Once homeless, meet lady who’s helping displaced people

Weekly Trust: What is Adopt-A-Camp about?Bukky Shonibare: As part of the initiatives under our CSR, I started the Adopt-A-Camp initiative, which is aimed at complementing on-going efforts in assisting Internally Displaced Persons in the North East of Nigeria. We currently focus on IDPs in Yola, Adawama State. It started last September out of deep compassion […]

Weekly Trust: What is Adopt-A-Camp about?
Bukky Shonibare: As part of the initiatives under our CSR, I started the Adopt-A-Camp initiative, which is aimed at complementing on-going efforts in assisting Internally Displaced Persons in the North East of Nigeria. We currently focus on IDPs in Yola, Adawama State.
It started last September out of deep compassion after we, members of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, visited an IDP camp in Nasarawa State.
I have been homeless before, after I was driven out of a house I was staying in. I slept on the veranda of a face-me-I-face-you house. I have been housed by people I knew little about. I have been out in the cold before. So, when we visited the IDPs, even though the circumstances surrounding my experience differ from theirs, all the memories of my past experience gushed through my mind. I fought back tears.  It was a turning point for me.
We returned home and I struggled to take my mind off the visit. This made me conceptualize Adopt-A-Camp, which covers a four-pronged scope of intervention including basic necessities (food, clothing, and shelter), health, education, and empowerment (life skills and vocational skills).
WT: Could you describe what the experience has been like?
Shonibare: The experience has been eye-opening yet transformational. I’ve seen three key things. The first is the spirit of resilience. I have been inundated with heartrending stories of IDPs, several of whom were displaced from Mubi, Michika, Madagali, Gwoza, etc. I hear these stories and wonder how much a heart can take. Yet, despite these experiences, they are willing to face life’s challenges head on. They tell us how they escaped – how they faced one battle or the other, how their friends and relatives were killed. Notwithstanding these harrowing experiences, they were able to make it through. They tell us they want insurgency to end so they can return to their communities and rebuild where they know as home.
The second is the spirit of brotherliness we display as a people, especially those hosting IDPs in their homes. Nigerians are indeed their brothers’ keepers. There are host individuals and families of different tribes and cultures who just take in IDPs in their 10s, 20s, 40s, and 60s. They feed them, clothe them, and give them cover.
Third is the spirit of love. We had a ‘Christmas For IDPs’ drive last December, aimed at making Christmas pleasantly memorable for 1,500 IDPs. We launched the call for support just two weeks to Christmas and one would be moved by how Nigerians responded. I believe that the extent to which one can give/sacrifice is a major proof of love. People gave; several of whom I don’t even know.We received messages from students, unemployed, single parents, etc who wanted to help in any way.We received donations of N2,000, N3,000, and even N1million. Bottom line, insurgency may be tearing us apart, but it is also strengthening our bond of love, shared humanity, and brotherliness.
WT: What were your expectations before embarking on the project?
Shonibare: I had just one expectation – it is that IDPs would have a better life – better than whatever they were getting before encountering us to the extent that they do not feel like victims that should be pitied, but ones who can be helped through the process of resettlement, rehabilitation, and integration. By so doing, they can become happy, responsible, and positive contributors in their host communities. Of course, we know some would return home. For such, I wanted the process of bouncing back to be easier than it would have been if there was no help.
How responsive has government and the different agencies been?
From the little experience we have had working with the government, they have been quite responsive, although we expect much more.
WT: What’s the most difficult aspect of your involvement in this project?
Shonibare: This would be getting support in large scale. It is difficult returning home knowing that there is still a lot that needs to be done, yet we are constrained by resources. This is sometimes psychologically tortuous for me because I wish I had the funds to just alleviate their plights as soon as possible. It is about living through the thoughts that there are kids who, because of insurgency and displacement, daily watch their dreams slip away.
WT: What can you say of the situation of IDPs in Nigeria?
Shonibare: It is sad and worrisome, to say the least. When you see the deplorable condition that IDPs live in, one wonders how we got here in the first place. It is a slap on my sense of ‘Nigerianess’ that countries who look up to us now have to cater for our people; makes me wonder if we are still the ‘Giant of Africa’. Yet, the number of IDPs increases on a daily basis because one of its major root cause – insurgencydoesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Also, I am saddened that Nigeria still does not have a holistic humanitarian framework to effectively manage the plight of IDPs in Nigeria. By now, we should have a framework in place such that supporting organizations/bodies can immediately plug in and support.
WT: How have all of these affected you personally?
Shonibare: It is imperative that we do not limit the appreciation of the plight of IDPs to sheer pity, but as victims who need to be handheld through the process of wholesome recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Herein lies our sustainability plan. It is our intention that at some point, having received certain support, over a given period of time, we would be able to tick them (IDPs) off our list of IDPs such that when we see that certain parameters have been met, IDPs ceases to be called IDPs but ‘placed’ members of the society. For instance, we cannot provide food endlessly, it is not sustainable; however we can provide support, handhold them, and empower them to be able to stand on their own with little or no support.