From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Casualties of the crumbling Nigerian economy are not just the low-income workers and small-scale businesses who live from hand to mouth; orphans and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) are worse off. The latter survive largely on philanthropic gestures from citizens and organisations.
But with the naira tumbling daily at a frightening speed, the economy has been so terribly battered that those who hitherto donated to orphanages and PWD colonies have vanished. They are struggling to survive before thinking of assisting others.
The high cost of foods, other goods and services have shrunk the income of free-spirited Nigerians such that they no longer have room for philanthropy. Big companies and non-governmental organisations are battling with huge losses that leave little room for corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Unfortunately, orphans and PWDs are at the receiving end of this horror. They have no capacity to fend for themselves because they are either too young or are suffering some impairment that robs them of the chance to work.
Those who can walk now survive on begging for alms, while those who cannot languish at the settlement. Many are ill but cannot afford to visit the clinic due to paucity of funds. Worse, medical aids and medical outreaches usually conducted by religious bodies and NGOs no longer happen.
Those of them who can hawk are regularly hounded by officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) because hawking is outlawed.
Daily Sun visited the disability community in Karonmajigi, a sprawling Abuja suburb on the Abuja Airport Road to gauge the mood and determine their survival strategy in the midst of the scorching economic climate.
Public Relations Officer of the community, Segir Ibrahim, said: “The current condition of the country’s economy is affecting us badly. We are seen as less than others. Most of us do not even have jobs so we do small businesses while many of us go to beg for alms daily.
“I think we are the most hit by this economy because even what to eat has become a problem for us. We have a large population of people living with disabilities here. We have a lot of children and women here as you can see. Feeding is a problem. The government knows that we are here but we are not getting enough support from them.
“Some NGOs come here to make donations but the frequency of their visits has greatly reduced. Before now, we used to have donations at least twice a week but now we barely have one in a month.
“The cost of transportation has also affected us greatly. Going to the market to sell our wares or moving around to beg for alms has become harder.
“Those that are able and working are complaining, then imagine us with disabilities. We are just managing ourselves and living by the grace of God. The government is trying but if we have to wait for them we will all die. We need the government and NGOs to come to our aid and support us.
“Nigerians should not abandon us. We need clothes, shoes, food and other things. We pray for help and we pray God helps our helpers.”
A member of the PWD settlement, Musa, said: “I beg to survive after I lost an arm. In the morning, I go out to solicit for help and return later to the community.
“Things are really bad. Even those who used to help me with N500, N200 and the rest can no longer afford it. Once they see me afar off, they wind up the glasses and zoom past. They said things are really rough.
“If people who own cars and houses and have a means of livelihood are complaining, you can imagine what myself and others in my condition are going through. We need some sort of social security. We’re dying.”
The pathetic plight of the PWDs was not any better at the PriestHood Orphanage Home, Abuja. Jonah David, a missionary at the outfit, said: “In this present situation in the country it has not been easy at all. Visitors have not been coming the way they used to due to the current situation of the country.
“Before now, our partners came with donations almost everyday but now we only see them once a week. Like the whole of this week now since Sunday till today we have only had one donor.
“So, it really has not been easy at all. If the children see food, they eat, if they don’t we keep on praying for a partner to come and donate to take care of them because they eat based on what is donated.
“It has also affected their education. Since school resumed this term, they have not gone back to school because there is no money. Even the quantity of donations people bring is now very low compared to before. We need help. We need it urgently. We pray God keeps us alive.”
Findings by Daily Sun show that the number of PWDs has been on a steady rise as terrorism and banditry up North keep driving them to Abuja. A November 2022 report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicated that there are over 3.1 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria due to the insurgency in the northern part of the country.
Social commentators note that a good number of these displaced people, especially women and children, have found their way into the FCT as destitutes searching for safety and security. They set up makeshift shelters in various parts of the territory.
Nonetheless, environmentalists note that the rise in the number of slums around the city is a growing concern. It is caused by poverty and inequality, which is ballooning the population of destitutes in the FCT.