Jack Vince: Journalist & Citizen
I often wonder what I’d do if refugees washed up in the bay below our place, in Wellington New Zealand. Or if Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) set up camp on the green reserve outside my window. I hope I’d emulate journalist Jack Vince, of Maiduguri/Yerwa, capital of Borno state in Northern Nigeria.
Yes, as IDPs fled Boko Haram and flooded into Maiduguri Jack observed and asked questions and wrote about it, notably on social media where he engages with many others within and outside Nigeria. He’s also contributed to this series (links below), in association with the Lovatt Foundation’s Fiona Lovatt; his vitality and generosity have enlivened the foundation’s Maiduguri homes for orphans and widows from their beginning. But that’s not all. Often on his own, sometimes with volunteers, he also makes interventions that ‘reach folks who are forgotten and even abandoned by stakeholders and other caregivers’. There are of course many of these people: according to the UN, there are 1.53 million IDPs in Borno and 2.5 million people in north-eastern Nigeria face severe food insecurity.
And Boko Haram is still a threat in northern Borno and around the Niger, Chad and Cameroon borders. Only Boko Haram inhabit the Nigerian half of Lake Chad. People still get killed. IDPs still make their way to Maiduguri.
As his work with IDPs has grown, Jack’s published less. Sometimes just a tweet or two, like this one–
Or these two–
(N100= US0.50 approx.)
Intermittently, Jack still posts on Facebook about his work with IDPs and his commitment to training so he works more effectively among them. Here’s a selection from the last few months, among other posts about his daily life.
– @devt
16 February
The number of IDPs caused by insurgency in the embattled northeast of Nigeria is crushing.
There are government-controlled IDP camps and others set up by individuals and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in Maiduguri. On paper, Dalori camp is the largest in Maiduguri with an estimated 18 to 20 thousand IDPs. However, the non-governmental IDP camp, with its limited resources and intermittent support from government, caters for about a hundred thousand displaced persons at its facilities and within host communities.
More displaced people from different ethno-religious backgrounds across Borno State live in host communities than live in the camps, where IDPs fare a lot better because their food, shelter, clothing and security are guaranteed.
To find out the truth of the matter and possible ways of advocating for intervention, #RefugeesInternational, #Adopt_A_Camp and #SocialWelfareNetworkInitiative visited IDPs living within host communities in Maiduguri. The sights and sounds experienced were tear-inducing, to say the least. We met Pa Smai, an old pensioner from Chibok, who took in 53 displaced persons for over two weeks, catering for their needs. One of them died in his house, a parent of one of the abducted Chibok girls. We met widows, widowers, orphans, folks whose families and friends were abducted. While some were taken in by families and friends, others rented apartments. They’re all unemployed and don’t get aid from government. So far, the hewing of firewood for sale is what they’ve mostly resorted to.
Across a broad spectrum of needs, these unfortunate people in host communities lack food, water, fuel, shelter, clothes, education and a sense of belonging to a ‘new’ society they’re yet to fully integrate in. It’s unfortunate that this particular crop of people are given little or no attention while they die in silence.
1 March
My lecturer and I. Field work. Dalori (IDP) Camp. Misty morning.
Mallam Arabi, a multilingual Nigeria-born musical maestro, is simply phenomenal. Popular as a minstrel among local groups in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso and sundry places, he feels disillusioned to be reduced to a refugee in his own country as a result of the lingering crisis.
A few months ago, we met Mallam Arabi at the Gubio Road IDP camp in Maiduguri during a relief distribution exercise and he impressed us greatly with his singing and multilingual prowess. He understands Hausa, Kanuri, Shuwa-Arab, Fulani, Arabic, French. He is a literate and obviously enlightened man. Humble, reserved, friendly and always smiling. It breaks my heart to see him suffer.
While the relief distribution was going on, we noticed that Mallam Arabi was shy and wouldn’t scramble for anything like everybody else. In silence, he suffered; all he wanted was the two-octave battery powered piano which I eventually took to the orphans at Children of Borno (COB) Centre.
My good friend and brother, Abubakar Gambo, gave me a newly sewn kaftan and asked me to locate and present the cloth to Mallam Arabi, an IDP who should have remained a celebrity, but for the consequences of terrorism. Allah ya kawo sauki.
5 March
Earlier today, at the Dalori Camp along Bama road in Maiduguri, I had to taste the rice and beans prepared for the IDPs. God knows what it was like serving white rice and beans without stew and expecting it to be eaten like that. To be fair and objective, a central kitchen for over 20,000 people can’t be any better, but measures could be put in place to improve on it.
8 March
Posing for the cameras, at the Pinnacles.
March 10
People are hungry. Very much so. With no increment on salary or improvement on financial status, common folks are compelled by biting-economic-challenges to pay more for goods and services without a correlating increase in income.
In the heat of it all, beats me how these common Nigerians could still afford to walk down the streets with a broad smile from one ear to another.
March 14
After experiencing the hellish heat in Yerwa, it feels jolly good savoring what majority call the first rain in Kaduna. Sunday weather is that superb type reminiscent of a memorable picnic. A quintessential weather for two. I feel like not going back, amma there’s no place like Yerwa. *winks*
March 19/28
What the generality of Nigerians may not know is that Maiduguri in its entirety is one gigantic IDP camp. The bulk of displaced persons in the city live within host communities, where they overwhelm scarce resources. We’ve all had reasons to accommodate such displaced persons in our houses. Consequently, hosts and guests are subjected to unimaginable hardship.
The guests are mostly unemployed and idle; and they make up the bulk of beggars prowling the streets of Maiduguri. Anywhere one turns in the embattled city, one sees the aged, men, women and children begging for alms, mostly around ATM machines, government offices and virtually every nook and cranny of town. This trend is constituting a societal challenge already; the future seems bleak.
If nothing is done to cushion the hardship of the people, in no distant future we may have to contend with the consequences of present actions or inactions. Whatever success has been achieved so far is dependent largely on the activities of United Nations agencies, local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as against the thieving personnel working for government.
Another thing the IDPs and the rest of us in Maiduguri need is vigorous psychosocial support and incentive-backed sensitisation or counselling. When costs of goods and services have increased exponentially without any increase in salary or source of income and when the heat from the sun is a constant reminder of the rings of hell, if the needful is not done, the embattled city will not only be a gigantic IDP camp, but one big fat asylum, trust me.
22 March
A wonderful experience learning better ways of impacting on the needy at the ongoing inter-agency workshop on humanitarian access and negotiations. A great classroom feeling embedded in an innate desire to reach out to victims of unfortunate situations in the embattled northeast.
23 March
I noticed he was looking at me. Couldn’t tell why. Wrote the act off as nothing; soon he approached and said to me:
‘Sir, my name is Umar (a man that old shouldn’t say SIR to me). A fishmonger from Doron Baga town before we got dislodged from our base. Life has been difficult for my family and I here in Maiduguri because I’m now jobless. Please I don’t know if you could give me N200?’
I noticed how he struggled through every word to make his point. He obviously wasn’t used to begging for alms. I noticed how he had to open up as last resort. I noticed how genuine he appeared. I gave him N500 and his eyes lit up. He thanked me profusely before walking away. I shook my head and marveled at the damage insurgency is doing to everyone in the northeast.
Barely two weeks ago, 11, or so, young fish-mongers who felt they couldn’t take it anymore manoeuvred their way to Doro from Maiduguri. The last that’s heard about them’s that they’re killed by the insurgents.
The pain is excruciating; the difficulty is biting.
24 March
‘This certificate is presented to Jack Vince, for his participation in the advanced workshop on Humanitarian Access and Negotiations, facilitated by Conflict Dynamics International (CDI) in collaboration with The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Joe Belliveau (Programme Director) Hosanna Fox (Senior Facilitator).’
27 March
In the excruciating heat of the horrible midday sun in Maiduguri — above 45 degrees — I noticed that the kids at EYN II and III IDP Centres as well as several other camps and host communities I visited were walking barefooted. A sad reminder of how we walked barefooted to the primary school in Maimalari Cantonment back in the day. It’s undoubtedly one hell of an experience walking in the sun as an adult let alone barefooted like the kids are compelled by circumstances to do. The parents or guardians who are themselves impoverished IDPs simply can’t afford to buy [even] ‘bathroom’ slippers for the children.
For a N150 or less per child, the fortune of these poor kids could change for the better. It was heartbreaking for me when I saw a child crying until a woman had to run and pick her off the burning ground.
Before now, back in their villages, the people lived from tilling the soil, livestock keeping, trading and so on. They were quite contented and happy. Terrorism is indeed a sad episode in the lives of the people.
Facebook question: Can we find a way to use our contacts etc to get 50,000 pairs of rubber slippers or rubber sandals out to Jack and his team to distribute?
Response: The slippers are available for purchase in Maiduguri and it would be a massive support for the local economy if they were bought locally.
One of the pressures on a host community can be when aid cuts out their sales. They too are trying to make a living.
N150 rubber slippers are enough… they are very normal footwear and the lowest price so more people will get a pair.
27 March
At the First Delegates Conference of the Network of Civil Society Organisations of Borno State. A synergy consequent upon bringing out the best in organisations with humanitarian and people-oriented service delivery tendencies.
1 April
We left Biu and got to the park in Damboa where other vehicles were waiting to be escorted in a long convoy to Maiduguri. About 200 vehicles in all. On the way, we saw a lot of live and empty shells of ammunition on the tar-road. I was very scared, but we got to Maiduguri earlier than we would have if we’d taken the longer Potiskum-Bajoga-Bileri-Numan-Yola route.
I had a discussion with a lady in my neighbourhood who traveled through the newly opened Maiduguri-Damboa road.
‘It wasn’t funny. The journey to Damboa from Maiduguri was dramatic. Everybody was apprehensive all through the journey even though we had military escort. At some point, we’d be asked to stop while the soldiers drive ahead of us down the road to ensure all is safe. We’d have to wait for 30 minutes or more before being asked to continue. This happened three times before we got to our destination’, she said.
She returned to Maiduguri through the Gombe-Potiskum route.
Frequent power blackout. No fuel. No money. Businesses failing. High cost of living. Hunger in the land. Blazing sun. Terrible heat. Heads going mad.
Waiting for change?
Price we must pay?
For how long?
Some, in their privileged positions, may not understand the level of lack and pain daily killing the ordinary people…
Facebook comment: The visitor now understands what it is to live with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and no social welfare system or government policy that would provide the needy with an alternative.
18 April
Earlier today, I was along Gubio road, a cosmopolitan suburb of Maiduguri, to distribute relief materials to displaced persons living within the host community. I miss my comrade at arms, Abubakar Gambo, who traveled out of town.
The people felt very happy about the gesture as they thanked and prayed for the donors (who said their names should not be mentioned). Clothes and shoes were the items distributed. An act of kindness that would, no doubt, go a long way towards cushioning the lingering effect of inflation, poverty and biting hunger in the land.
Once upon a time, the people were gainfully employed as fishmongers in Baga, livestock herders in Konduga, Marte, Kukawa, Cross Kauwa and so on, farmers in Daba Masara, Damasak, Gwoza, Michika, Askira et cetera. Today, as victims of Boko Haram terrorism, they are not only unemployed but compelled by the unfortunate situation to live on handouts and the generosity of kind Nigerians.
More than anything else, the people need FOOD urgently. Families could be seen being accommodated by individuals who are not better off themselves, economically. The National Emergency Management Agency, Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency and other caregivers concentrate their efforts at the organised government-owned camps. Infinitesimally little or absolutely nothing is done to aid displaced persons living in host communities.
I make a solemn appeal to government agencies responsible, NGOs and all kindhearted individuals and groups to come to the aid of displaced persons in host communities. Almost all communities within Maiduguri metropolis have these displaced persons.
A bag of granulated maize costs less than N2000 at the Maiduguri Flour Mills. A bag or two can sustain a family or two for a week or two. Please, let’s reach out to these people. They’re hungry.
We can support Jack’s work directly, by asking him for his bank account number through a direct message on his Facebook page. Alternatively, a donation can be made via the Lovatt Foundation, with a note ‘for Jack Vince’.
Northern Nigeria. Early 2015 (Jack Vince & Fiona Lovatt)
Survivors of Boko Haram (December 2015, update from Fiona; and Jack’s visits to the camps and to Chibok)
