Despite Contributing millions to Taraba Economy, Government Neglects Fishing Sector

•No Single 'Cold Room' For Preserving Fish In Taraba

Sixty three percent of persons living in Nigeria (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. To survive, many people in local communities engage in trading, such as the sale of fish, to make ends meet. But in communities in Taraba State, people involved in the fish business, which the government says comprises  30 % of the state's population, are not finding it easy despite contributing to the revenue through tax payments. In this report, Sarah David Yerima examines the issues and challenges surrounding the fish business in Jalingo, Taraba State.

Sani Aliyu gets his fish from the Taraba River, one of Nigeria's tributaries of the Benue River. The Taraba River joins the River Benue on a floodplain 10 km wide and 50 km across, according to the fishery resources of nigerian inland waters, Food and Agriculture Organization FOA. 

Along the rivers, you find towns such as Sert-Baruwa, Sarki Ruwa, Karamti, Jamtari, Gangumi, Gayam, and Bali LGA, which make them their source of livelihood. But despite the abundance of fish in Tabara State, fishermen and women involve in fish farming in those communities are struggling for survival—not that they are not catching fish and doing the good business, but support from government has been limited and the effect on their livelihood is serious.

Aliyu, a fish trader, was not happy when the reporter met him on March 13. He sources his fish from rivers and ponds in Lau Local Government Area, LGA, which is about 25 Kilometers to Jalingo, the capital. But he had been unable to sell all the fresh fish he brought to Jalingo Main Market from Lau. He went home without making much profit from his business because he could not sell all the fish he brought to the market and could also not preserve them due to lack of a refrigerators at the market.

Aliyu, who is also the secretary of the Fish Sellers Association at the Jalingo Main Market, is not the only fisherman and trader in Taraba State going through the same challenge.

The Jalingo Main Market houses one of the biggest local fish markets in the state with over 1000 people trading in fresh fish every day. It is populated by fish farmers and fish traders. 

For traders, their major problem is the lack of cooling systems to preserve local fresh fish.

Taraba has the potential to top the chart in terms of fisheries and aquacultural activities in Nigeria because it is blessed with many major rivers and different species of fish.  There are over two hundred fish ponds scattered across the state.

Neglect 

However, local fishermen are feeling neglected and frustrated by the lack of support from the government in the fishery sector despite contributing to the state economy. 

The chairman of fish traders in Jalingo, Alhaji Umar Abubakar, said the government is not doing enough for the fishery sector.

"The government is not doing enough. Recently, the government gave us two refrigerators and, honestly speaking, it will not be enough. We have more than 1,000 people selling fish in Jalingo, but we don't even have any fish market in Jalingo. 

"We need a better space to do fish business and a cold room to preserve our produce if we cannot sell all of them that day.  

"And also, sometimes the government gives us help, but the help sometimes gets to the wrong hands.

"Also, the cost of transporting this fish too is another challenge. Sometimes the fish gets spoilt on the way. 

He said the fish farmers are also suffering owing to lack of equipment.

"They don't have enough equipment to catch fish. Sometimes, you see a fisherman in the riverbank, and he doesn't have boat to go fishing."

What they pay as tax

Fish farmers pay between N1,500 and N2,500 yearly to the government and N100 on every basket daily transported across the river. For fish traders, who are mostly women, pay N5,000 annually at the market.

In Bali Local Government Area, Ayuba Usman, had been a fisherman for more than 10 years and used to be happy with his trade but that is changing.

"It used to be good before," he said. "But now, fish farmers have to pay a lot to rent boats, nets and get fishing permits," he told the reporter. 

"We in the Bali Local Government Area lack fishing nets. We used to pay N7,000 to N10,000 to hire boats and nets before. Now, we pay N60, 0000 to N70, 000. Everything is scarce now, unlike before. We don't even have plenty of people on ground because of lack of an engine to power our boat and keep us up all night".

Then he brings in a new, scary dimension to the problem of fishermen who have to go far into the sea to catch fish.

"More so, we encounter kidnappers sometimes in the bush."  Rock FM radio was not able to confirm Usman's claim of fishermen being kidnapped as other fishermen interviewed by our reporter said that they had not experienced any case. 

Apart from fish farmers, hundreds of fish traders at the Jalingo Main Market say they lack proper storage facilities where they keep fresh leftovers. This has resulted in losses to robbers running into millions of naira. 

Aishatu Yakubu is a fish trader. In an interview, she complained about the tax system, which is not streamlined, she said. 

"People come to you and say they work for the government and ask you for money. We pay N100 per basket at the riverbank before crossing to sell our produce at the weekly market but they do not provide anything to support us. We have issues such as insecurity and lack of proper fishing tools and equipment." 

Umar Abubakar, chairman of Fish Market Traders Association in Jalingo, said lack of proper storage facilities, adequate market space and transportation are hurting the fish business in the state. 

"We rarely get support from the government even though we contribute our part through payment of taxes. The cost of transporting fish is one big challenge we're facing. At times, before we get good transportation, the fish gets spoilt before reaching our place."

At Mai Gwoi in Jalingo LGA, a roadside market for fish sellers, traffic congestions have consistently been a problem.

A trader, Alhaji Umaru Abubakar, said despite paying daily levy of N100, the government has refused to create a market space for them in the area.

"We pay taxes. People come to collect tax from us and we pay them. The board of internal revenue also collects from us and also state government. 

"Every time we cry to the government to give us a space that we can use to sell our fish. Staying by the roadside every day is risky and too dangerous for us. I am begging the government to look into our matter.

"We have all the receipts of the money we're paying to government, but we cannot show anything for it."

To operate in Taraba State, a fishman must obtain a fishing permit, which is paid for before anyone is allowed to use rivers and ponds in the state. According to them they pay between N2,000 to N5,000 annually. The permit is renewed annually by the Taraba State Ministry of Agriculture.

Investigations showed that the tax collection for fish farmers is controlled by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Affairs in the Ministry of Agriculture, although the Taraba State Internal Revenue Service, TIRS, said it is unaware of this as the ministry is not a revenue generating. 

An official, who pleaded anonymity, said that for the past three years they have not received any money from the fishery department. The people at the riverbank claimed one Mr. Sa'ad Ahmed is the ministry's official who collects the tax from them. Indeed, further investigations revealed that Mr. Sa'ad Ahmed works for the ministry's of Fisheries and Aquatic Affairs department.  When our reporter called him on the phone, Ahmed confirmed that he works for the department.

A Director in the Ministry of Agriculture in a phone conversation confirmed that Ahmed works in his department, which he also says is in charge of collecting money from fishermen and fish traders. He also added that they have not remitted money to the board so far.

Another official of the Ministry said the fishing permit is issued through revenue collectors who are known to the Ministry, but he cannot confirm the exact account the revenue collectors eventually remit the money to for government.

During a visit to Ibbi Market in Ibi LGA traders, mostly women, who sell fish said they pay an annual tax of N5,000. Also, on every basket of fish sold, local market authorities collect N1,000. 

 

"When we sell a basket, the market people collect N1,000 from us. Our profit is very low, and it takes a long time to sell a basket of fish these days because there's no money. Before we usually sold about six to eight baskets daily, but now, we hardly sell three says Adama Musa

In Bali, the chairman of fishermen with the name Daniel Akwararafa said he has over 1,000 fishermen across the council area under his control who pay fishing tax to government officials who come periodically to demand for money. 

"We are over one 1,000 fishermen in Bali, but we have no record because the government does not care about us. All the fish traders contribute about 17,000 each for both local government and markets authorities in the state."

Despite Heavy Budget for Agriculture, Fishermen Are 'Completely Left Out'

Since 2007 Taraba State has always allocated a huge chunk of its budget to agriculture. The state says agriculture employs above 60 percent of the working population. 

In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture had a total of N6,625,766,406.70 as its budget and N62,211,344.00 was allocated to the fishery department. 

Also in 2023, N16,350,457,788.00 was budget for Agriculture and N297,385,967.00 was allocated to fishery.

In the 2024 budget, N18,853,852,081.45 was allocated to Ministry of Agriculture. Of this amount N842,533,400.36 went to fishery sector and 2,982,835,638.31 to farmers. 

In 2009, the then state governor, Danbaba Suntai, donated fishing equipment like nets, boats and hook to fishermen in the state. A source at the state Ministry of Agriculture said that was the last time fishermen received supports from the state government.

"Eighty percent of the budgets of agriculture goes to the crop production farmers. The government subsidizes seedlings, fertilizers and even heavy tractors for them but fishermen who pay daily and annual tax are supported with nothing," the source stated.

in 2018, the Taraba State government distributed 130 tractors to farmers in pursuance of agricultural mechanization and to boost food production. However, there are no records of such support was given to fish farmers that year.

In addition to these efforts, recently the Taraba State governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, lunched the distribution of 250 tractors to farmers across the 16 local government and two development areas of the state.

The tractors were purchased by the state government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to ease both rainy and dry season farming activities in the state.

Launching the tractors, Governor Kefas described farmers as the heartbeat of the state's economy and charged those distributing the tractors to ensure that the tractors get to the desired farmers on time to help them make good use of them.

Just like 2018, the state government has not made any intervention for fish farmers this year. 

● This report was made possible with support from the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the International Centre for Investigative reporting (ICIR)

Source ROCK FM JALINGO