“I Have Been Fishing for Over Twenty Years, and I Am Grateful to Enatta” – Meet Mama Ireti: A Fisherwoman Defying the Odds of Nature and Poverty

Mama Ireti has been a fisherwoman for over twenty years and understands the struggles of fishing and making a living. Nonetheless, she keeps showing up; day after day, in the face of unfavorable weather conditions and exhaustion because she has a goal: to become financially free.

“My name is Ireti Obateru and I live at Isale-Akoka in Bariga. We went to fish today and we left around 5am; now it is 12 noon. The work isn’t easy, but there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to keep doing it, and now I have come to love it.” She said as she and her partner hauled their shared boat back to the shore at the Isale-Akoka fish landing site, Lagos State.

Mama Ireti represents a fraction of fisherwomen in Nigeria who experience the harsh realities of climate change and poverty as they try to make ends meet for themselves and their families. 

“We went to Agoyi this morning and just returned. We encountered strong winds and a lot of cold. However, it is our work, and we have no choice so we must do it.”

“We use this bowl to scoop water out of the boat when the wind blows water in, because if we don’t, the boat will sink. We also use this stick to hold the boat down when the breeze is strong,” She further added.

On many fishing lagoons across Nigeria’s coastal communities, this is the story of women who refuse to succumb to the difficult economic conditions in the country. A number of these women are breadwinners of their homes, taxed with the responsibility of providing basic needs and training their children in schools only through the artisanal fishing that they are engaged in. 

Many times, these women make use of borrowed equipment, giving them limited resources and time to fish when out in the sea.

However, Mama Ireti expresses her gratitude to Enatta Foundation for their support and provision of essential fishing gear and boats to the fisherwomen in Isale-Akoka fishing community where she belongs.

“I am grateful to Enatta, because without them, we all wouldn’t have the boats we use for fishing. We caught some shrimp this morning and we could do that because Enatta Foundation gave us shrimp catchers to do our work with.”

Reflecting on her fishing journey before encountering Enatta Foundation, Mama Ireti noted that the fisherwomen previously rented boats from renters at exorbitant rates which meant that they could only fish for short periods of time, and the profit from their yields were slashed to pay the renters.

“I would have been renting boats if Enatta had not given us these boats that we share. I am now able to make more catches, make more profits and save through the cooperative that Enatta Foundation established for us.” She added.

She further acknowledged the remarkable change that her finance has undergone, a transformation which she attributes to Enatta Foundation’s Money Mata programme. The training programme empowered her with knowledge, skills and record keeping materials which have helped her track the fish harvest, sales and profits that she makes.

Despite the challenges that they are faced with, we are happy to see Mama Ireti and over a hundred other fisherwomen become debt free and empowered to be the financially independent women they are meant to be. 

Mama Ireti, a trailblazing fisherwoman, aspires to begin a boat rental business by purchasing her personal boats while she continues to do what she loves.

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