by Eze Eluchie,
Well over a
year after Nigeria’s ruler, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, declared Boko Haram to have
been technically defeated; and all the over 20 Local Council areas, reputedly
held under Boko Haram/Islamic caliphate rulership during the earlier regime of
former President Goodluck Jonathan, had been liberated, the fact that there is
a continuing growing increase in the number of persons living as ‘Internally
Displaced Persons’ (IDP’s) in the various IDP Camps scattered across Nigeria’s
North-East region and Abuja ought to be sufficient to raise suspicion either as
to the veracity of the claims of ‘having defeated Boko Haram’ or the propriety
of continuing to provide for the upkeep of thousands of Nigerians who in real
terms would be better fending for themselves.
If Boko
Haram has been defeated, how come the population of these IDP’s is daily on the
increase? How come, despite the Billions of Naira budgeted for the upkeep and
welfare of these IDP’s, the public and international community is still being
assaulted with gory pictures emaciated and sickly children and residents at
these IDP’s?
From a
Presidential directive that World Bank and international development assistance
to Nigeria be prioritized on the North East region, to the creation of an
amorphous bureaucratic structure - Presidential Initiative on the North East
(PINE), coupled with an ingrained culture of belief, by some in the region, in
a right to freebies from the Nigerian State, the IDP Camps in Nigeria's North East region have become a cesspool
of slush funds, corruption and waste. Indolence is being patronized, rewarded
and institutionalized. Funds are being appropriated to erect concrete mansions
for the so-called IDP’s, who had hitherto due to their nomadic nature, lived in
makeshift homes. The fact that the concrete structures are not in tune with the
IDP’s cultural and environmental needs is lost in the rush, by bureaucrats, to
reap bountifully from awards of contracts.
There is
clearly no end-game planned for the IDP’s as presently structured and
organized. They are programmed to last in perpetuity and have embraced aspects
of the lifestyles of some of the indigenes of the North east regions, with the ‘enthronement’
of various “Sarkis’”/"Sugaban” {Chief} within the various IDP Camps to oversee
diverse constituencies and aspect of IDP life.
The extremely
high reproductive rates being recorded in the IDP Camps makes it appear that
public funds are being deployed to enhance population figures.
The diverse
entities benefiting from the continued existence of the IDP’s also serve to
ensure the sustenance of the base existence to which the occupants thereof are
consigned to. These beneficiaries
include:
(i) the local
bureaucrats/public servants saddled with the management of relief materials and
donations, who make a killing from inflated bogus and fictitious contracts for
supplies and works – as exemplified by the multi-billion Naira Grass-Cutting Contract
scam which involved the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and
the easy availability of items donated/meant for IDP camp residents use in markets
as far flung as in Abuja and Lagos;
(ii) the
foreign government/donor agency which considers the wastage of a few million
dollars of its Tax-payers funds on a never-ending assistance venture, a
worthwhile investment to ensure continued hold and influence over one of the
largest economies in Africa;
(ii) the aid
workers who labour under the illusion of having an opportunity to appear to be
doing something worthwhile with their time;
(iii) the
Politicians who now have a ready recruitment base for all manner of ‘enforcers’
and hangers-on, which come in quite handy during periods when resort to election-related
violence becomes the difference between victory at the polls or another 4 years
in opposition;
(iv) the IDP
Camp inmates who are assured of freebies (food, shelter and clothing) for an
over extended period when they continue to be resident in the IDP Camps. Why work, when your basics and more can be guaranteed by being in an IDP Camp?
A combination
of the above beneficiaries ensures that it will be a long while before
sufficient guts is mustered to close the drain-pipes and source of waste the
IDP’s are fast becoming.
Lest the IDP
Camps in our North East region assume a life of their own and become the new norm, they should be closed forthwith and where appropriate
requisite assistance can be rendered to needy refugees to enable them relocate
and re-establish in any other part of Nigeria.
Picture: Cross-section
of some residents of an IDP Camp in Bornu State, North Eastern Nigeria.
