Volume 2 (April), 2019: 1 – 14. WOMEN AND POVERTY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA: STRATEGIES FOR ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

WOMEN AND POVERTY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA: STRATEGIES FOR ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

OSUNYIKANMI, Adebukola Foluke (PhD)

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Faculty of Social and Management Sciences

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko

Ondo State, Nigeria.

Phone: +234 8034086732

bukkyosunyikanmi@yahoo.co.uk

ARIYO, Ojo Olawale (MSc)

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Faculty of Social and Management Sciences

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko

Ondo State, Nigeria.

Phone: 07038898272

E-mail: ariyoojo67@yahoo.com

AND

IJIMAKINWA, Samuel Ojo (MSc)

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Faculty of Social and Management Sciences

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko

Ondo State, Nigeria.

Phone: 08035700655

E-mail:samuelijimakinwa@yahoo.com

Abstract

Nigeria attained independence on October 1, 1960 and poverty has remained one of the country's problems since then. The case of the Niger Delta Region always attracts global concern because the oil wealth Nigeria comes from the region. Yet the people live in abject poverty. However, the improvement in government intervention since the presidency of late President Umaru Yar’adua has significantly reduced protests, kidnapping of expatriates, militancy, loss of lives and properties. Amnesty came the way of the militant youths through the Federal Government of Nigeria. This brought respite to the volatile and poverty-stricken region of Nigeria but the government largesse neglected the most vulnerable and deprived group: women. The amnesty granted by the Federal Government of Nigeria which included monetary rewards, overseas educational opportunities, vocational training and employment opportunities were not sufficiently extended to women. Thus, poverty amongst women in the region remains unabated. Using primary (interview) and secondary sources of data, this paper brings out in succinct details the causes of poverty in the Niger-Delta region, its impacts on women in the region, the strategies for lasting peace and accelerated development in the Niger-Delta Region in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

Keywords: Development, Economic Empowerment, Gender, Poverty,

Introduction

Poverty in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is pathetic.  Although the region accounts for 95 percent of exports and 85 percent of government revenue in Nigeria, the inhabitants of the region are enmeshed in poverty. Niger Delta Region (NDR) constitutes the nine oil producing states identified for the purpose of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). These states include Ondo, Edo, Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States. Compared to other regions in southern Nigeria, poverty rate in the Niger Delta stood at 47 percent. This is the highest among the three regions of the Southern part of Nigeria as compared to South East's 31.2 percent and South West's 42.2 percent (NPC, 2004; Simon, 2010). Despite decades of development efforts, widespread poverty remains the major challenge to the development of the region (Osunyikanmi, 2010). The region is bedeviled with ecological problems. The exploration of oil in the region has affected agriculture, fishing as well as the living conditions of the people (Simon, 2010). Ibaba (2008) argued that the incidence of incessant violence was brought about as a result of the resistance of the people to the inhuman nature of the international oil companies and environmental hazard which has snatched away the region’s water and land. Traditionally, 90 percent of Niger Delta women are farmers. Simon (2010) submits that oil spillage has destroyed the farmlands and aquatic life thereby causing women to lose their source of livelihood.  Simon explained that oil spillage on the environment had reduced annual rain drops. The pollution caused by gas flaring also led to acidic rainfalls and the killing of creatures living in rivers.

Yet, there have been policies and programmes enunciated by the federal government to ameliorate the sufferings of the people of the region. Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) was established in 1961, the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) established in 1976, Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) established in 1992 and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) established in 1999 (Achinulo, 2017). He argued that despite all of these, the people of Niger Delta are wallowing in abject poverty that appeared to be becoming entrenched. Most of the projects initiated by the boards were hijacked by the elites and in several instances, funds meant for projects were misappropriated by public officers and contractors.

In spite of different developmental initiatives and strategies put in place by the Federal Government and NDDC in the region, it seems there is a conspiracy of silence. The measures  have been ineffectual in the alleviation of poverty among women in the region. Women in the Niger Delta region are excluded from the mainstream of government policies, programmes and developmental initiatives such as the Amnesty program of the Federal Government. Hence, this study will take a holistic view of poverty in the Niger Delta region especially among women and the strategic plans for economic empowerment in the region.

The paper used both primary and secondary sources to gather data for this study. Information was sourced through the interview of respondents on the impacts of the Presidential Amnesty Program on alleviation of poverty among women in the Niger Delta region. 10 respondents were selected and interviewed in each of the nine states of the Niger Delta region. Other information was gathered online and offline from journals, magazines, newspapers and government gazette. The interview was properly structured to give clarity of purpose for this research work while content analysis was used in explaining the secondary data.

Theoretical Explanation

Marxism is the theory that emphasizes the hierarchical structure of the society which emanates from the established ways of organizing production and distribution of material and spiritual life ensuring the unequal exploitation of nature and the results of human work by social classes and groups (Feuer, 1969). Marx's theory views the society as the exploitation and suppression of one class by another which continue to produce severe consequences such as poverty, unemployment and war both in highly developed and developing countries (Johari, 2015).

 Marx’s theory suggests that the most definitive element of all social relations among people in the society is political and economic in nature. Human beings are basically driven by a need to satisfy their livelihood which in turn compels them to work in order to earn some income (Duke, 2010). Kolo (1999) cited in Osunyikanmi (2010) divided the society into two distinct classes defined by the unequal distribution of income in Nigeria - the propertied class which owns and controls the means of material production and the property-less class which owns nothing but its labour power. It is in this process of securing an income by the property-less class that they necessarily come under economic arrangements that typically deliver the levers of power and control to the owners of capital and other critical resources used in production (Duke, 2010).

Therefore, the subversion of the Niger Delta region by the international oil companies is to achieve the goals of profit maximization and economic exploitation of the people. This deliberately results in the perpetual domination by the upper class who are mostly men.   According to Marx (1868) cited in Osunyikanmi (2010) such unequal distribution of wealth results from the unjust nature of the capitalist system. This unequal distribution is what triggers tension, conflict and class struggle which will more often than not, end up in a revolution.

Review of Poverty Alleviation Measures in Nigeria and its Impacts on Women

The Nigerian government, realizing that poverty is the bane of development of the country and her people, have made several efforts to redress the situation. Different administrations had come up with strategies on how to tackle the problem of poverty. However, an assessment of each of these revealed that they fell short of their targets with regards to women in Nigeria.

In the 1970s, poverty alleviation measures were targeted at rural areas in the bid to improve the agricultural sector (Osunyikanmi, 2010). Some of the strategies that had been adopted in Nigeria includes Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund. These approaches could not meet the food security of the nation or uplift the poor class out of poverty (Osunyikanmi, 2010). In 1979, the Green Revolution was introduced to improve farm outputs and rural communities. It was aimed at providing modern settlements with basic amenities such as electricity and potable water; and discourage rural-urban migration. The poverty gap between the rural and urban areas widened to an uncomfortable level of 11.7% in 1980. It increased to 13.6% in 1985 and 20.6% in 1998 (FOS, 1999). The rural dwellers could no longer cope, thus they resolved to migrate to the urban centers for jobs that were not even available in most places. The River Basin Development Projects introduced to increase agricultural productivity did not achieve its target either.

A mass mobilization approach was adopted in 1986. This led to the creation of the following agencies: Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI), Mass Mobilization for Social, Justice and Economic Reconstruction (MAMSER), Better Life for Rural Women, The People’s Bank, Community Banks, Rural Health Schemes and Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). All these were introduced to tackle poverty, improve standard of living, empower women economically, improve health care, provide loans and job opportunities for the underprivileged. All these projects failed to meet their targets as they ended up increasing the number of rural poor; and consequently, worsened rural-urban drift.  The number of rural poor    continued to rise. For instance, in 1980, the poverty level in the rural area was 29.3%, it went up to 51.4% in 1985, slightly decreased to 46.1% in 1992 and increased to 69.8% in 1996 (FOS,1999).

The Better Life for Rural Women Programme (BLP) was indeed a commendable, women-oriented effort that was put in place by Mrs. Maryam Babangida during General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime (1985-1993). It commenced operation in 1985 and was in operation through 1993 when the administration left office and it really served useful purposes in the lives of women and their dependents. It created opportunities for poverty alleviation by improving food production program. It also initiated skill acquisition programmes for women with the support of the World Bank. However, the shortcoming of the programme that really devalued the whole effort was that it was essentially rural-focused thus neglecting poor urban women. Osunyikanmi (2010) submitted that even the rural women that were presumed to have benefited from the scheme were not better off than the urban dwellers. Some of the supposed beneficiaries of the programme from the rural areas mentioned that their products were usually collected from them by women leaders who displayed them at trade fairs without any significant financial returns to the rural women.

The Family Support Program (FSP) was established by Mrs. Maryam Abacha. The objectives had all the trappings of BLP but with special focus on families. It, however, lacked the needed concerted effort to eradicate the inequalities that always had negative consequences for women. As a matter of fact, a critical assessment of the programme shows that it did not in any way make any remarkable achievement than the Better Life Programme that preceded it. The only landmark associated with the Family Support Programme was the creation of the Ministry of Women Affairs in 1995. The ministry was created to coordinate the affairs of women in general. This indeed was a great intervention for women. It could be seen as the recognition of the demands of women at Beijing Conference which called for adequate recognition and proper representation in governments in all countries. However, inadequate financial resources and inefficiency have always jeopardized the objectives of the ministry.

Other programmes include the establishment of Community Action Programme for Poverty Alleviation (CAPPA). The objectives were to improve living conditions of the poor and enhance their productivity through skills improvement, better nutrition, and better healthcare. This programme, like those implemented before it, did not lead to poverty reduction (Osunyikanmi, 2010). This was attested to by the ADB report (2001) that indicated 70% of Nigerians lived below the poverty line as at year 2000.

Poverty and Niger Delta Women  

Poverty is widespread among women in the Niger Delta region. Despite the oil resources in the region, the region remains one of the poorest in the country. The discovery of oil in the region has affected agriculture, fishing and the living conditions of the people. Imobighe (2011) asserts that unwarranted poverty in rural areas of the oil producing states can be traced to the high activity level in the Niger Delta. Oil exploration has exposed the area to water, land and air pollution as well as oil spills which harm aquatic life as well as the entire ecosystem, topography and surface vegetation. Imobighe (2011) reported various activities in the Niger Delta areas that led to the destruction of their ecosystem and the impoverishment of the region; he aver that in 1979, a storage facility at the West Niger Delta, Shell-operated Forcados terminal collapsed. This spilled an estimated 560,000 barrels into surrounding land, mangrove swamps and the Atlantic. In 1980, another major blowout occurred which spewed out some 200,000 barrels of crude oil into the Atlantic and destroyed nearly over 840 acres of Niger Delta mangrove. In 1998, a 24- inch crude oil pipeline linking the Idoho offshore platform with the Mobil operated Qua Iboe terminal ruptured. An estimated 40,000 barrels of crude spilled into the Atlantic polluting the coastline from Eket to Lagos and beyond the Nigerian Western boarder to the shores of Ghana.  On October 17, 1998, there was fire outbreak that killed thousands of people in Jesse Town and rendered some people homeless. The same disaster also happened on June 24, 2009 when 150,000 residents of Ogbodo battled a massive petroleum spill from a shell pipeline which forced some of the residents to desert their homes and made the soil unproductive for farming and fishing.

The women and the children are the ones mostly hit by all these devastations. This negative effect prevents women from engaging in their traditional farming and fishing activities. The  well-being of the women whose husband and children were killed by inferno and military invasions deteriorated; thus the affected women became the breadwinners in their  homes (China et al, 2017). It is pertinent to know that the Niger Delta region households are mostly female-headed with farming as their major occupation; their men fled the area for greener pastures or engaged in militancy. The situation led to a shift in gender roles with a dramatic increase in the number of female heads of households.  Ololade, (2009) submits that Niger Delta women perform certain economic responsibilities within the family as wives, mothers, farmers and breadwinners. They are the principal care giver of the children and the aged. Even though they are food producers, harvesters and cook; they are also expected to function as wage earners. This is because the intra housing income distribution pattern and the rise of matriarchal households in the country coupled with poverty forced them to take active financial role in their families. Since most of them are uneducated and unsuitable for white collar jobs, their major source of livelihood is subsistence farming.

The CDD Niger Delta project (2001) contended that women in this region are low-income earners with little or no education with a poor standard of living. This region represented the deprived part of the country due to violence and poverty. The situation has created a large  number of  commercial sex workers in the region with all the associated health and social problems (Okafor, 2016). The region has one of the highest levels of HIV/AIDS patients in Nigeria. According to Nattrass (2004) the economic crisis has created what he called the “sexual economy” which is a phrase that describes the sexual activities that men and young women engage in for monetary rewards. He argued that the participation in the sexual economy as a result of poverty places young women in higher risk of HIV transmission and infection. Akeroyad (1997) cited in Osunyikanmi (2010) earlier asserted that immoral sexual culture places women in a vulnerable situation regarding HIV infection; and poverty exacerbates it by encouraging women to engage in sex as an economic strategy for survival. Therefore, sex culture becomes an industry related to and working directly with the workers of oil companies in the area. According to Iwuoha (2012), for women and girls to survive in the trade, the sex industry in the Niger Delta is directly linked to the petroleum industry as the employees of oil companies and petroleum-related service firms patronize the prostitutes.  The direct fallout of this sex industry is that there are a lot of children sired by expatriates in the region; and more importantly, the rate of abandonment of these children is very high thus causing dysfunctional family system in the region. Shelton et al (2005) supporting Akeroyad's assertion argued that  poor women are vulnerable to sexual exploitation as evidenced by HIV prevalence in the region. The negative effects of the sex industry include ill-health and death of breadwinners. Joblessness, crop failure and health problems resulted from environmental hazards caused by oil spillages; all these problems forced Niger Delta households to borrow money at high interest rates and their inability to service the debts always affected their well-being (Narayan, 2009).

Niger Delta women suffer from mental torture arising from the killings of their sons and husbands.  Achinulo (2017) wrote that in 1995, the women of the Niger Delta watched in agony and helplessness as Ogoniland was attacked and occupied by Nigeria’s military forces. In the process, Ken Saro Wiwa and his colleagues were hanged. The world was outraged but the tragedies continued unabated. Kuku (2012) wrote about the experience of the people of Odi town in Bayelsa State where more than 2000 people lost their lives because of military invasion. During this invasion, many elderly women refused to run with their families and therefore witnessed the horror of shooting, burning and lootings by Nigerian soldiers. The survey carried out by Okonofua (2013) explained the odd experiences of women in the region during the militancy and sufferings: women narrated their stories of rape, beatings, sexual harassment, burning of properties, arrests and murders. They also mentioned the lack of employment opportunities for male family members, and the harassment of their young sons by security personnel. Imobighe (2011) asserts that the host communities watch as their God-given wealth is taken away for the enrichment of others while their women who remain after the crises can no longer practise their major occupations of fishing and farming. Their youths find it hard to gain admission into higher institutions and those who manage to get in cannot find employment because of quota restrictions.

Table 1: Number of People living in Poverty in the Niger Delta Region

State	No of Settlements (2006)	Projected Population (2015)	Poverty Rate/US dollars per day (2015)	Estimated Population living in poverty	Percentage (%) of poor people in the state
Abia	950	3,363,000	42.2	1,587,986	47.2
Akwa-Ibom	2387	3,895,000	46.2	1,799,490	46.2
Bayelsa	696	1,992,000	53.0	1,055,760	53.0
Cross Rivers	681	3,187,000	47.1	1,501,077	47.1
Delta	1449	4,186,000	36.4	1,523,704	36.4
Edo	1248	3,516,000	34.0	1,195,440	34.0
Imo	1796	3,894,000	49.3	1,919,742	49.3
Ondo	1814	3,525,000	53.9	1,899,436	53.9
Rivers	1258	5,659,000	49.4	2,795,546	49.4
Niger Delta	12,277	33,616,000	45.7	15,362,512	45.7

Source: Ibaba (2016) cited in Achinulo, 2017.

From Table 1 above, the number of people living in relative poverty in Abia was over 47%. In Akwa Ibom, the poverty level stood at 46.2%. In Bayelsa, despite the fact that Nigeria first discovered oil in the state at Olobiri in 1956, the poverty level stood at 53.0%. 53.9% of the people in Ondo were poor. Cross Rivers State recorded 47.1% of its population as poor. Delta State and Edo State recorded the lowest level of poverty in the region with 36.4% and 34.0% respectively. While Imo and Rivers States had over 49% of their people living below the poverty level.

Demographic and Health Survey 2008 shows that 23.6% of women in the region had no formal education. 25.1% of the women had no primary education. Only 11.2% successfully completed the elementary stage. Even 30.3% of the women in the region had no access to social media, radio, television or newspaper. Again, 78.3% of the women in the region are engaged in low-paying economic activities such as agriculture, sales and services, clerical services and other  non-intellectual work (Osunyikanmi, 2010).

Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP) and the Marginalisation of Niger Delta Women

The Niger Delta has been plagued by conflicts and violence as a result of the large deposit of crude oil in the region. Competition for resources is a major cause of conflict in every society and the competition over the nation’s “black gold” has led to protracted conflict in the region (Iyabobola, 2015). The causes of the conflict can be directly traced to environmental challenges experienced by communities in the region. Niger Delta youths have been in the forefront of the struggle since the first revolt spearheaded by Isaac Adaka Boro and Chief Owonaro in 1966. The Isaac Adaka Boro group in 1966 attacked the facilities of Shell-British Petroleum and government, and ordered the closure of schools, customary courts, and other institutions. It also canceled all agreements relating to crude oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta (Ogbogbo, 2005, Iyabobola, 2015). Militant groups in the Delta led by Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) and Ateke Tom of the Niger Delta Vigilantes retaliated with violence. In 2004, Asari Dokubo declared an all-out oil war against the Nigerian state and oil companies operating in the region. He was arrested in 2005 and charged with treason (Kuku, 2012, Iyabobola, 2015). The intensification of military option in the Niger Delta was witnessed during the Government of Olusegun Obasanjo. Specially created Military Joint Task Force was given specific orders to shoot and kill protesting indigenes in order to protect oil pipelines in 2004. There was an invasion of Odi town on the order of President Obasanjo in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by the youths in the town. The Nigerian Army personnel were also accused of raping young girls and women in Choba and Oleh Town. In addition, 5 youth protesters were massacred in Tebidaba in Bayelsa State on October 17, 2000.

However, women's response to the violence in the region was recorded as one of the key factors that brought about peaceful actions to the area. Ekine (2009) avers that the ways in which women engage in acts of resistance range from everyday acts which if sustained over a period of time could become extreme. Ekine proves further that women in the region have used and continued to use variety of forms of resistance such as dancing and singing, collective action including demonstrations and strikes, testimonies, silence and the use of culturally specific responses such as stripping themselves naked. They refused to alter work routines such as the opening of market stalls (Ekine, 2009). This was the situation in the Niger Delta until Umar Musa Yar’Adua came into office as President in May 2007.

On 26th June, 2009, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced that it would grant an amnesty and unconditional pardon to militants in the Niger Delta. A 60-day period was allowed for armed youths to surrender their weapons in return for training and rehabilitation by the government (Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, 2014). This strategy is to demobilize, disarm and re-integrate the militants to the fold of Nigeria society. 

 The Federal Government proclaimed unconditional amnesty for Niger Delta ex-agitators if they willingly surrender their arms and ammunitions on or before October 4, 2009. 30,000 militants accepted the FG amnesty programme. Pursuant to the policy, the Federal Government also instituted a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) package for those who embraced amnesty before the deadline with sixty-five thousand monthly stipends being paid to each ex-militant who accepted the offer of amnesty (Kuku, 2012). According to Ushie (2013), the introduction of Amnesty Program by the Federal Government of Nigeria was a sharp departure from the typical use of state violence to suppress agitation by civilian and militia groups in the Niger Delta, and signified a realization that the Niger Delta crisis required a democratic and participatory solution. Furthermore, this action reflected a new political reality for the Nigerian state—it had to ‘pay attention’ to the people of Niger Delta beyond the empty rhetoric of regional political actors. According to Iyabobola (2015), the disarming phase was followed by comprehensive programmes such as workshops and incentives aimed at positively transforming the ex-militants. The non-violence programme that took place in Calabar in 2009 focused on attitudinal change while agreements were signed at the Obubra rehabilitation camp. Subsequently, the ex-militants became known as the amnesty programme delegates. The amnesty agreement made allowances for the delegates to be given a monthly stipend, the opportunity to live as free citizens, and contest for political offices.  They also have the opportunity to undergo educational or vocational training, depending on their preference, and these were either within or outside the country (Iyabobola, 2015).

The Nigerian state devoted substantial resources to the amnesty programme. Between 2009 and 2011, the programme was allocated N127 billion (US$819 million) in the national budget. N3 billion out of the amount was used as the ‘take-off’ grant, N30 billion was spent on militants' stipends and N96 billion on feeding the militants. In 2012, a massive N74 billion (US$477 million) was allocated to the amnesty programme. When this is juxtaposed with similarly humongous fiscal transfers to the Niger Delta region between 2009 and 2012—for the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, N241 billion (US$1.55 billion), and for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) N246.6 billion (US$1.6 billion)—the scale of state largesse is astonishing. These fiscal transfers did not include the sub-national budgets of the six-core oil-producing states in the Niger Delta. The six-core oil producing states had a total budget of N1.74 trillion (US$11.2 billion) in the fiscal year 2012 (Ushie, 2013).

Despite huge resources expended on the program, Okonofua (2013) insinuated that the DDR process might not produce the desired stability and consolidation of peace in the Niger Delta region because fundamental issues that gave rise to the militarization of youths in the region were not addressed in the amnesty document. The criticism of the amnesty programme is the exclusion of important conflict actors and could result in further inter-communal strife. The scale of the amnesty programme which targeted about 27,000 former combatants in a region with high level of poverty and youth unemployment was inadequate. This created disaffection among militant groups that felt excluded from the entire exercise. For instance, the failure to include several MEND warlords and neutralize MEND's infrastructure created room for aggrieved MEND elements to continue with their violent struggle. Grassroots community, civil society and vulnerable groups such as women and children that shunned violent struggle have also been inadvertently excluded from the state largesse. The people continued to grapple with the degradation of their environment as a result of oil exploration. (Ushie, 2015).

Table 2: Participants in the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.

States	Male	Female	Registered	% of Women Who participated in the Program
Akwa Ibom	155	8	163	4.9
Bayelsa	6900	61	6961	0.87
Cross River	159	1	160	0.63
Delta	3,361	-	3,361	0
Edo	450	-	450	0
Imo	297	3	297	0.01
Ondo	1,198	2	1200	0.17
Rivers	6,958	39	6,997	0.56
NDDC	571	19	600	3.2
Total	20,049	133	20,192	0.66

Source: Ushie, V. (2013).

From Table 2 above, the Amnesty Program did not favour women as only a negligible number benefited. Going by the state distribution, Akwa-Ibom had 8 women among its 163 beneficiaries. Delta and Edo that had 3,361 and 450 beneficiaries respectively did not include women. Rivers, Edo and Ondo States had 1, 3 and 2 women respectively.

 Looking at the above table, women were virtually excluded from the amnesty program thus, worsening the inequality that existed in the society.  Despite the fact that the amnesty program demobilized over 30,000 militants, it was not a coherent peace-building and reconciliation plan. It might not be able to facilitate sufficient employment for the militants. The programme neglected the non-combatant women who had been negatively impacted by the violence and oil spillages (NSRP, 2009). According to Osunyikanmi (2010), with high rate of poverty among women in the region, the meager number of the beneficiaries shows a significant level of neglect by the strategists. Just 2 percent of participants benefited from the take-off loans while the rest were left with no opportunity to practise the trade they learnt.  The grant given to each beneficiary, especially the women, was not adequate for them to start a good business. In spite of the relief, the affected people still lived in poverty. According to Ewomayin when she was interviewed, she said the PAP was meant to develop people’s capacity but it failed. It did not consider the desired values and interest of women. Few women who were privileged to be invited to the launching of PAP benefited. Also, Oshareme contends that the amnesty program failed to include the women in the program because of the tedious nature of the empowerment program. The training included the acquisition of skills in auto-mechanic, plumbing, carpentry, welding and fabrication which were not women-oriented. This was a clear exclusion. Some women who were interviewed were of the opinion that the amnesty programme had taught them to engage in violent protest like their male counterparts in carrying guns and ammunition. Oginni in an interview with her said, “You know, I can’t go to my farm again; the land has been covered by oil. You can hardly see any land in my farm without being covered by oil spills. You wonder how my children and I will be eating. I have cried several times to the government to help but to no avail (Oginni, Oleh Village in Isoko Land). Another respondent was of the opinion that government was not helping to alleviate the suffering of the downtrodden women whose farms were destroyed by oil spillage. She asked rhetorically who are the militants if not the sons and daughters of the women in the aggrieved communities and who are the people that will persuade their sons and daughter not take arms if not the women. So, why are women being neglected in the community? (Interview with Tenado, 2017)

Niger Delta Women and Strategies for Economic Empowerment

The conflict in the Niger Delta has been worrisome. Although amnesty was granted to some restive youths who surrendered arms in return for monetary rewards and skill acquisition, many people argued it was not the best option (Simon, 2010). The alleviation of poverty in the rural and urban areas of Niger Delta region would not be achieved and the expected contribution of rural communities to development would be restricted due to the continuing pollution and environment degradation. Consequently, rural poverty contributes to underdevelopment since environmental degradation is prevalent in the rural areas. Communities inhabited by the rural poor are characterized by overstretched infrastructure like roads, public health care, sanitation and municipal service. The post-conflict era of the Niger Delta region has continued to witness social unrest which has hampered development.  The prevailing social vices include kidnapping, illegal oil bunkering, piracy, bombings, disruption of pipeline facilities and other crimes. Therefore, the sustainability of the amnesty programme may be unrealizable.  Hence, anti-poverty policies in the region do not really address the fact that the main problem of poverty among women is due to their environmental circumstances. These women lived in impoverished villages with few economic opportunities or connections to modern markets. They have low assets, low financial opportunities, low education, and often low skills. Major illness of a family member often makes the poor poorer. Poor families usually sell their properties to offset the medical bills of the sick among them.

However, scholars have discovered over the years that there can be mobility amongst the poor women in order to reduce poverty and insecurity in Niger Delta region (Krishna, 2004). This can help empower women economically. Many other factors may help move poor people out of poverty. Osunyikanmi (2010) suggested strong and vibrant self-help groups should assist in lifting women out of poverty. Women need loans from these groups to enlarge their businesses. Also, Narayan (2009) suggested that true local democracy can also help in the upward mobility of hitherto poor people. A responsible and responsive democracy which guarantees freedom in all its ramifications is very crucial for upward movement for the people in poverty. This means that a responsive government leads to improved governance and greater well-being of house-holds. Responsive local democracy is also associated with less discrimination in schools based on gender and with improved health and schooling services. Nussbaum (2000), Alkere (2002), and Osunyikanmi (2010) have argued that for countries to actually fulfill the universal declaration of Human Rights, poor people must have the right to choose what they truly value as access to economic opportunity. This is in support of the assertion by Sen (1999) that freedom has both constitutive and instrumental importance for development.

Narayan (2009) believes that freedom is essential for people to be freed from the problems of poverty. He emphasized that to break out of the shackle of poverty, women need the same opportunity set as men.  According to him, equality of opportunity and freedom for people to express themselves will definitely bring about mass poverty reduction among women in the society.

Also, education is one of the basic requirements for development and the achievement of gender equality. However, there are obstacles to the achievement of universal education which are caused by poverty. Lewis and Lockheed (2007) cited in Osunyikanmi (2010) believed that girls in marginalized groups are at the risk of being excluded from education because they suffer as members of the excluded groups. Poor women who are not educated are unable to send their children to school; thus, their cycle of poverty continues as they have large families that cannot be adequately catered for. This is what is prevalent in the Niger Delta Region; therefore, quality education is a panacea to the prevalence of poverty among women in the region. World Bank Report (1993) further stressed that efforts to reduce poverty were unlikely to succeed in the long run unless there is greater focus on human capital development such as education, training, health, and nutrition. 

Osunyikanmi (2010) suggested government collaboration with private organizations, Non-governmental organizations, community-based associations and faith-based associations as a panacea for women to come out of poverty. Moseley and Hulme (1998) cited in Osunyikanmi (2010) advocated for micro-enterprise finance to determine how it can help as a tool for poverty alleviation in the society. They noted that the attempt to reduce poverty in developing countries through provision of loans by specialized financial institutions to micro credit-enterprises had generated anxiety. In their words “politically, such attempts appeal to the left as being redistributive and a direct approach to alleviating poverty while the right see it as facilitating the emergence of an independent self-sustaining “penny capitalism”. They noted the experiences of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the Bancosol in Bolivia which have often achieved higher loan recovery rates than those achieved by commercial banks in the same country in spite of lending to poor individuals without collaterals. They concluded that the poor are desirable of being assisted through microcredit and that as shown in the two examples, they can indeed borrow to increase their productivity, earn incomes and fulfill their repayment obligations.

Osunyikanmi (2010) advocates for other palliative measures such as Women Fund for Economic Empowerment (WOFEE), Micro Enterprise Loans, and Sundry Loan Scheme to Local Government areas, resettlement loan scheme, and entrepreneurship development training programme. All these measures will alleviate the suffering of poor women and enhance gender equality.  

 Also, the development of poverty alleviation strategies which focus on the agricultural endeavors of women in the region is necessary since agriculture is the mainstay of their economy. There is need to develop an agricultural policy that will facilitate development in the region. Research and extension services need to support the livelihood of small households. According to Osunyikanmi (2010), such a policy needs to focus on the food crop sector where there is an urgent need for more women-oriented and integrated packages, including extension services and technology. The key policy priority is to give empowering assets to alleviate poverty of women in the region.

Conclusion

Poverty is an economic disease. It can be prevented by man. However, the method of tackling it can lead to mixed results if not well planned. From the study, majority of Niger Delta women are living in abject poverty because agriculture, the mainstay of their economy, has been battered by the destruction of the ecosystem, unfriendly temperatures, greenhouse emission, low and acidic rainfalls. Also, petroleum resources are being carted away by the expatriates without reinvesting their profits in the region for development. Decades of oil extraction in the region has led to the destruction of farmlands and aquatic life.  Despite different policies and programmes put in place to alleviate the suffering of the masses, the study contends that poverty becomes worse in the society. The amnesty program meant to pacify the warring people of the Niger Delta region was not gender sensitive. This, no doubt, reinforced the age-long gender neglect in policy planning, formulation and implementation. The aftermath of the policy is renewed militancy in the region. The affected area has continued to witness violence and insecurity characterized by kidnapping, hostage taking, killing of expatriates, gas and oil pipe vandalism, bombing of gas and oil blocs, piracy and stealing of oil. Therefore, the study recommends the following:

The cause of poverty in the region must be addressed. The nature of poverty among women and the entire people in the region must be understood. This will enable the federal government to emplace poverty alleviation strategies that will enhance development. Measures should be well targeted and effectively executed with the necessary policies that will enhance the socio-economic circumstances of the people in the region. In this regard, poverty alleviation strategies must be gender sensitive. This will be achieved if women are adequately represented in the policy process from conception to implementation. Poverty alleviation programmes should reflect the wishes of the affected people in the region.  

This calls for a paradigm shift in development policies. Consultations with beneficiaries of economic empowerment policies are essential from conception through implementation. Such consultations will ensure that no woman is left behind.  Good policies must reflect the economic aspirations of the victims of poverty. 

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