TWO controversial attempts made to forcefully relocate the Internally Displaced Persons in Edo State and Abuja, graphically highlight the growing humanitarian tragedy in Nigeria occasioned by Boko Haram terrorism. Although the IDPs in Uhoghua (Edo) and WASU (Abuja) camps no longer face eviction after the intervention of the authorities, the wider programme is disjointed. It requires reinvention to effectively deal with the needs of the victims of the six-year-old insurgency.
Drawing attention to the crisis, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that the dastardly activities of the armed non-state actors in the North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have caused the displacement of 1,491,706 persons. Another 47,276 others have been displaced by internecine conflicts, making a total of 1,538,982 IDPs as of April 2015, according to UNHCR. Some 200,000 other Nigerians are taking refuge in Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic, while the UN says Boko Haram has killed 20,000 people. The National Commission for Refugees said that half of Borno State residents were living around the state capital, Maiduguri.
The UNHCR defines IDPs as “people who have not crossed an international border to find sanctuary, but have remained inside their own country.” According to the National Emergency Management Agency, there are 22 IDP camps across the country, created to cater for the welfare of the victims of insurgency. But in all, the Zurich-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, a Norwegian non-governmental organisation, says that there are 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria as a result of “Boko Haram attacks, communal and religious violence in the Middle Belt, flooding, cattle rustling and competition for resources.”
This is terrifying. According to NCR, the displacement means two per cent of Nigeria’s population have lost their homes, family life, means of livelihood and businesses. As the children, whose number is put at 800,000, have had their education truncated, the future looks bleak for them. In Borno State, the epicentre of Boko Haram terror, pupils have lost two academic sessions, according to Governor Kashim Shettima.
According to a report by the IDMC entitled: Global Overview 2014, Nigeria is home to the largest IDPs in the world after Syria (6.5 million) and Colombia (5.7 million). With Nigeria’s figure rising to 3.3 million, there is a real concern about the disequilibrium the situation might cause in the coming months. Many of the children have become hopeless orphans, while many pregnant women have had their husbands killed. For the IDPs, the fear of stigmatisation by the society is real. The food crisis is enormous, not only in the IDP camps, but across the North-East, as Boko Haram has made it impossible for the citizens to engage in farming. It is scarier that Boko Haram is yet to be subdued.
The Macrothink Institute, a United States-based NGO, warns of danger for the country if the government fails to take effective action. It says, “Its (IDPs) magnitude is capable of threatening national cohesion and is inimical to the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (Eight) – right to safety of life and property, decent living standards, freedom, dignity and self-respect.” To tackle the IDPs challenge, kind-hearted Nigerians, international aid organisations, federal and state governments have initiated one project or the other. In 2014, the Federal Government, through the Victims Support Fund Committee headed by Theophilus Danjuma, committed N10 billion to the project. Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari released the balance of N5 billion the government had pledged. In the last dispensation, the government had launched a N2 billion Safe Schools Initiative to revive basic education in the North-East. NEMA has been active in assisting the IDPs, while the North-East states have also been providing relief to the victims.
Also, Governor Adams Oshiomhole is currently making efforts to cater for the IDPs in Edo State. After the botched attempts to evict them, Oshiomhole took it upon himself to make life better for them. “We have to do everything to ensure they are comfortable,” he said, promising to “immediately build standard primary and secondary schools and hostels to give them comfort.” The governor’s efforts are yielding fruits as 112 victims in the Edo camp were reunited with their families from the North on Monday.
However, all these efforts are disarticulated. A piecemeal arrangement will always fall short of delivering the needed services. Meeting the needs and welfare of the IDPs in terms of education, health, feeding, housing and long-term resettlement entails a well-focused national approach.
In financial terms, the outlay on the IDPs is huge. The UNHCR, which had a budget of $265.1 million for IDPs in West Africa in 2014, puts the budget for 2015 at $233.5 million. The government cannot shy away from the fact that it will need financial, material and other forms of aid to move the IDPs from their distress to better living conditions.
Across the world, the Buhari government is enjoying tremendous goodwill; this should be exploited to attract public-spirited Nigerians, NGOs, charities, multi-national organisations and international philanthropists to the cause. All those who had made pledges in the past to support the IDPs should be sensitised to redeem them, while proper accounts should be rendered to deepen the openness in governance.
IDPs are part and parcel of us, and the crisis they are going through is not entirely of their own making. They deserve our government and people’s support to live decent lives again.
Culled from online print media ( punchng.com)
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