…Menial job workers sink deeper into poverty, destitution
• As cost of living, hike in prices of materials hinder builders, contractors from hiring them
By Olakunle Olafioye (Lagos), Geoffrey Anyanwu (Enugu), Layi Olanrewaju (Ilorin), Okey Sampson (Umuahia), Scholastica Onyeka (Makurdi), Stanley Uzoaru (Owerri), Timothy Olanrewaju (Maiduguri), Tony John (Port Harcourt)
Nigerians have been feeling the impact of every jump in the exchange rate, particularly the United States dollar to the Naira. Each time the Naira drops against the dollar, it feels like another sharp knife stuck into the battered situation of most Nigerian families as prices of vital and basic commodities, among them drugs, foodstuff, school fees, skyrocket.
A few days ago, the naira sank further to N930 against the US dollar at the parallel market, sending prices shooting up across the board. More extremely hit by the accelerating fall of the Nigerian currency is the huge, widespread population of artisans in every nook and cranny of the country.
Everywhere you look, there is lamentation and hunger in the land. The stark situation is boldly etched on the faces of the real Nigerians, unlike the Wa benzi (South African parlance for fat cats) who sit in the legislative houses and governance circles, and derisively pass resolutions mockingly and urging that the poor should be allowed to breathe. And, of course, after they have gleefully received “prayer points” in their email boxes.
When you interact with the horde of suffering masses on the streets, who daily contend with the deepening impact of the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, you will hear the voices of people who are close to destitution as they paint the harrowing pictures of how they are struggling to keep their body and soul together. In the face of it all, what comes through is that stoic faith in God is what is now keeping the people going.
Artisans, by the very nature of their trade, depend on daily incomes earned, to survive and support their families. Whether they reside in the poor sections of the urban areas or the rural areas, the story is the same except that the rural-dwelling ones have the singular advantage of living in their own homes – shielded from the challenge of paying rent.
Their collective desire is that the government should reasonably bring down the fuel pump price. For that to really happen, local production of PMS has to kick off in Nigeria’s refineries. But the reality on the ground is that PMS prices will remain high as the commencement of local production is not yet in sight.
Enugu
In Enugu State, at New Artisan Market which hosts the highest concentration of artisans in the Coal City, a builder, Nkwocha Lux Chimeziri, is visibly disturbed by the spectre of hunger that looms large over the country.
He agonized over the fact that works have been stalled in most of the project sites in the Enugu metropolis due to the economic hardship. Artisans and their families are suffering greatly now, he said with a shrug.
“To be frank with you, the situation of our country right now does not favour the artisans. These people you are seeing here, most of them live on a daily income. Whatever they get in a day is what they use to feed their families. And most of them here, carrying diggers, shovels, and buckets, some of them are graduates. Some are still going to school, some have families, some have children that are in secondary school and some in higher institutions.
“So, as you can see, here is filled, the population here is in hundreds, they are not seeing work because cement is on the high side, cost of transportation is on the high side because of what? he asked rhetorically, before spitting the answer: Fuel!” Chimeziri said.
He added: “This present economic hardship is hitting artisans very badly. In the past, I used to come here and take workers to my sites. At times I might not even see workers, maybe I needed about four masons, I could only see one to take and sometimes there would be none, but these days when you come, you see more than 30 masons standing around you to hire them for work unlike before when you would be lucky to see people to work for you.
“But now there is no work for artisans, they are not going to work anymore. The people who used to call them for work are no longer executing projects because they don’t have money. So, that is to tell you that the situation in the country is very, very bad, my brother.
“For things to be easy for artisans and other suffering Nigerians, the government should look into the fuel subsidy removal issue again and see how it will meaningfully make things easy for Nigerians. Again, as they are talking of sharing palliatives, they should remember this great number of artisans here who live on what they can earn every day. Because they don’t have any other means of livelihood except this daily job they go to and now that it is not coming, you can imagine their predicament.”
Ugochukwu Eze, a mason, agreed with Chimeziri that the high cost of building materials has affected artisans as it has forced many projects to be shut down.
“Where it is affecting us in this work is that whenever the prices of building materials go up, the builders who call us to work for them will not have enough money to buy materials. That is why you can see the crowd in this place because the majority have no work to go to like before. For example, the price of cement used to be N3,500, but now it is N5,500 and it is affecting us. Iron rod now costs N4,000; it was N3,000 just a few days ago.
“Before now, there was no day I didn’t go to work unless I travelled or I was sick, but the story is different today. In the last one week, I have only been hired two times. And even when you get hired, the money you will be paid is so little and leaves you sad, but you have no choice. You just accept it like that and go, just to have something to take home, to buy food,” he said.
With no work to do, hard-hit people like Eze resort to pleading with friends and relations for financial assistance. For those whose wives are engaged in petty trading or hawk cooked food, such efforts provide little support.
One of the labourers, Suliman Abdullahi, from Kaduna State, told Sunday Sun: “Before, we normally come here and before we even come out the builders will be here already and waiting for workers, but now they do not come and even if we see one many of us will rush the person. We no longer get work like before, even if you get, the money you will spend in transport to that place and back will take all and before you get to your house, Wahala don dey. Make government reduce the price of fuel because that is the cause of the hardship.”
In Ugboawka, a rural community in the state, James Ugonna, a welder, painfully revealed that for the past three weeks he had not done any job, saying: “You know, development is coming into this our area with speed and if you look around you will see building projects scattered everywhere, but for about a month now, no work is going on around here again since the cost of building material rose like high blood pressure. It is affecting artisans like us badly.
“Now farming is not an alternative. Where will we go and farm? We have no farmland because we are part of the state capital territory and the government has taken our lands. The portions that remained have been sold by the owners, who out of fear of the government could come back to take more land.”
Lagos and Ogun
Artisans in some parts of Lagos and Ogun states are hard hit by the downturn in the economy, which has led to low demand for their services. This development, they claimed, is forcing most technicians to seek alternative means of survival.
An automobile mechanic in Alagbado area of Lagos, Mr Gbenga Raji described the automobile repair services as one of the worst hit occupations affected by the subsidy removal of the current administration.
Raji pointed out that the hike in the price of the Premium Motor Spirit has forced many vehicle owners to abandon their vehicles and resorted to using public transportation. This, he said, has in turn caused a drastic drop in demand for automobile repair services in the area.
“Routine service of vehicles by their owners is gradually becoming a rarity since most vehicle owners no longer use them. Even those with faulty vehicles are not coming forth to fix them because of the bad economy. Some of the vehicles you see around have been here for close to or over a month which is against our practice in this yard. We don’t allow any vehicle to remain beyond one week except the vehicle is continuously being worked on. This is a very difficult time for every one of us here,” Raji lamented.
He said that he now relies on one of his clients, a commercial vehicle operator, who releases his commercial bus for him to commute whenever he is tired, as alternative means of surviving.
“What I do in the alternative now is to commute passengers with a commercial bus belonging to one of my customers in the evening when he is through for the day. With that I am able to get what I can use to at least take care of my family the following day if everything goes well with the vehicle,” he said.
At Atan-Ota in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, some site workers who spoke to Sunday Sun said that the current hardship has equally led to an unprecedented lull in construction activities in the area, thereby forcing them to embrace unattractive coping measures.
One of them, a mason, Mr Basit Hassan, said that unlike what obtained in the previous years, construction works have been unusually dull in the area since the beginning of the third quarter of the year.
He pointed out that building construction in developing areas like Atan-Ota usually peaks in the third quarter through the final quarter of the year when most new house owners always rush their building projects in anticipation of moving into them at the beginning of the new year.
He, however, opined that works on most construction sites in the area have slowed down even as most owners of the buildings have temporarily abandoned them, ostensibly to be able to pay attention to the most crucial need of feeding their families.
His words: “Building owners are abandoning their ongoing projects because of the situation in the country. The majority of my clients I called recently told me that their primary concern is how to feed their families for now. It is really affecting us. Sometimes, we are idle for weeks because house owners are not calling us for work any longer. Some of us who are mainly contractors and perform only supervisory roles at construction sites are now being compelled to do the work ourselves.
“The last time I handled the trowel to work directly on a building was during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now I have to do it myself because if I am lucky to get a job now and I invite other bricklayers to join, once the job is finished I don’t know when I will get another one. So, I’d rather do it myself. That is exactly what most of us are doing now.”
Imo
The Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, recently got a commendation from the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, for the road construction activities going in the state and thereby created job opportunities for artisans. However, Mr Uche Duru, a resident of the state and an artisan, holds a different view.
Duru said that the effect of the hardship has affected his work.
According to him, he used to get a lot of clients almost everyday, but he is now facing a dry season because of the removal of subsidy that astronomically drove up prices. These days, most times he goes home without even a client coming to hire his services.
“I’m a father of six children. As the new school term begins, I don’t even have hope of paying their school fees. Clients have not been coming. Most of them said they’re waiting for the price of cement to come down before they can continue building their projects. This is really hitting hard on most of us that survive by daily pay income,” Duru said.
Kwara
This is certainly not the best of times for residents of Kwara State just like other Nigerians. Mostly hit are commercial bus drivers, artisans, traders and those who depend on daily earnings for their living.
A visit to the Oja Oba and Garage areas of Ilorin metropolis, you will find a large concentration of artisans from Ilorin West and South local government areas.
These are able-bodied men and women, ranging in age from 20 to over 40 years, holding their work tools such as hammers, shovel, diggers and so on. One of them, Micheal Adetoyi, in a chat with Sunday Sun said: “I don’t have anything I can call my own now because I have sold them to feed my family. I came out today to see if somebody will hire me as a bricklayer. There is no work at building sites now because the cost of building materials has gone up. This has made things very difficult for those of us who rely on daily paid jobs.”
Abia
In Umuahia, the Abia State capital, particularly around Akwuzu Street by Calabar Road and beside Orpet Filling station at the World Bank Housing Estate, artisans gather in their numbers on a daily basis to wait for who would hire them for one job or the other.
But such hopes are dashed daily as the building and construction projects stagnate.
According to Oji Nkama, a mason, he hardly gets any job again.
Nkama, who lives in one of the suburbs of Umuahia said that before now, there was hardly any day he would come out without getting a job. But in recent times, he has been having difficulty getting regular jobs.
“Before now, there was hardly any day I would come out without getting a job and things were moving on well. But now, it is difficult getting a job every day. Any week things went well, I would get work only three times. This is now affecting the welfare of my family,” Nkama lamented.
Also, Okezie Eluwa, carpenter, lives at Apumiri Ubakala, but stays at the Orpet Filling Station/World Bank Housing Estate axis where he comes daily to look for who would engage him for carpentry jobs.
Apart from not getting regular jobs, Eluwa said that his major problem now was how to get to Orpet area, everyday to look for work due to the hike in transport fares.
“Things are very hard these days. It is quite difficult getting a job these days and we are not finding it easy. There are no jobs now, but what is more worrisome is the amount I spend in a day to get to where I will say is my shop,” he said.
Eluwa said that before, he used to spend N100 to get to Umuahia, but now, he spends N300 and at the end of the day, he spends between N700 to N1,000, no minding there were days he would not get a job.
Eluwa said that in an attempt to cope with the present economic realities, since he no longer gets work daily, he takes some days off and does some work on his farm.
Farmers in villages are not finding things easy either. A farmer from Ugwueke in Bende Local Government Area, Ogbonnaya Okorie, bemoaned the high cost of hiring labourers and getting fertilizers.
Even more troubling is the menace of armed herdsmen who destroy the cultivated crops by grazing their cattle in the farms.
When objections are raised to such destruction, the lawless herders threaten retribution. For these and other reasons, Okorie said that he has washed his hands off farming.
He called on the Federal Government to do something to mitigate the sufferings of the poor masses.
Borno
Like their counterparts in other parts of the country, artisans in Borno State are suffocating under the current economic hardship in the country. They attribute their survival to divine provision and benevolence of the Almighty God
“I can’t remember the last time I ate twice in a day. I haven’t got work for over a month now because most people have suspended their building projects due to the situation of the country,” Usman Aliyu, a bricklayer, told Sunday Sun in Maiduguri.
The father of five male children said that he often sneaked out of the house to return late when his family members would have gone to bed.
“I can’t stand looking at them hungry,” he added. Sunday Sun gathered that many artisans have resorted to petty jobs such as serving as errand men for traders in commercial areas to feed their families.
Ba’Musa and Saleh are examples of idle artisans who daily wait for those who want to photocopy and buy food from local restaurants and other shops around for a token.
“I haven’t got any carpentry work to do and my family is suffering. Things are very hard and sometimes, I feel like committing suicide,” Saleh said.
Until a few months ago, Saleh had several jobs in the city as he returned home with foodstuffs and other consumables for his three-member family.
Sadly, no one has invited him for work recently. “People are now saying their focus is on feeding their families and not any building. So, we’re out of job,” he said, frustration and sadness written all over him.
Benue
Life has been hellish for people in Benue State rural communities, where marauding herdsmen kill, maim, rape and abduct villagers.
Hardship arising from recent policies of the Federal Government has compounded their pain and agony, and generally complicated their daily existence.
Narrating their plight in the face of the worsening economy, rural residents in Benue said that they are almost feeding from hand to mouth, by engaging in menial jobs including farming activities to survive and put food on the table for their families.
Zaki Bem Nyitor, a mason who resides in Nyon, a rural community in Makurdi Local Government Area, told Sunday Sun: “Things are so bad now. There is no money, people are no longer building like before. In the past, as a chief mason, I used to have as many as three to five building sites and I would put boys there and be monitoring them.
“But as I speak to you, there is not even one site. People are not building much. We started one recently, but the owner asked us to stop work till further notice. I have now been working on my farm. That is how we are surviving.”
At a building site in the Tse Ayu area of Makurdi, our correspondent observed that while many artisans had gathered to be hired for daily paid jobs, only a few were seen doing the job.
Several of the artisans said that the site engineer had offered to pay them a fee lower than what they used to receive in the past.
Unhappy with the offer, many walked away. One of the senior artisans, Mr Joseph Gbande said: “We usually take N50 to N70 per block, but the man is offering us N40 per block. From that you are expected to hire a helper; someone to give you cement and lift the blocks for you. At the end of the day, you close with almost nothing. It was not like this before.”
Apart from his normal work, which is plastering of walls, Gbande said that he has leased land where he planted some crops to enable him augment what he makes from his mason work.
“I prefer to go and work on my farm than carry blocks at that price and later I will still go and buy paracetamol for pain. Nothing will be left for food,” he said.
Gbande noted that most villagers have sold their lands while the available ones are being leased out to interested residents who want to engage in farm work.
However, many villagers have sold their land outrightly to enable them pay rent, school fees and also feed.
“But in the hinterland, there is still land for farming, but people are reluctant to venture into them because of the armed herdsmen who roam in those areas. Sometimes you even see people who bought land from the villagers reselling because they need money to pay hospital bills. It’s difficult,” he added.
Another artisan, John Tavershima, explained that he usually comes into Makurdi town with his friends to look for work at building sites.
“We can do anything, from mixing cement for workers to serving them cement, digging up foundation and other things.
“No week came without us finding something to do, but these days, sites are dry, work has stopped in many of the buildings and those working either have their people or are paying something very low,” he said.
Another artisan, Iduh, said: “See, I’m a trained painter, but if I wait till painting time to get the job, hunger will kill me and my family. So when I see a site, I do whatever work that is available.”
Rivers
Residents of Rivers State, which is the capital of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry operations, has not been spared by the hardship and hunger in the land.
The removal of subsidy has created spiralling inflation to the state, where cost of goods and services has always been on the high side in normal times.
Rocketing cost of living is making life difficult and hard. This is more so in rural communities, broken into groups: upland and riverine.
The riverine parts comprise all the local government areas (LGAs) in the coastal part of the state, with fishing as a major occupation. The upland refers to the LGAs which are predominantly farmers. They include Abua/Odual, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Emohua, Etche, Ikwerre, Omuma, Obio/Akpor and the entire Ogoniland.
However, residents of the areas (riverine and upland) are faced with one common problem, which is insecurity. Sea pirates hold sway in the riverine, cult-related activities are very high in the upland. The rural dwellers are major victims of these crimes.
Recently, about 10 women and children, who are farmers, were abducted by gunmen in Abua/Odual LGA. In the upland, kidnapping and robbery are on the increase, thereby making life miserable for the residents.
Madam Priscilla Ikachi and Mr Rowland Odeyi, who are farmers from Ahoada East LGA, revealed that they live by the mercy of God.
Madam Ikachi said: “There are uncertainties around us. Life is miserable and coping too difficult. Due to insecurity, we are afraid of going to the farm because these bad boys can attack us anytime. They rape women and girls they find on the farm. If they see men, they either kidnap or kill them. We are always afraid.
“Before, the farm produce used to sustain us. Another thing that is compounding our predicament is flood. That is why I said earlier that we are surrounded by uncertainties.”
Similarly, Mr Odeyi said: “We, men, are not finding it easy. Everything is on our shoulders. These boys (criminals) are making life more miserable for us. We depend on farming to survive. Coping with life now is very difficult. We depend on what we see or get daily to survive.”
According to him, most of the farmlands belong to a community and are difficult to sell to individuals.
In Port Harcourt Township, there is a popular meeting point for artisans known as Plaza. They gather there daily and the lucky ones are hired for menial jobs.
Mr Uzoma Emmanuel who is 73 years old, told Sunday Sun that he could do any type of job, no matter how neat or unhygienic the work is to feed his family.
He said: “I know masonry very well. But, even if the job is to clean the gutters or toilets, and get money, I wouldn’t mind. It doesn’t give me joy. But, there is nothing I can do.
“Before, I used to select the kind of jobs to do. Also, before, we charged our clients and we hardly rushed anyone. But, now, if you charge high, you will see your fellow ‘job man’ signalling to the client to leave you. And he will leave you.”
Also, Mr Augustine Chikere, a plumber, shared his experience: “If you go to any building site, the job men there already will talk to you very rudely. They will not tell you there is a plumbing job. At some building sites, I had begged for any kind of job. The labourers there abused me and called me a thief. It was very painful.”