Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has justified reasons for closure of internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri, saying that the IDP camps were becoming a slum where all kinds of vices were happening including prostitution, drug abuse and thuggery in some cases.
The governor noted that no responsible leadership will allow people to live an undignified life under its watch.
This was contained in a New Year message delivered to citizens of Borno State on Saturday in Maiduguri, the state capital.
The governor added that the idea of IDPs camp was, and remains an interim measure to provide safety especially during the peak of the insurgency, saying consequently, the camps were not meant to continue forever.
He said the question of closure of the camps was not a matter of if, but when.
He said efficient managers would agree that there is no better time than now to get things done.
“As part of the closure, we continue to learn lessons, adapt our strategy and make necessary changes as we go along. The worst option would be to do nothing. We are not prepared to do nothing. Rather we are ready to do whatever it takes to restore the dignity of our people.
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“Our dear people of Borno, at this important occasion of marking the beginning of the New Year, it is important to share information with you as part of our accountability to you.
“Regular clear communication provides an opportunity to let everyone know the direction of leadership so that citizens, partners and friends of Borno State would have a good understanding of what we have done, what we are doing and the direction we plan to take in the important responsibility of rebuilding our economy, rebuilding lives and livelihoods as a whole.
“We must be very clear that there can be no livelihoods without lives. We continue to work tirelessly on issues of security so that we can guaranty physical security that would allow citizens to pursue their legitimate livelihoods in safety. In 2021, we took a number of steps to improve and strengthen security by supporting our forces including the vigilantes with tools, equipment and resources to discharge their duties well.
“The results of our proactive measures are beginning to show as we recorded fewer attacks and the security forces did marvelously well in protecting us. We are not yet where we would like to be but we are certainly making progress in the right direction. Consequently, I am committed to ensuring more support for our security forces and the indefatigable local vigilantes that are helping us,” the governor said.
He noted that part of government’s strategy for strengthening resilience was the bold step that it took in closing down the internally displaced persons’ camps in Borno State as a whole.
“We closed the IDP camps to clean up the places and give our people dignity as well as purpose. Living in IDP camp is not what we are used to, or what we like as a people. Therefore, we believe that a safe life of dignity is a right for all the citizens of Borno, and indeed Nigeria.
“The IDP camps were becoming a slum where all kinds of vices were happening including prostitution, drugs and thuggery in some cases. No responsible leadership will allow people to live an undignified life under its watch.
“Keeping the camp open endlessly is not sustainable. This is because it becomes difficult to plan effectively for a dignified economic and social development of the people. The IDP camps would also eventually become too expensive to run with a possibility of causing far more harm than good.
“Take for example there are many potential difficulties one would expect if we chose the option of converting the camps to permanent structures for the people. If we succeed in building permanent structures, we need to ensure people have access to land, as many of our people are farmers.
“We followed the best practices from around the world in the process of closing the camps. We will continue to listen to all well-meaning citizens, partners and friends who have ideas and suggestions to improve on the efforts that we are putting into this process.
“It is important to emphasise that the closure of the camps is not a political decision. It is a pragmatic action. Our administration puts the Borno people first in every decision. Our people remain the centrepiece of our strategy.
“We are aware that there would be some temporary inconvenience to people as they relocate. That is why we provide different palliative measures to strengthen their initial installation and stability in the new location.
“In our plans we have made for short, medium and long term measures to support our people returning their original places of origin where we can guaranty safety. We know that the return strategy would like have some issues we need to address or things we need to change. We will not abandon our people as we continue to work for the betterment of all,” Zulum stated.
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