But for the dirty environment and serenity signifying absence of factories that make capital cities bubble, poverty is not glaring in Sokoto State capital. Its dearth of high-rise buildings can be passed for culture, but a peep into the living standards of its urban and rural dwellers confirms the Seat of Caliphate as Nigeria’s poverty capital. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE, who was in Sokoto, reports
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently released the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, indicating that Sokoto State is the poorest in Nigeria, a verdict the state government finds difficult to swallow – despite the presence of various indices that make the people of the state wallow in poverty.
Lives of the urban dwellers, who are neither civil servants nor politicians, show just a little improvement over those in the villages. Many lack access to potable water; they also can hardly afford standard medical services. Hauwa Ibrahim is one of the several Sokoto urban dwellers who cannot afford any medical, educational or social services outside those provided by the state government. Her story was narrated by her daughter, Maryam Ibrahim, who sells Soya beans cake around Offa road area of Sokoto metropolis.
Maryam, who is a teenager, said her mother (Hauwa Ibrahim) is a full housewife; while her father is a local estate agent. According to her, her mother depends solely on the proceeds from the Soya beans cake to feed them and meet her other needs, as she gets only little from her husband who has another wife and children to take care of. Mrs Hauwa, according to her daughter, is the one that takes her children to the hospital with little or no support from her husband when the need arises. And sometimes, she just buys drugs from chemists around the neighbourhood to give them when they are sick. Maryam, who is the third of Hauwa’s seven children, had just finished her junior secondary education and her chance of proceeding with education is slim, like her immediate elder sister who she said was married off two years ago.
Bello Shehu, a resident of Asarki, a village on the fringes of Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, is one of the not too many lucky Sokoto villagers. He combines his subsistence farming with clerical work at the university, which makes his life better than his neighbours. Shehu lives in the same kind of mud house with thatched roof, but he and his family enjoy good medical services in the University’s Medical Center, because he is by virtue of his university job, an enrolee of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He has, however, not enjoyed same for education, as the fees for the subsidised demonstration school in the university was almost taking away his entire salary; he had to withdraw his children to public schools in the neighbouring communities. Despite his own employment status, Shehu is not happy. He said most of his kinsmen live from hand to mouth, without any form of support from the government in their chosen farming and cattle-rearing careers.
According to him, “I work in the university. Government does not do anything for us here. They are supposed to give us potable water, build school and hospital for us, but they did not do anything like that. Now, due to lack of finance, all my children who were in the primary school inside the university; I had to withdraw them and take them to a public school in another village not too far from here due to lack of government support.
“In the area of agriculture, we only hear on radio that government is giving support to farmers; we don’t get such here. And we have a polling unit, we participate in elections, but we don’t get democracy dividends. Other members of our community that are not working in the university are either farmers or herders. Because of the financial constraints, none of those who farm in this village get up to five bags of millet or genuine corn. What we farm now cannot even sustain our respective family all year round. So, many of us do go into the town to other menial jobs to make extra income.
“I have eight children; all of them were going to primary school inside the university before I withdrew then because I could no longer afford the fees. One of my children just finished secondary school; his result was not even out yet. He just disappeared; I didn’t know his whereabouts until few days later, when he called me to say he had gone to Lagos. The pregnant women in our community give birth at home, because before you can go to the hospital in the town to give birth, you must have registered with them and be going for antenatal,” Umar explained.
Mohammed Umar lives in the same village with Shehu, but because he does not have a job in the university, only two of his seven children go to the public primary school in the neighbouring community. His excuse is that, the school is a bit far away, and that, only the two most senior of his children can withstand the rigour of trekking down. But for the free basic education policy of the state government, Umar said he would not have enrolled any of the children. “I don’t have money to send the children to school, but because the government school is free, I sent two of my children first. The other children will be going when they grow older,” he said.
Umar’s challenge is not only the poverty that is written all over his face, his ignorance of the value of education his obvious. He doesn’t have the foresight of Shehu, the university casual staff, who think his children should acquire education, so they can someday be employed in UDUS as academic staff. He doesn’t also enjoy NHIS like Shehu and his children, yet he doesn’t care. That is why all his children were given birth to at home. Umar, a farmer and husband of two wives, had never linked the death of his sixth baby at birth to absence of antenatal care.
“All my children were delivered at home without any challenge. Though my first wife lost her fourth child, that is the one that would have been my sixth child, the baby was given birth to already dead from inside. But that is the way God wanted it to happen.”
Just like many of his neighbours, Umar farms corn and millets only during the wet season and without any form of mechanical aid. His harvests are used to feed his family and small proportion of it is to take to local market for sale in exchange for other household needs. He hardly can afford medical bills of his children who are fed mostly carbohydrates meals. Umar’s life story is the common lifestyle of millions of the rural farmers in Sokoto State. In fact, he is better off than those in the villages across the state, who are troubled by banditry.
The stories of these Sokoto citizens are samples of the big statistics reeled out by the NBS. The NBS’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report indicated that about 65 per cent of Nigerians, representing 133 million, are suffering from multidimensional poverty, 86 million of whom live in the Northern Nigeria, while 47 million live in the Southern part of the country, with children constituting more than half of the total figure of poor people in the country.
According to the report, while the other five geo-political zones of the country are home to between 11-20 million people each, the North-west where Sokoto is located has 45 million poor people. It specifically ranked Sokoto and Bayelsa as the states with the highest number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty; while Gombe and Kebbi states ranked third and fourth in the recent poverty data ranking.
A breakdown of the dimensions of poverty used for the MPI includes: nutrition, food insecurity, time to healthcare, school attendance, unemployment, security shock, housing deprivation and investment in rural areas among others.
Sokoto State Government’s reaction
Meanwhile, the state government has faulted the NBS poverty ranking, daring the NBS to come up with statistics of Sokoto citizens that have been killed by hunger, which warranted it to be labelled as the poorest in the country. The Permanent Secretary, Sokoto Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Arzika Bodinga, who expressed displeasure at the report said, “We are pleading for more serious scrutiny on the figures, and rankings. I dare the agency to come up with data of any person found dead on account of hunger along township streets including rural areas across the state.
”Go to the Specialist Hospital, Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital – all in Sokoto and monitor how our people are trooping in to donate blood. Welfare of citizens is not compatible with the related figure and we will continue to push for more positive results. We facilitated the enactment of food and nutrition policies, the Conditional Cash Transfers Scheme, Water and Sanitation Health facilities and many social protection policies,” he added.
The Permanent Secretary, however, urged the relevant authorities to cross-check their findings, and shun political infiltrations, foul play and other short changes that might be subjective in their findings. While NBS noted that the poverty indicators vary across the six geographical zones, The Nation’s investigation revealed that, virtually all the poverty indicators highlighted by the Bureau are present in Sokoto State. Hence, the conclusion that Sokoto State’s poverty indeed has many faces; with insecurity, occasioned by banditry, forming the biggest threat to the state’s development.
Security shock, food security and access to education
hat Zamfara and Sokoto axis of the North-west is the headquarters of banditry in Nigeria is no longer news. The most notorious of the bandits’ commanders in the region like Bello Turji and Damina live and operate from the forest of Sokoto and Zamfara states. The bandits have in the past four years terrorised people of Sokoto State, killing, maiming, kidnapping, and taking ransom and taxes from innocent citizens.
The Nation’s check revealed that 21 out of the 23 local government areas of Sokoto State have suffered varying degrees of banditry, with Isa, Sabon Birnin, Goronyo and Rabah local governments, all in Sokoto East, as the worst hit. Illela and Wurno are also seriously affected; while Gada and Gwadabawa are the least affected councils in the eastern senatorial zone. In the seven local areas of Sokoto South, only Yano, Tambuwal, Bodinga and Denge/Shunni are relatively peaceful, as they have the least of numbers of villages sacked or under the control of bandits. But Kebbe, Shagari and Tureta, a border council with the troubled area of Zanfara are severally affected by bandits’ activities.
For the central senatorial zone, Sokoto South and Sokoto North, which constitute the state capital city, are the most peaceful, with zero case of banditry; while the remaining six local government areas of the zone often have pockets of banditry attacks, with the exception of Tangaza, which can be said to have been seriously affected, as villages across five wards of the council have had their fair share of the bandits attacks. The impact of the security challenges is no doubt glaring poverty. The bandits had not only killed, maimed, kidnapped and collected ransoms from the citizens of Sokoto, they had rustled their livestock and imposed levies in millions on the communities to allow them continue stay in their villages and have access to their farmlands.
Though not contributing much to the national food production when compared to other North-west states like Kaduna, Kano or even Kebbi, which has in the recent past made immense contribution to the Nigeria’s rice production, Sokoto remains an agrarian state, with majority of its farmers growing millets and vegetables. Agriculture contributes more than 80 per cent of the employment in Sokoto State, but majority of the state’s farmers who live in the rural areas are subsistent farmers, who rely solely on rainfall to cultivate their fields. Only few financially capable ones engage in off-season irrigation farming.
However, the rural banditry ravaging Sokoto and the other parts of North-West, has in the past few years worsened the lot of Sokoto farmers and exacerbated food insecurity crisis. Many farmers in the villages affected by banditry have been either displaced or denied access to their farm lands. The situation has reduced food production in Sokoto State in the last three years by about 60 per cent, as most farmers are either reduced to farming within their communities’ neighbourhood or bow to paying levies imposed by the bandits to access their main farmlands.
According to UNICEF, one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. With 13.2 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the Northern parts of the country account for more than half of the number, with Sokoto alone contributing about 1.2million. Providing a further breakdown of the educational status of Sokoto State, the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) showed that only 5.9 per cent of children between the age of three to four have access to early childhood education; when Lagos has 84.3 per cent.
The state also has the third poorest statistics of secondary school completion among the Nigerian states, as the 2021 MICS report showed that only 22.4 per cent of children who started secondary school stay till completion. When Anambra has 90 per cent, Sokoto is only ahead of Bauchi and Jigawa, which have 17 and 19 per cent, respectively. The poor rate of secondary education completion may have been caused by several factors, chief among which is high rate of the early marriage. The MICS report indicated that 53.9 per cent of Sokoto State women were married off before the age of 18.
But the state government has since declared state of emergency on education and floated an intervention programme in the sector, through which over a billion naira was spent in construction of new schools across the three geopolitical zones of the State. The programme, which was funded with three per cent and five per cent voluntary deductions from the salaries of civil servants and political appointees, was managed by Sokoto State Consultative Committee on Education under the Chairmanship of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III. Under the programme, 13 schools were constructed in three years, including Junior Secondary School at Rumbu in Sokoto North, Junior Secondary School, Gigane in Gwadabawa Local Government Area, Usman Makera Community Secondary School, Achida, Mallam Buhari Government Day Secondary School, Sifawa, Sanyinna Model Primary School and another school at Bagida in Tambuwal Local Government Area.
Others are located at; Gagi, Danchadi, Horo Birni, Katami, Araba and Dantudu, with all being provided with solar-powered water borehole, complete electrification using solar power source, furniture for staff and students, instructional working materials, laboratories, Information Communication Technology facilities, among other.
The Nation observed that, as commendable as the education intervention programme is, insecurity has robbed it off the desired goal, as most the schools are located in the communities troubled by banditry, even though the State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, said his administration has reduced the number of out-of-school children in the state by half within the last two years. Speaking recently at a one-day Basic Education Development Dialogue in the Kasarawa area of the state, Tambuwal said his “administration’s declaration of emergency in the education sector at its inception and the conscientious work of the consultative committee led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has started yielding results as the number of OOSC, which between 2019/2020 was about 1.2 million, is now about 572,000.”
The Governor who pointed out that, “over 600,000 children are now enrolled in schools,” said, “We must ensure that every child in Sokoto State goes back to school, is enrolled, enlisted and remain in school until the completion of his education,” Tambuwal. Tambuwal acknowledged at the event that security situation of the state has affected education negatively, noting that, “We are battling the challenges of insecurity and so many others. Without qualitative education, we cannot overcome them.”
Nutritional deprivation/child health
In the area of healthcare, Sokoto State, according to the 2018 National Nutrition and Health Survey, is one of the four states with the highest prevalence of malnutrition among children six to 59 months in the country. With a prevalence of 8.4 per cent, only Zamfara (10.3%) Katsina (9.2%) and Jigawa (8.5) are worse off. Similarly, Global Nutrition Report (2021) showed that 30.3 per cent of children under the age of five in Sokoto State are underweight. The report stated that 31.9 per cent of children of that age in the state are stunted, that is, their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median; while 15.8 per cent are wasted, that is, they have low weight for their height. The story is not different even in immunisation coverage. 2021 MICS report showed that only six per cent of the Sokoto children age between 12 to 23 months took complete immunisation. 51 per cent did not take at all; while 43 per cent were partially vaccinated.
NBS poverty rating is in line with Sokoto realities, says an economist
Even as the state government officials appear to be living in denial of the NBS verdict, an economist, Dr Mohammed Bashir Achida, said the MPI Report is the sad reality of Sokoto State, which he said cannot change until the government takes deliberate and decisive measures to address the poor status of education and human capital development in the state. Dr. Achida, who is a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said, without standard education, human capital development, provision of standard medical care, and maintenance of clean environment, no investor will bring their investments to Sokoto State.
“Going by the indicators applied by the NBS, like access to healthcare, education, security and some other issues that have to do with employment generation, we can say the result of the NBS research is within what is expected. Because, year in year out, this statistic has continued to showcase Sokoto as the poorest.
“The reason for this type of statistics is for the policy makers to take these data and work on improvement. If you look at the Sokoto State budget, you will see that the priorities are education, healthcare and social welfare, but having the budget is one thing, but when it comes to implementation and releases, you will find out that they are really poor as it relates to education, healthcare and others. When you go the rural areas, you will find out that access to healthcare is really not there; there is very low access to healthcare. Also in the Sokoto city itself, if you visit some of the General Hospitals or the ones we call tertiary health institutions, there are shortages of wards, facilities and, at times, there are no social amenities for the sick people to access.
“Also, if you look at the other indicators like employment, apart from government, who is the major employer of labour in Sokoto? Do we have other places where labour is employed, apart from government? Of course, we have Sokoto Cement, but what is the statistics of those working there, those with capacity to work there? Because when you have a private sector, it has to do with what you can do. That is where manpower development is key. What is the government doing in terms education? Because if there is quality education given to people, they will as well get employment. How many people of the state get access to federal jobs, how many get access to private organisations or private firms out the state and the country? How many of the Sokoto citizens get employment outside the state because of what they can do?
“The simple defence people in the government of Sokoto State will always put up is that, there is increase in enrolment or they tell you retention. But, is that what is really necessary? Are these children doing what they are supposed to do in the school? Are there improvements? Are there qualitative staff? Are there qualitative teaching materials? You can mobilise people to school, but if they are not getting what they are supposed to get, it is zero. How many of them pass WAEC? How many of them will be able to pass JAMB? So, there is no sector that you will be able to improve, that will ultimately reduce the level of poverty than education, because that is where you empower the human beings. Whether you provide them with employment or not, they will be able to do something for themselves, because they are equipped to do something. So, this is what Sokoto is lacking; it appears not to have what it takes to improve its manpower development. This is a serious issue.
“Sokoto will continue to be poor, for as long as the government refuses to address issues that have to do with manpower development. And these have to do with health and education. The policy makers seem to be getting it wrong both at state and federal level, because even the Federal Government has blame; when you have a state that is being rated the poorest for almost six years now, you will make sure you tackle that issue. We expect also as a people that, that the security challenges we face should be tackled with education and skill training for people that have passed schooling age. This because the military approach alone cannot solve this problem of insecurity.
“So, there is need for the government to come back to the root of the matter. They must look at the issue of education holistically and revamp the health sector. They must address environmental issue, because no investor will bring his money to where people cannot take care of their environment. In the area of agriculture, we have dams, but our people are only into seasonal farming. What is the government doing? The government has the responsibility to train people in the opportunities around them. You see people here farming sorghum, millets and you ask, what is the value of millet in the global economy? And it is on this farming of millet that the government will spend N6 billion a year buying fertilizer and other things and at the end, the farmers will produce less than a billion Naira worth of millet and of what economic value?
“Now, if someone is producing maize or rice, you know the economic value. We know the value of beans. So, government needs to reorient people on some of these their cultural practices even in agriculture and economic practices, because you find farmers in the villages who only attend weekly markets and sell off whatever they have, and that is the end. The farmers need orientation. The world has changed and we cannot continue to draw back Nigeria. So, this rating by the NBS is in line with our realities and whoever is denying that is not telling you the truth. The population is growing, what are we doing to absorb it? We are doing little or nothing,” he said.
Development partners to the rescue
Giving insights into efforts of the government and the development partners towards addressing the challenges, especially in the areas of health, nutrition, WASH, education and child protection, the Social Policy Specialist, UNICEF Sokoto Field Office, Isah Ibrahim, said several programmes are being implemented to correct the anomalies. Ibrahim said UNICEF is gradually expanding its intervention from development to humanitarian-inclusive mode in the implementation of its intervention programmes, especially to cater for the displaced people in Sokoto in view of the ongoing violent crimes against the rural population in Zamfara and the Eastern part of Sokoto State.
He explained that the security challenges in parts of Sokoto had restricted access to several project communities and thereby necessitated remote programming approaches. He, however, said that despite the security challenges, a lot has been achieved. “The Sokoto Food and Nutrition Policy has been approved and the number of Primary Health Care Centers (PHCs) providing lifesaving nutrition services were scaled up from 30 in 2021 to 66 in 2022, as part of efforts to increase access and coverage of nutritional services to the affected populations, while 82,502 in the state. Also, UNICEF supported 75 health facilities by mentoring 150 healthcare workers on Quality of Care (QoC); this went a long way in improving antenatal attendance rates in Sokoto State.”
On education, the UNICEF Social Policy Specialist said, “to respond to school closures, 2,210 radio sets were distributed in the state to aid distance learning, just as the state has approved its Social Protection Policy. We are also increasing access to schooling and ensuring quality learning outcomes through working with government and all stakeholders to enrol more children in school, make the school atmosphere conducive for learners, build the capacity of teachers and mobilise learning materials, coupled with good management of the educational system, is the overall goal of the programme.
“The programme also supports the development of approaches such as distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdown, to curb emerging challenges and provide support to families in cash transfer to cover some of the costs of parent keeping their children in school. Also, in Sokoto and Zamfara States, a Teacher Management Information System (TMIS) was developed and deployed in response to the growing challenges facing teacher management and the constant attempts to ensure the availability and easy access to critical information on teachers by planners, policy/decision-makers and development partners. TMIS is a web-based information system that can capture, analyse and generate meaningful information on teachers, and it has four main modules: teacher recruitment, teacher deployment, and teacher performance and attendance.
“This will help to institutionalise systems and capacities that can contribute to the sustainability of key achievements through UNICEF-supported projects in effective teacher management in the States,” he said. With deliberate and sustained partnership between the state government and the development partners, Sokoto has the potential of emerging the agricultural hub of Nigeria, attracting multinational investment in the agricultural value chains