Terrorism:  Over N31trn required to rehabilitate N/East in 10yrs –NEDC

 

.’1,000 housing units ready for Borno IDPs’

.Zulum distributes N400m, food, wrappers, textiles to 90,000 persons

 

 

AHMED MARI, Maiduguri

 

Terrorism:  Over N31trn required to rehabilitate N/East in 10yrs –NEDC

 

.’1,000 housing units ready for Borno IDPs’

 

Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Goni Alkali, has estimated that over N31 trillion ($80 billion) is required to fund the North East Stabilization and Development Master Plan 2020-2030.

 

He disclosed this on Thursday at the weekly Ministerial Briefing, organized by the Presidential Communication Team, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 

He said despite the challenges of insecurity confronting  the North East, the Commission has made substantial impact given the mandate in just few years of its existence.

 

He said as at the last count, 1,000 housing units have been constructed and ready for habitation in the insurgence-ravaged region, as part of its resettlement efforts for the people.

 

He said that owing to relative peace and comfort being experienced, many of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast are unwilling to return to their ancestral homes.

 

Alkali, who was accompanied to the event by other senior officials of the Commission, including other Executive Directors, said the 1,000 houses were built in Ngwom, Borno State, with plans to build 500 housing units in five other affected states each, all at the cost of N17.5bn.

 

He also disclosed that the NEDC has executed 647 projects ranging from agriculture, health, education, energy/power across 112 local government areas in the northeast.

 

With each council  gulping at least N50m, the total costs accrued to N5.6billion.

 

He said that three bridges have been constructed in Kudzum, Dilechim and Wuro-Ngayandi areas of Adamawa State.

 

According to him,  because lack of a strong educational system in the Northeast has fueled the insurgency, the commission, has created an Education Endowment Fund with a seed capital of N6bn with plans to dedicate 10% of its annual allocation to the fund.

 

He disclosed that not less than N31 trillion ($80 billion) is required to fund the North East Stabilization and Development Master Plan 2020-2030, adding that the 10-year masterplan would address humanitarian challenges facing the crisis ridden region.

 

He said the Commission hoped to raise 20% of the estimated fund through budgetary allocations while the balance would be sourced from the private sectors, development partners and donor agencies.

 

He also lamented the dearth of teachers in the region disclosing that about 40 percent of teachers there has either been killed in the insurgency or displaced over time.

 

Answering a question, the Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs at the NEDC, Musa Yashi, revealed that many IDPs are not willing to return to their original communities, citing the level of their integration into their host communities.

 

Fielding questions on the challenges of resettling IDPs back to their home communities devastated  by the Boko Haram insurgency, Yashi noted that 20 to 30 per cent of displaced persons do not live in camps.

 

This demography, he said, has thrived in communities outside their homelands hence, their reticence to return.

 

Citing the appalling  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.

 

Answering a question on what measures had been put in place to shield the NEDC from corruption, Alkali said the commission was created for a purpose and would ensure judicious utilisation of resources at its disposal and to actualize its mandate for the people.

 

“You see, these things have to do with institutional issues, individual issues, and so on and so forth. But, in our own case we know that we are created for a purpose, and at the end of the day we believe that posterity will judge us with what we have done with the mandate given to us.

 

“That is why we are very careful and very prudent in seeing that we propose and execute what we can do with the …. available. Sometimes, yes, there could be political pressure, but always in the commission we are bent on following laid down procedures and see that we are guided by what is feasible and what is prudentially possible to achieve and this is our commitment to the people of the Northeast.

We as a team now, we want to ensure that whatever is given to us is being protected for their benefit”, he assured.

 

However, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum  on.Wednesday distributed foodstuffs, wrappers and the sum of N400 million to over  90,000 vulnerable male and female residents of Bama, as humanitarian support and social protection .

 

Zulum who arrived Bama on Monday was in his third day of undertaking humanitarian and developmental activities in the town.

 

According to a 2016 assessment report co-authored by the World Bank, the EU, United Nations and Nigerian Government, Bama is identified as the worst affected by Boko Haram’s destructions and displacement, hence Borno Government’s special attention on areas of reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

 

The Governor,  who as early as (6:35am) on Wednesday, flagged off the distribution at the Shehu of Bama’s palace with 30,000 vulnerable women beneficiaries receiving a wrapper and N5,000 cash each while 60,000 male residents each received two bags of rice and maize.

 

The exercise which took place at four locations in Bama town and one at Gurusoye, a village on the outskirt of the town was directly supervised and  coordinated by Zulum to ensure substantial reach and transparency.

 

The governor also met and approved cash and food support to numerous groups including those of volunteers, elders, different levels of traditional rulers who help in intelligence gathering.

 

Various sums of money were released to the groups depending on their numbers in order to enhance access to livelihoods as residents gradually return to farming and other businesses, which were hitherto hampered by violent activities of insurgents.

 

Speaking in an interview with journalists in Bama during and after the Wednesday’s  activities, Zulum revealed that substantial quantity of the food shared came from the food launched by President Muhammadu Buhari as special support for the North-East, during the 2022 World Humanitarian Day which held on August 18 in Maiduguri.

 

He said the rice, in thousands of bags, came from the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development through its establishments: the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

 

The governor conveyed his deepest gratitude to President Buhari, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) and heads of NEDC and NEMA for their compassion towards Borno people.

 

Zulum is constrained to use cash in humanitarian aids to communities because majority of Borno’s 27 local government areas currently do not have banking services while many of the targeted beneficiaries do not even hold accounts.

 

Meanwhile,  Zulum, has distributed N14,580,000 and 1,356 bags of food to 683 volunteers involved  in the fight again Boko Haram insurgency in Bama local government area of the state.

 

Addressing the volunteers at the Shehu of Bama’s palace on Thursday, he said “Please accept from me, the deepest gratitude of government and the entire people of Borno State for your unquantifiable sacrifices that cannot be paid by any amount of money or material things.

 

“Many of your colleagues gave their lives for us to gain the peace we are enjoying today. Many of you have taken the highest risks of going to battle fronts, leaving your loved ones and the comfort of your homes. We can never forget your sacrifices and we are immensely grateful to all of you and to all volunteers and our armed forces who lead the war”, Zulum said.

 

 

The volunteers comprised of 313 members of the ‘Civilian JTF’, 105 hunters, 155 local vigilantes and 110 members of a border vigilante group called ‘Kesh-Kesh’.

 

The Governor directed the released N250, 000 each  to four leaders of the 683 volunteers, leaders and N20,000 each to 679 members.as well  two bags of rice and maize making 1,366 bags in total as well as a gallon of cooking oil and 10 yards of brocade.

 

 

 

Bama is one of worst affected by Boko Haram’s destructions and displacement, according to a 2016 assessment report l9kok by the World Bank, the EU, United Nations and Nigerian Government.