Meta Refugees in Nigeria Smile

Meta Refugees in Nigeria Smile

Ever since the current Anglophone crisis escalated into an armed conflict in 2017 causing many deaths and an increase in the number of internally displaced persons and refugees, hundreds of Meta tribesmen and women are reported to have escaped to seek refuge in Nigeria. Their undesired presence on foreign land coupled with the hard living conditions in the camps spurred well wishers together with constituted bodies to begin visiting these refugees with humanitarian aide. 

In the month of May 2019, some Meta sons and daughters drawn from around the globe virtually merged themselves together to pursue cultural and developmental issues in the Meta clan, Mbengwi. They named themselves MECUDA International. MECUDA stands for Meta Cultural and Development Association. Mr. Walters Chamfor Ndi, former President  General of MECUDA U.S.A and brain behind the formation of MECUDA International then created a WhatsApp forum for the group. Days went by, more and more members were being added to the virtual space and discussions ensued on missions to be accomplished. 

During this period of sociopolitical turmoil in Anglophone Cameroon, the group saw need to reach out to Meta refugees in Nigeria. To achieve this, the mission was divided into two phases. The first phase saw the creation of a commission that was dispatched to Nigeria for their needs assessment and statistics gathering on their numerical strength. This, under the  sponsorship of MECUDA South Africa whose president is Madam Tembon Fayez.

A grinding mill, a generator & a push truck being donated to the Meta refugee community in Nigeria by MECUDA International

Upon returning from mission with their findings, the second phase was then engaged, this time around to offer material assistance to the beneficiaries based on the needs they had expressed, mostly the quest to run a sustainable business . MECUDA U.K under the leadership of Dr. Sabi Humphrey championed this course.

Demographically, there are over four different refugee camps in Nigeria harbouring refugees from across Cameroon. The Ogoja Refugee Camp contains a big community of 10.000 refugees from the North West Region and Momo Division in particular. Amongst them are close to a hundred Meta people with over 90 percent previously living in areas around the South West Region like Ekona, Munyenge, Ekata, Kwakwa and Mbonge. 

From this number, over 60% are mostly females. The adult age ranges between 22 and 65. The oldest male is 57 years of age and the oldest female is 65 years. The statistics gathering mission registered close to 17 adults and 18 young people both males and females. From findings, there are over 80 children in the camp and from this number about 60% live in the camps while 40% are with close relatives out of the camp. The suffering population of the Meta community both in Ogoja Refugee Camp and within the confines of Ikom, the main town is above a hundred and twenty including the young  and the old.

Items being donated by MECUDA International for individual businesses

The refugees at Ogoja Camp are barely living and are at the mercy of God. They are more than dependent. They have small rooms constructed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) of about 2x2.5m squares which is just sufficient to host a single person yet over 3 to 5 persons whose daily activity is to seat and narrate their past ordeals live in a single room. With the explosion in population, the UNHCR can barely feed this number and as a result offers a monthly stipend of 7200 Naira, an equivalent of 13000 Frs monthly for their up keep with little or no medical attention to the sick. With this number, small scale businesses have sprung up around the camp from where those who can't travel to Ikom which is over 70 kilometers from the camp would bear the brunt of the high prices for goods and services within the camp.

  

Amongst the registered number, 90% have nothing doing at all while a few are just keeping themselves busy in what they may call a job. Common jobs around the camp include hawking, marketing, animal husbandry, bike riding, farming, building, carpentry and security guarding. There are seemingly no educational activities going on within the camp  as compared to the multitude of prayer cells and churches. There are a good number of businesses such as beer parlors, retail shops, restaurants as well as hair dressing saloons. There is no electricity but some solar poles planted provide light within the camps during the evening hours. There is no regular water supply but water is transported from a nearby river in drums of thousands of litres and supplied twice within a week by the UNHCR. 

Commission Members at Ogoja Refugee Camp to Execute Mission. L-R: Mayaba William, Amboh Gordon, Ndi Cletus

Going by findings, over 70% of business persons within the camp have migrated from nearby towns and decided to settle around the peripheries located around the camp to hijack the main commercial center  within the camp to supply goods to the refugees. That is why according to reports, the stipend offered as monthly assistance from UNHCR to the refugees, a majority  of them invest it into petty trading by buying items and hawking within the camp.  Some of these items include boiled eggs, pap and puff puff, fried corn and groundnuts, chips, fried fish and chicken etc. Others are involved in fresh vegetables business, second hand wears, electronic gadgets and table market. With the absence of electricity, a very common form of business is the charging of mobile phones which is done with the use of a generator. 

Socially, living standards in the camp are regrettably poor. Due to idleness, prostitution and sexual promiscuity is very alarming and very high rate of pregnancy.  One anonymous source narrated how promiscuity goes on around the camp and why some, especially ladies engage in very unhealthy relationships just for survival.

However, there is security within the camp provided by UNHCR even though crime wave is at a very controllable rate.  From time to time, there are sporting competitions organised within the place to keep them happy. Death rate is also alarming and hardly does a week go by without recording atleast 5 deaths, a proportion we learnt has greatly reduced as compared to 2017 and 2018 where at least two or three deaths were registered per day. A well secured graveyard is just a few hundred of meters to the camp. 

About 70% of the Meta refugees want to come back home and wish the crisis could be over within the next minute while some have vowed to remain in the camp as much as they could except the crisis end with  separation.

Commission members with elderly mother

These findings were presented to Mbengwi Online by Ndi Cletus, member of the commission that visited Nigeria for findings and for donations. Having presented all this data to MECUDA International, a financial support worth over a million was then disbursed for the engagement of phase two of the project. The items bought and distributed were a grinding mill, a generator and a push truck. These were handed to the entire  Meta refugee community to set up a business from which the income raised shall then be used to take care of their basic needs. This because MECUDA won't have time, resources and man power to be visiting always with food aide. The best thing therefore was to provide them a sustainable business. Items were also bought for individual businesses like saloon, table market, building construction, restaurants etc. This donation exercise was carried out on the 7th of July 2019.

"All in all I want to think that it was a very successful journey though the day we took off, it was all hell as we met the Amba guys along the way, some of them committing atrocities on passengers and when we were coming back, it was equally the same scenario but thank God we arrived safely, hoping for better days." These were the concluding words of Mr. Ndi Cletus, a community development facilitator, native of Meta who narrated to Mbengwi Online the A to Z of the Nigerian trip.

At press time, MECUDA is again raising funds in preparation to reach out to Meta IDPs and affected persons in the South West Region.