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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The North East Development Commission has disclosed that some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East are unwilling to return to their ancestral homes.
The agency’s Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs, Musa Yashi, revealed this to State House Correspondents at the 50th Session of the State House Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
He was in the team of the Managing Director, Mohammed Alkali, who was at this week’s State House Briefing.
According to him in response to questions on the challenges of resettling IDPs back to their home communities torn apart by the Boko Haram insurgency, Yashi noted that 20 to 30 per cent of displaced persons do not live in camps.
He said that the IDPs have so integrated with their host communities that they saw no need to return to their original settlements, most especially when their homes have been destroyed by insurgents and it will take years to rebuild.
Citing the dismal condition of towns across Monguno, he argued that resettlement would require the reconstruction of whole communities; a task so daunting that the NEDC does not have enough funds to undertake at this time.
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Alkali said the federal government has concluded the construction of 1,000 housing units as part of the federal government’s resettlement efforts for millions of inhabitants displaced by the 13-year insurgency in Nigeria’s North East.
According to him, the 1000 houses were built in Ngwom, Borno, at the cost of N17.5 billion, saying the mass housing project includes two-bedroom flats built in clusters. The housing units have been handed over to the Borno State Government for distribution.
He added that there are plans to build 500 housing units in five other affected states.
Alkali also revealed that the NEDC has executed 647 projects ranging from agriculture, health, education, energy/power across 112 local government areas in the North East, with each Local Government Area (LGA) gulping at least N50 million, accruing to N5.6 billion.
He noted that three bridges have been constructed in Kudzum, Dilechim and Wuro-Ngayandi areas of Adamawa State.
The MD argued that the lack of a sturdy education system in the North East has fueled the insurgency.
Alkali explained that the commission is created an Education Endowment Fund with a seed capital of N6bn; with plans to dedicate 10 per cent of its annual allocation to the fund.
The NEDC was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari (retd) in 2017 to coordinate all humanitarian interventions by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies based on the North East stabilization masterplan.
To execute its mandate according to the North East stabilisation and development masterplan in the next 10 years, Alkali said the commission requires at least N31.05 trillion.
