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Recently, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, exposed the underbelly of the emerging humanitarian crisis facing the southeast. Specifically, he raised the alarm over the reality of the existence of over 268,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. These, he said, are scattered across “158 camps and affected communities.” The interesting thing here is that Hon. Kalu did not make this disturbing disclosure at a campaign rally. If it was, it could be taken for campaign talk. No, he spoke at a roundtable discussion with an international non-governmental organisation. The event was titled “Through Their Eyes: A Call to Action, Addressing Humanitarian Challenges in the Southeast.” And, it held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The roundtable had in attendance the Director-General of Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Camilla Higgins; the national coordinator of National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Umar Ibrahim Mohammed; Dr Badamasi Lawal; the Director-General of National Refugees Commission and Migrants, Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed; representatives of the Directors-General of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Speaking at the event, which was organised by the office of the Deputy Speaker, in association with the Peace in the Southeast Project (PISE-P), Kalu said: “Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria is grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis, characterized by displacement, violence, and ecological challenges. (There are) over 268,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are spread across 158 camps and affected communities. The states of Enugu, Imo, Abia, Anambra, and Ebonyi bear the brunt of this crisis, with precarious living conditions leaving many without access to clean water, adequate shelter, healthcare, and education. Shelter, in particular, remains a pressing concern. Families live in makeshift camps or overcrowded host communities, exposed to health risks, insecurity, and a loss of dignity.”
The grim reality of the humanitarian crisis faced by the southeast, arising from insecurity and unbridled destruction of life and property by non-state actors and kidnappers, is heightened by the fact that the region faces one of the most devastating ecological problems the world has seen –gully erosion. The region is home to about 1,600 gully erosion sites. These cover approximately 36.4 square kilometres of land out of a total landmass of about 78.612 square kilometres. This leaves the southeast with the highest population density in the country with Imo state having a density of about 644.3 people per square mile and Anambra state with some 477.8 people per square mile.
Like Hon. Kalu, “Natural disasters like gully erosion have destroyed homes, leaving little to return to. This crisis demands not only immediate intervention but also sustainable strategies to restore stability and hope.” Beyond these, farmlands and crops have been washed away. Homes have been swallowed by erosion and public infrastructure like roads, schools etc., have become victims of erosion too.
However, the root cause of the reality of IDPs in the southeast is not gully erosion. It is insecurity created by violent non-state actors. Beyond Kalu’s voice in raising concern over this problem, and what some individuals had done to draw government attention, there has been no strategic action(s) by political leaders of the region to make this issue one of greater importance. It is like the issue of IDPs in the southeast, and the conditions that create them, mean nothing to governors of states in the zone. It also seems immaterial to the legislative agenda of the 15 Senators representing the region at the Red Chamber. PISE-P has the imprimatur of some members of the House of Representatives from the zone. This is an indication that some, if not all, of them, are signed to the project of restoring meaning to the region.
But, if the truth must be told, the growing challenge of IDPs in the southeast and the humanitarian problem that come with it is largely, self-inflicted. Indeed, environmental issues, conflict and violence, economic issues and infrastructural development are among the factors that create IDPs. For the southeast, however, the factors are not infrastructural development. They are mostly orchestrated by violence and insecurity. The rise in insecurity in the region, which has created a state of uneasiness across the states of the region, has forced a very poor economic outlook on the people as investments are drying up and many businesses are relocating to more peaceful environments. A review of the VAT intake index of states across Nigeria in 2023 will bring to focus the true picture of the effects of insecurity on the economy of the southeast. Take a cursory review of hotel guests across the region to see how the figures have dipped over time. A mental calculation of this will also give you a picture of what insecurity has done to businesses in the region.
Before this reality set in, major criminal activity in the region was armed robbery. Today, the criminally minded have graduated to kidnapping for ransom and mindless murder. This reality has enveloped the region with fear making it difficult for even ordinary people, who would go to the village, sit among their kinsmen at the market square, and buy and share drinks with their kinsmen, to still do so. The consequence is that the local economy is asphyxiated. Operators of small businesses etc are forced to close shop and depend on their kin outside the region for sustenance. The situation has also forced people to conduct traditional marriage ceremonies outside their villages. Some have even elected to bury their dead in public cemeteries outside their ancestral lands against tradition.
The fact is that terrorist attacks and threats to life, in whatever guise they are presented, have led to the displacement of people. These are responsible for the rise in the number of IDPs, much more than gully erosion is. They have also forced unplanned migration on the people of the region. With gully erosion, communities still had their lives. With terrorism, no community is spared. This is why the leaders of the southeast region, especially the governors, must rise to the new reality. Governors of states in the region need no longer go on believing that Abuja offers protection against insecurity in their states. They no longer need to see themselves as being safely cocooned in the nest of armed security personnel and armoured personnel carriers. The reality, as it now is, challenges them to adopt both conventional and unconventional means to address the insecurity in the region. If the southeast region must win its life back, restore its economy, regain the investment interest of internal and external investors, as well as close the 158 camps housing some 268,000 IDPs, insecurity must not only be tamed but eliminated. They must also begin to address the humanitarian crisis posed by the 158 IDP camps.
