefere’s collateral was but his integrity, because all those who knew him vouched for him. The loan has a repayment period of 17 months. So far, things are looking up for him. The Secretary of the Aminci VSLA, Ayuba Kiliyobus, said Ferefere has been honourable in repaying the loans.

With two months delay for repayment to cover for installation of the equipment at his new shop to enable him commence business without any hiccup, Ferefere was able to stand on a firm ground. According to him, besides paying back his loans without problems, he makes between N1,000 and N2,000 daily as profit after settling other daily expenses.

He also said that the chaff which is waste products of the grains he mills are also sold as feeds for animals and this also generates revenue for the business. Sometimes, he makes about N180,000 from the waste within three months.

To underscore the fact that things are looking up Ferefere, he has begun construction of a two-room apartment for his family. He was quick to point out to Arewa Live that it is the first cement block building for his family in a typical village where the houses are mostly built with mud.

Mrs Usman and Alhaj iFerefere are just two examples of the success stories recorded in Adamawa and other states in the Northern part of the country. Other residents spoken to by Arewa Live attest to the fact that the NGOs involved in the scheme  have touched many lives.