Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant Environmental Impact ... - IFC

Orior-Osemwende
Orior-Osemwende is the smallest community in the Project area, with an
estimated population of approximately 1,000 residents. According to data
collected in the field, it is almost exclusively inhabited by the indigenous Bini,
with only a few Ijaw, Ibo, Calabar, Yoruba and Hausa migrants. Half the
people in the community are Christian with the remainder divided among
Muslims and practitioners of traditional beliefs. From their own estimation,
the level of poverty in the community is approximately 80 percent.
The gender breakdown of the community is weighted towards females. This
may be due to young men leaving the community to find work elsewhere.
Residents of the community support this assumption, noting an ongoing trend
of youth outmigration from the community in search of jobs, vocational
training and education.
The majority of the community residences are situated along the road that
runs from Ihovbor-Evboeka / Idunmwowina-Urho-Nisen to Benin City,
demonstrating the importance of this route. In addition, roads to and from
Ihovbor-Evboeka and Idunmwowina-Urho-Nisen are important intercommunity
transport links. Agricultural areas in the community are situated
in close proximity to the households.
Ihovbor-Evboeka
Ihovbor-Evboeka has a population of approximately 400 inhabitants. In
contrast with residents of Orior-Osemwende, stakeholders in Ihovbor-
Evboeka report increasing population density over the past few years,
particularly in the number of youths. This has been credited to the
development of the neighbouring NIPP (“Ihovbor-Evboeka”) power plant and
associated job opportunities. This is also likely a factor in the gender
breakdown of the community, which is weighted toward the male population.
Nearly all of the inhabitants of Ihovbor-Evboeka are Bini with a few members
of other ethnic groups including the Yoruba, Igbo, Urhobo, Efik and Esan.
Traditional beliefs appear to be more prevalent in this community than others
in the Project area: according to the EIA for the Ihovbor-Evboeka. Power Plant,
approximately 60 percent of residents of Ihovbor-Evboeka practice traditional
worship while 20 percent claim to be exclusively Christian and seven percent
say they are exclusively Muslim (NIPP, 2010). This assessment is supported
by stakeholder feedback in the community. There are no churches or mosques
in the community.
From the FGDs and IDIs conducted in the Orior-Osemwende and
Idunmwowina-Urho-Nisen it was evident that there was a degree of
resentment (see Section 5.4.4) due to the fact that the Ihovbor-Evboeka
community was felt to have benefited disproportionately compared to the
other two communities from the NIPP power plant. It is perceived that
AZURA EDO IPP
5-12
DRAFT EIA REPORT