The CEO, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Honourable Aliyu Tijani Ahmed has said that the funding is the major challenge faced with resettling IDPs across Nigeria.
The CEO also said that the Commission is in talks with private sector companies, including the Dangote Group, to mobilise resources and support for the resettlement of IDPs.
Hon. Ahmed said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday.
“One of the major challenges is funding. Of course, you cannot leave only the government to take care of the number of IDPs we are having in Nigeria. The need for to bring in some captains of industries becomes absolutely necessary. And that is why the National Commission, for instance, is trying to link up with most of these very senior captains of industries, like the Dangote Group, like the Abdul Samad Group”, he revealed.
Adding, he said: ” I can see that they are responding very well. And we hope in the next few months, we are going to get a heavy support from these captains of industries, particularly the Dangote Group and the Abdul Samad Group, which we have already contacted. And they are making effort towards assisting the Commission to ensure that we provide durable solutions for IDPs.”
Emphasising the need for clear articulation of support requests, Hon. Ahmed noted that providing livelihoods and shelter for displaced persons is a priority.
“First and foremost, because before you assist, you must have to provide livelihood to the displaced persons. You know, Dangote being one of the major stakeholders in the area of food production, I’m sure he’s ready to give us support in that direction. And not only that, Abdul Samad too, when we informed them of our plans to ensure that we provide shelter, at least for these displaced individuals. We are working with their organizations, particularly their foundations.”
He also revealed that more collaborative efforts are ongoing, as the Commission has also approached other private companies.
“We’ve also reached out to T.Y. Danjuma. In fact, we have reached out to another very senior individuals in Akwa Ibom State, where he is ready to provide us with agricultural equipment to assist particularly the displaced person—not only displaced person, including the refugees. Because we also have chunk number of refugees in Nigeria. So, all these are efforts that we are putting together. We cannot leave the government alone to take care of this serious menace”, he stated.
He stressed that while government and private sector support is essential, sustainable resettlement requires empowering IDPs through skill acquisition and training.
“One thing I want you to understand: no matter how the government provided, and no matter how individuals or captains of industry assisted, the number is huge. We cannot continue to say that we will continue to provide a handout to these POCs. We need to also come up with a system where we can make—we can teach them how to fund—how to help themselves. And that is why we bring in the issue of training in our skill acquisition centers. Most of these resettlement cities we constructed—we have one in Keffi in Nasarawa State, we have one in Katsina, we have one in Maiduguri, we have one in Kano, we have one in Zamfara. These are the major centers. It’s permanent. It’s for the IDPs”, he said.
He emphasised that progress takes time, noting that in the past two years, about 322 IDPs have been resettled through the Keffi centre.
“In fact, for the last two years that we have commissioned the one in Keffi, I think it was very, very successful. About 322 of them in Keffi”, he said.
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