When the brutal attacks by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS) became more and more frequent, thousands of people – among them many widows and orphans − fled their homes and went to live in Teachers Village, an internally displaced persons’ camp in Maiduguri.
Most of the refugees arrived with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. They relied on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other agencies to help feed and clothe them.
But now some of the residents have decided to make a new life for themselves and have opened up businesses in the camp.Sayinna Modu, who sells foodstuff, said that although many individuals still relied heavily on NGOs, he wanted to become self-reliant.
“I left my village with empty hands just like the majority of the people in the camp. But gradually I’ve risen up to the challenge and started a small raw food business,” he said.
He said at first he had suffered in the congested camp. “After fleeing my village, I could not feed my family. I felt helpless. But I managed to get a piece of land in a nearby town and started farming. Now I can feed my family and I can sell food to people inside the camp,” he said.
Many of his customers, who used to get their food from the Maiduguri Monday Market, now buy what they need from him.
“My prices are slightly cheaper and my customers don’t have to pay for transport to the market and back.”
Modu said there were many opportunities for individuals. If people opened businesses in the camp selling whatever was sold at the main market, they could become self-reliant and independent. He urged people to go back to farming to help themselves get out of the vicious poverty cycle.
Zarami Bukar said poverty and hunger were the triggers that led him into starting his phone-charging business.
“Back in my ancestral home in Kukawa, I had the same business before I was displaced. I am proud of what I have achieved and I thank God for helping me get through such a worrisome time.”
Bukar said more people in the camp should open their own businesses, so that they could get out of a life of hardship and uncertainty.
