Dogara decries lack of concern for IDPs by Northern establishments
A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has criticised the northern establishments for not showing concern for the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), particularly women, saying that they prefer political gatherings and prefer to interface with presidential candidates.
Dogara who stated this in a speech at the 7th Henna Ball Awards Night organised by Tozali Magazine with the theme “The IDP Question as a Stain on Nigeria’s Conscience”, held at the ICC, Abuja on Saturday, stated IDPs are victims of violence fleeing from their homes or communities but have not crossed an international border for safety, adding that they are forced from their homes inside their own country and are in need of protection, shelter, food, non-food items such as blankets and camp coordination/management.
“According to the UNHCR, Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups as well as clashes between herders and farmers have pushed some 3 million Nigerians as of November 2021 out of their homes, especially in parts of North-East Nigeria and the country’s Middle Belt, but increasingly also in North-West Nigeria. The protracted crisis in this region has resulted in conflict-induced food insecurity and severe malnutrition. This has not only raised some pertinent questions but has become a stain on Nigeria’s conscience.
“If you look at the condition of Nigeria, especially the Northeast and you don’t feel the pains, you are the one that is sick. No thanks to the activities of these dishevelled terrorists or bandits. The IDP question is more of a Northern phenomenon, although there are IDP camps scattered all over the country as a result of the parlous security situation in the Nation.
“The night has fallen on Nigeria, especially the North. It’s a night so tepid for most of our people so much so that they crave cruel kindness – just something that has meaning even if it’s meaningless. Ever wondered what it means to be on a bilious race with no finish line or what it means when life becomes worse than death? To escape from this night that only stagnates for most of our people is like travelling on a highway that is well paved with spikes of steel or attempting to sail on a clay boat.
“We all know that the North bears nearly 90% of the insecurity of the country. If estimates are anything to go by, not less than 50,000 northerners have been killed while over 3 million have been displaced in the Northeast alone. No one has a record of Northern lives lost to rural banditry, the farmer-herder clashes and ethno-religious conflicts. The number grows exponentially when we add to this, death occasioned by urban violence unleashed by an increasing army of mostly jobless youths suffering from substance use disorder.
“Added to the above is the threat posed by school dropouts and out-of-school children. According to global data on out-of-school children, Nigeria has now 20 million out-of-school children. The data further shows that 1 in every 5 out-of-school children is in Northern Nigeria and 60 per cent of this number are found in the North.
“Findings show that the major problems confronting displaced Nigerians are lack of food, the problem of shelter, poor health care, poor access to education, and lack of access to a clean water supply. Research after research has proven that displaced persons suffer significantly higher rates of mortality than the general population. As if that is not enough, there have been public outcries regarding rampant cases of physical violence, sexual assault and abduction unleashed on IDPs across all the camps in Nigeria.”
Dogara said that the situation is so appalling and has made Nigeria an object of ridicule to the world.
“The stories are so deprecating to a point that we have turned ourselves into a worldwide object of ridicule. Of all the heart-rending stories, it is the plight of women IDPs that bother me the most. It is said that “sex crimes are a serious problem because they violate personal freedoms, traumatise the victim, and often lead to undesired pregnancy, unsafe abortions and complications tied to early childbearing age or even death,” he noted.
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