Written by B.Nwuke .
For eleven years, the Nigerian Nation has been fighting a war against an internal enemy,an enemy that is blood thirsty, an enemy who is inhumane and has lost consciousness to the devil, That enemy is Boko Haram. BokoHaram,is an enemy of Education,it is an enemy of Culture,it is an enemy of Family and Society,it is an enemy of State and Progress.
Until the insurgent group made appearance in 2009 in Borno State, Peace was without a price,it was freely given in the home, it was a birthright in the communities as long as the law was not breached.
That was in the past. Today, Peace is scarce in the North East, The States that make up the region have become a haven for Terrorism exemplified in suicide bombing, killing, kidnapping and rape.
The insurgents have inflicted pain on the Men, Women and children who once lived happy and modest lives.The people may not be affluent but they were comfortable in their own way,
All that has been taken away from them by the insurgents who come in like thieves to steal,kill and destroy. .What remains of the poor people is their shadow trailing them onto a path unknown.They are in the IDP camps where dignity is voided and respect stolen. Boko Haram have stepped on the very fabric upon which humanity is noted, the family and the society.They have by their wicked acts, destroyed symbols of civilisation and relegated the communities backwards to prehistoric time.
The continued attack on the region by the insurgents exposed the North East to challenges of many kinds.There is the social challenges which demands that those affected by insurgency should be provided for and their very basic needs assured.
Their is the Psychological challenges which require rehabilitating.
The North East is agonised and daily traumatised by the insurgency.
According to Wikipedia,6,600 lives were lost to insurgents attacks in 2014 alone while abduction is said to be more and those displaced are in millions.
There are a lot of tragic signposts that the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents leave wherever they attacked ,and that is public outrage and silent suffering.
Iin 2014,the insurgents invaded Chibok Secondary School where female school children numbering 276 were attacked That is a memorial till this day.
Boko Haram insurgents had invaded the school and abducted the female students in their teens into Sambisa forest.That incident shocked Nigeria as well as the rest of the world.The shock of the possibility of not seeing their children again,sent some parents to their graves .Some who are living, are living dead.
Although some of the students were rescued and reunited with their families, others were not lucky as statistics revealed that 100 of the girls are still missing.
That incident drew global condemnation to Nigeria on the porous security situation in the country,it equally drew the attention of the international Community to the menace of the hydraheaded Boko Haram Insurgency in the country and helped the Nigerian government on measures to win the war against the insurgents.
And while efforts were going on to end the fight against the insurgents , another incident of kidnapped school girls hit the airwaves .That was in October 2018 in Dapchi in Bulabulin Yunusa local government area of Yobe State where insurgents had gone to Government Girls Science and Technical College and abducted 110 girls.aged 11-19, over a hundred of them were rescued except a Christian girl,Leah Sharibu, who reportedly refused to denounce her religion.
Last Year,the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika local government area of Adamawa state , Rev Lawan Andimi was abducted, killed and beheaded .A few days ago,Chibok was again attacked, lives were lost and properties making it a reminder that much still needs to be done to secure lives.
The Plight of the North East called for bold action towards rebuilding the region.
On account of this, President Buhari established the North East Development Commission NEDC in 2017 with the mandate to assess the challenges caused by the Insurgency and coordinate funds accruing from the Federation account and donor agencies for resettlement of IDPs, rehabilitating,and reconstruction of homes, infrastructure development as well as tackling poverty .
On May 8,2019, Buhari inaugurated the North East Development Commission with Paul Tarfa, a retired major general as Chairman.
Other members of the board are Mohammed Alkali( Managing Director), Musa Yashi, (Executive Director Humanitarian Affairs), Mohammed Jawa, (Executive Director Administration and Finance )and Omar Mohammed,(Executive Director, Operations).
Others are David Kente, member representing North East Zone,Asmau Mohammed, member representing North West Zone, Benjamin Adanyi, member representing North Central Zone,Olawale Oshun, member representing South West Zone,T,Ekechi, member representing South East Zone, and Obasuke McDonald, member representing South South.
Buhari had on inauguration of the board pledged to fast track development of the area.
The President’s decision to accelerate development of the region is a step in the right direction, however, his desire to put smiles on the faces of the people of the North East may be a herculean task going by allegations of high handedness and corruption rocking the NEDC.
A group which goes by name Coalition of New Nigeria Transparency and Anti-corruption CNNTAC have alleged corrupt practices in the Commission and listed illegal acts of the Commission which include, squandering of the take off grant of N100billion , award and inflation of contracts without following due process and using funds meant for addressing the poor IDPs for projects out of the Commission’s scope.
The allegations are difficult to believe .Internalised ,allegations may seem spurious however, one way of proving if they are false or not is through investigation and corresponding punishment applied where evidence of corruption is established.
As a man for the people, the President is not relenting in improving the welfare of the poor people who are in millions and cannot provide the most basic needs, food and shelter.
The President has initiated a number of programs that are targeted at lifting vulnerable Nigerians out of extreme poverty.
Some of the programs are the Public Works Program in which 1000 persons in each local government area of the country work for a short period of time to earn a living. The other is the N power Programme designed to gainfully employ youths through skill development.
Reports of allegations of diversion of jobs to “The Ogas at the Top” are in public domain and it is sad to note that even the crumbs under the table have become the yearning for those at the top.
Having the liver to fight corruption like no one other, was the plank upon which the foundation of the present government was laid.As such anything contrary to quickly investigating where allegations of corruption are made will be injurious to the government’s developmental goals,
Money from the coffers of government and kind donations should be spent wisely not recklessness. Let humanity arise.
Let the agonies transslate to better life for the people.
