By Rita Enemuru, Reporting From Fenegbene
THE afternoon sun glimmers over the wide expanse of water in Fenegbene Community, Warri South West Local Government Area, where Akponanabofa James sits on a wooden stool, feet firmly planted on the earth covered with sawdust. She appears calm, but her life story is one woven with years of struggle, resilience and unbroken determination.
Born in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, Akponanabofa was raised in a household where dreams were encouraged but means were scarce. Her mother named her “Nurse”, inspired by the hope that her daughter would one day wear a white uniform and care for others in a hospital. But that dream faded as early as it was imagined.
Mrs James
Speaking with a Stonix News reporter during a visit to Fenegbene Community in Warri South West Local Government Area, Akponanabofa said that her father’s death, when she was just 15, created a void that changed the entire course of her life. With one parent gone and the other burdened with the responsibility of catering for a large number of children, the possibility of continuing her education became impossible. Instead of textbooks and classrooms, Akponanabofa’s early years were shaped by riverbanks, fishing nets and the harshness of survival.
The mother-of-nine told our reporter that as a child, she was taken in by an aunt who had promised to enrol her in school; a promise never kept. Instead of sitting in a classroom, she found herself rowing through shallow waters, hauling nets and learning the rhythms of fishing — a skill she never expected would become her lifelong means of survival.
Her journey eventually took her to Benue State, where she lived with her husband. Far from the creeks of Delta, she continued fishing while supporting her husband’s local gin business. Life was manageable for a time and structured around trade, family and the slow, demanding pace of rural enterprise.
But the stability they enjoyed in Benue collapsed when the government abruptly stopped the production of local gin. Akponanabofa and her husband lost their main source of income, and they had to return to Delta State in search of new opportunities.
Mrs James
She said: “My name is Akponanabofa — that is Nurse James. I am 54 years old. I am from Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta State. I gave birth to 12 children but three died and I’m left with nine. My mother named me Nurse because she wanted me to be a nurse, but unfortunately there was no money to train me to be one. My father died when I was 15 years old, so she couldn’t further my education alone. When I was little, one of my aunties told my parents that I should go and stay with her so that she would enrol me in school, but she didn’t fulfil her promises. Instead, I was helping her fish. I didn’t even attend secondary school. I was fishing with her before my father died.
“I came to Fenegbene Community in the year 2017. Before I came here, I was living in Benue State with my husband. I was also fishing in the North but I was selling ogogoro, local gin, there. My husband was doing the local gin business before he married me and took me to Benue State.
“The local gin business was not bad at all. That was what we were managing and surviving with before they stopped it. As they stopped the business, we relocated to Fenegbene. When we got here, there was nothing for us to do. There was no work, so we started fishing again. I also started buying and selling fish from other fishermen and women. Sometimes I make N4,000 to N5,000 daily and that is what I use to buy garri and feed my family of 11, take care of my children and pay their fees. Life has been very difficult since I have been here. But I have to struggle.”
With nine children to feed, having lost three earlier in life, she found herself returning to the one thing she knew best — fishing.
“I couldn’t just fold my hands and live life as it comes. Sometimes when I don’t have money to buy fish to resell, I take my net and go to this river you’re seeing here to catch fish,” she noted, pointing to the river.
“Sometimes I am able to catch those small fish, up to 30 to 40 pieces, and I sell them. I will shade the fish, six pieces for N1,000. If I’m unable to sell all, my family feeds on the rest. I am unable to save from it because we use the money as it comes,” she explained.
Her situation became more pathetic as the economy hardened. Rising food prices and unpredictable fishing conditions constantly push her to the edge. Heavy rainfall often makes the river too full to fish. Bad days mean no catch, no sales and no food. Debt also once dragged her close to ruin.
“I almost ran into debt of N500,000,” she recounted. Buying fish on credit was risky. If the fish spoiled before she could sell them, she bore the loss. “If I get the fish for N35,000, I make N5,000 profit. But some days I couldn’t sell; the fish got rotten and I sold at a loss. All those losses accumulated.”
She survived that season only by borrowing money, and she is still repaying those loans.
“It is not easy living here at all,” she said, her voice low.
“As the economy is getting hard, life is also getting hard. Before now, especially during Buhari’s time, N4,000 was enough to buy garri and cook soup that my family could manage for days. In fact, after making those expenses, I would still have money left. But now, N4,000 is not even enough to buy garri that will carry us for two weeks, let alone cook soup that will last us for days.
“As the day breaks, life keeps getting worse. During the time that I was in the North, at least I could trade and have N20,000 at hand, but it is not like that anymore.
“Now, you would ask why I don’t leave, but I will tell you that even the money to leave and survive elsewhere is not available. I am unable to go fishing these few days because of the heavy rainfall. If the rain falls like that, there won’t be fish in the river,” she lamented.
Mrs James
Yet, despite the hardship, Akponanabofa hasn’t lost her hope. A simple dream is all she has: to run her fish business properly and to become a supplier.
“If someone offers assistance, I would want them to assist me with money to trade. I want to continue my fish business. I want to be a supplier. I almost ran into debt of N500,000 when I was buying fish for retailing. This was because if I get the fish for N35,000, I make N5,000 profit. But there were days I couldn’t sell the fish and some started getting rotten and I sold at a loss. I get the fish and sell before paying the supplier and if I do it like that and there are damages, I am unable to remit back to the supplier and this accumulated to hundreds of thousands. It was God that helped me pay off those debts. I had to borrow to pay them and I am still paying what I owe from the little I’m making from the fish I catch. It is not easy living here at all,” she added.
As she ended her conversation with Stonix News, she made the following passionate appeal:
“My plea to the government, Tinubu, Oborevwori and others, is to help women like us that are living in the creeks fishing to survive,” she said.
Her voice carried in it the collective cry of the many women depending on the river yet receiving little support.
Akponanabofa James is more than just a fisherwoman; she is a symbol of endurance in a place where survival is a daily test. Behind the still waters of Fenegbene creeks lies the story of a woman who keeps fighting, hoping and dreaming, as giving up has simply never been an option for her.
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