North East reconstruction, yes, but food first

Followers of events but particularly those of us living in the frontline states of the Boko Haram terrorist attacks can attest to the fact that the terrorists have been degraded to a very large extent. Peace can be said to have returned to Maiduguri the epicenter of the murderous Boko Haram insurgency. Normalcy is gradually […]

Followers of events but particularly those of us living in the frontline states of the Boko Haram terrorist attacks can attest to the fact that the terrorists have been degraded to a very large extent. Peace can be said to have returned to Maiduguri the epicenter of the murderous Boko Haram insurgency. Normalcy is gradually returning to the local governments in Northern Borno as it is returning to the central and southern local governments such as Konduga, Bama Ngala Gwoza Damboa and the now famous Chibok. The roads from Maiduguri to Biu up to Gombe which had been closed for close to three years are now opened and motorists ply them albeit in convoy and escorted by security personnel. Ditto the Damaturu- Biu road opened by the military penultimate week.
The national and international community note with significant satisfaction this return to near normalcy in the North East and all manner of donor conferences and workshops are being organized on how to reconstruct the region. The National Assembly has gone far in its bid to establish a North East Development Commission, an idea I personally feel not well thought through, if the experience of the Niger Delta Development Commission is anything to go by. Everywhere one turns to, the chorus is, peace is returning to the North East. I do not dispute this fact having mentioned it in my opening sentences. But what kind of peace are we talking about at this stage? Yes, the bombs have largely stopped exploding, the suicide bombings happen far in between and Boko Haram have lost the capacity to run-over towns and villages and occupy territories. They are being routed out of the few territories that still remain under their control.
However, Maiduguri, to where almost all the inhabitants of the destroyed communities have ran and  are being housed in internally displaced persons camps and in the houses of friends and relations, is being confronted by a huge but largely under reported humanitarian crises- that of hunger, thirst and diseases. In the last six weeks the weather in Maiduguri has been so inclement with daytime temperature averaging 43-44 degrees centigrade. I have seen IDP camps along the Maiduguri Damaturu road housing hundreds of people in tarpaulin make-shift huts in unshaded areas. One can only imagine the need to constantly rehydrate under such high temperatures yet water supply and requisite food supply needed to withstand this harsh weather condition remain inadequate.
It is being stated here for reminder, that Borno, Yobe and Adamawa that have been the most devasted parts of the North East are rural states with agriculture, fishing and animal rearing being the mainstay of their economies. Since 2013 farming season to date, most of the people in the affected communities have neither engaged in farming or fishing and almost all their stock of cattle, sheep, goats and camels have been lost to Boko Haram and rustlers. Recently, Al-hayah the umbrella organization of Shuwa cattle rearers in Borno state addressed a Press conference where they reported that over 100,000 heads of cattle have been lost to the terrorists and the rustlers. Without farming, fishing and animal rearing, with all sorts of informal trade impossible to engage in owing to the general insecurity, the curfew (which is still in place) the extent of the poverty level amongst the people can better be imagined than described. Yours sincerely was in Maiduguri lately for over two weeks, visited the IDP camps and took a drive around town every day of the over two weeks I stayed. What is clear to me is that the rest of Nigeria and indeed the international community does not seem to know is the dire straits in which the people of Borno but especially the displaced persons in Maiduguri are passing through. There is hunger everywhere,  on the faces of women and children and the aged. This is evident in the large number of women and children moving in groups and begging for assistance from passers-by or from respected community leaders and elders. Many are seen in the front of houses of politicians and the remaining well-to-do in the society soliciting for one support or the other.  The harsh weather condition added to poor nutrition or lack of it, have thrown up all manner of illnesses. Not long from the now, the Ramadan season will set in. Against the backdrop of what is being faced now, the humanitarian crises may worsen in Ramadan unless urgent remedial steps are taken to address the situation.
The efforts of the respective state governments in trying to rebuild the destroyed communities and returning the IDPs to their respective traditional places of abode are commendable. But I think these things should better be prioritized. The immediate first step should be to feed the people, secure them from the fangs of hunger and its accompanying illnesses even as the reconstruction processes remain ongoing but on a reduced scale so as to re-direct part of the budgetary allocation to providing food and medicaments. The efforts of non- governmental organizations and particularly religious groups in providing relief materials to the IDPs have gone a long way in ameliorating their sufferings but if truth be told, much still needs to be done. The Borno state government in particular, should in addition to what it is doing alongside the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) embark on a wide sensitization campaign to bring to the attention of the wider public the need to double the support being given through organized Fund raising events in major cities in the country especially as we move towards Ramadan.

Abari, wrote this piece from Abuja. He can be reached at [email protected]