 All right, welcome back. It is the breakfast and plus TV Africa away from the Niger Delta renewed militancy. We are moving to Boronau State and talking about how the internally displaced persons are about being reintegrated into their homes and of course into their society. Let me just give you a bit of a background. Now internally displaced persons in mid-grade have vacated their camps ahead of the November 30 deadline for the closure of all camps by the Boronau State government. Now a reporter who covered that who visited some camps on Wednesday reported that most of them have been deserted by displaced persons. The state government had on Saturday provided cash and food items to the IDPs ahead of the planned closure of the camps to enable them move to their respective homes. Now some of the IDPs from Guaza, Mongono and Guzamala local government areas said that household heads were given 100,000 Naira each while housewives were given 50,000 Naira each to facilitate their return home. The state commissioner for reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement, Mustafa Gubyo said the development was part of the government commitment to close all IDP camps in mid-degree inland with its resettlement program. That's just a background. You know specifically now they want people to get back to normal living, normal life and of course get reintegrated in the society after you know all of the issues that have you know be devil that particular region talk of the insurgency, the Boko Haram attacks and people, the government wants people or wants people to get back to being normal if there's anything like that you know so mercy they are giving 100,000 Naira to heads of households while the wives should be getting 50,000 Naira to start life again. Well that conversation is encompassing let's not also forget that according to statistics we're looking at about 120 to 130,000 persons. Well you also have I mean generally displaced persons in the Borno State Camp where you have you know this accommodating sentence now 120 to 130. I mean looking at the picture I mean looking at that number so much and some of these persons have lived in this camp for a very long time. It can be really really disheartening. Now first of all it's a good thing to say that we have a plan to reintegrate these persons into our society right or taking them back to the ancestral homes or their homes and so they can continue their lives and livelihood but the big question is and I'm hoping that you know we get answers is how safe you know you begin to ask yourself the reason why they were displaced in the first place was because of these attacks the insecurity in this particular region or in this state and that that's why they were displaced so if you're saying that you want them to return or they're asking because they've also requested asking UNICEF that please and please they would like to go back to their homes because you know life can never be the same as much as you want to look at it as much as you say you're getting the support you know from different donor bodies including government it's also you want to talk about the corruption but that's another one let's so let me just stay you know with this line of thought now so the point is how safe is it for them to go back going back to their homes what measures have the government put in place to ensure that you know security is protected that they are not exposed to more attacks now let's also not forget that for most persons agriculture is actually a source of livelihood for them and you know their farms and farm lands have been destroyed so what provisions have been made you know at the end of the day how protected are they can they go back to the farms and continue you know it's not enough to say you know because I feel like with every other thing we feel like we throw money and that's enough so we constantly we constantly throw money everything I mean you also want to see that with the fact that we're moving subsidy and we're saying we're paying 5 000 to 40 million Nigerians you know to cushion the effect of it but you know throwing money doesn't really solve the problem we're not talking about the basics so it comes back to the infrastructure what has government put in place you need to put in place have we if those houses were actually destroyed they were burnt down do we have new buildings we now have new houses how you know all of that so you also have you want to talk about education let's not forget that yesterday in the news remember that the Niger the Niger state state government is is reporting that's also complaining of the fact that Boko Haram is asking you know pressuring parents with their kids from school and so so those would have to go to school I can't even imagine people who have lived in the camp for how long I mean you have some women elderly women 2018 they have lived there they have kids do you know what that means so going back is a lot now let's also talk about you know psychological evaluation what and you know because we'll also remember a time where we hear reports of how these women are sexually exploited I think that story or report was about 2016 or there about where you know some military men were allegedly involved it was proven at some point that there were asking sex so some of this food and we see that is a common practice I mean we see that with the end size you know piloted that was given cattle cartons of noodles and what have you and people actually hiding them so you see the fact that people are sexually women are sexually harassed and you know abused in the camp just because you need to survive they take advantage of you so you can get you know a piece of noodle if that's a piece or you know maybe a pack of noodles to eat slides of bread and what have you and some of this you know product and what have you we found them in stores and markets according to that report so that there's a lot of trauma that have gone through so it's enough to say it's it's okay as much as it sounds very brilliant to say internally displaced persons should be relocated back to their homes they are also asking but I'm thinking that as a government how proactive have we been over the years I feel like we're just very reactive we just wake up and we act so what structures have we put in place what strategies what have we done from ensuring that mentally that they are okay to ensuring that they are going back to a safe space is protected and that they can go back to their life you know go back to farming and all the businesses and and the kids can actually go back to school so but I don't know if we can actually eat all of these things that put in place and I'm hoping that in the next minute we're able you know to answer that particular question yes because we need answers to all of these questions that you have posited because it would not make sense I haven't leave them under captivity or maybe in camps rather and haven't you know been secluded from normal life you are being asked to or go and reset so which are normal leaving when you don't even know where the next meal would come and in as much as they gave you a hundred thousand or a hundred and fifty thousand for both of the father or the head of the house and the housewife at the point of course that money will be exhausted you have mentioned a very salient point you talked about farmlands being destroyed and the bulk of the people their their agrarians they are actually farmers you know if they don't have you know arable lands to you know cultivate their crops at the end of the day we'll still be talking about food insecurity we'll be talking about people going to bed without them enough you know in their stomachs then again these children they have gone through untold trauma trauma they have you know seen you know very harrowing experiences in over this that time you know so basically I want to be well in as much as I would want to give the Bruno state government the benefit of a doubt I just want to believe that they have plans you know to not just bring them back to their normal leave they want them to go back to schools and also securing schools because overtime you know the the bulk of the northwest and not is that have seen you know attacks by militants and bandits and soft targets actually the core of attacks in recent times in this region so this issue of our security you know you know has to be put in place we just have to be sure that when they go back they are not actually on their own again and before we know they'll be talks of you know these innocent people being attacked by you know unknown government the usual term that we describe and there's criminals and there's killers so um so it brings us to one I mean the the good thing or I don't know if it's good or if it's bad but the point here is this is just one camp we're talking about I mean you have different several camps there's several camps you know in Bruno state in different parts of you also have in Bacassi you also have the IDP camps in Bacassi and that is another story entirely for a completely different one you know because you have a case where people are being neglected nothing is actually happening and they are being Nigerians and we have a government so um let me even start with the you know how safe is is it for our kids to go to school now with the fact that consents have been raised and we are folding our arms you hear situation where state governors will say okay we have to short schools we have to do XYZ I mean shortly school is that the solution let's close schools because there's an attack why don't we address the issue from I mean the root cause what is the root cause of all of this why do we have to short schools well we're not looking at what is causing the issue I mean in the in the medical terms you will hear them say preventive medicine and that's preventive in a sense that if you do XYZ you will not even get to that point where people will be displaced in the first instance so what are we doing to ensure that people more persons are not displaced I really do not have the figures I mean to put out there but you can't imagine how many persons are you know have been displaced from their ancestral homes so I'm talking about returning to school and how save it is you remember the time where you know the safe school initiative program was introduced in 2014 shortly after the kidnap of you know the Chief of Girls and the essence of this program monies were released big time lots of monies were released you know for that particular purpose but you ask yourself today how save our schools now the essence of that initiative was to ensure that you have perimeter fencing around some of the schools because these schools if you actually I haven't really lived in the north but you know to the fact that you probably would travel on your way maybe to Abuja and all of that you probably pass you know a few of these places and you find out that some of these schools are in isolation I mean these schools are in isolation and that's why it's very easy you know for these attacks to actually happen they don't live in I'm not saying that even if they're in around they're around communities or areas where you know there's a lot of economic activities and then you have people that it's not possible that they could be attacked but my point here is the essence of that initiative of that program that was introduced was to ensure that we have perimeter fencing so how many of these schools do we have you know that fencing how save is that at these schools now that we're asking that this person should go back because what are they going back to are they going back to crime and criminal criminality because people you can't just expect that people will just you know return back to what they become very idle would then begin to take up arms and you know that so it's really really encompassing and I'm thinking that you know as a government as a people we need to sit back and think about what we're about to do you know before we just rush and double into anything mostly it is really really really really pathetic to know that you know the life of the average Nigerian is not actually really concede that you know for what it is was because at the end of the day we just the put up policies we just bring out statement and say that we are doing this you know without having really taken our time to you know examine how far these policies would go and just what effect negatively or positively it would have on this people because at the end of the day there will be so much talk of renewed crimes and of course are people still you know leaving in fear not knowing you know if they save when they sleep or if their houses or their schools would be attacked next all of these are just issues that you know are mind boggling over time and we seem to be you know going about in circles when it comes to policies and programs of government resettling people when adequate you know provisions but I would have loved to have the SA media who are from the bonus that government who was supposed to join us to actually do some of them this I'll do justice of some of those questions and these issues that we have raised on the show today but unfortunately I guess we might have to bring him back again on the show to clarify some of these are gray areas that we have actually postulated so it is very very simple as much as I'm not a security expert or I'm not an authority and I don't leave in this place sometimes just like and yeah I took actually spoke this morning with us he talked about the issue of common sense so it is just common that if these persons were displaced you find out why were they displaced are we putting out measures to ensure that all of these conflicts whatever conflicts whatever issues you know how we live in Nigeria and we feel that because we're not experiencing the conventional whether we're not in war we're actually experiencing war you know and I'm saying that you know the fact that we're not carrying guns I'm not shooting at you I'm not taking cover we're not taking covers and all of that it is so the point would now be government should go back and begin to and we should not be waiting at this point in time how long have these persons been in these camps so if we're saying there's a plan to resettle them 70,000 era 100,000 era is not enough that's that doesn't have a problem I'm pleading I don't know if I should go on my knees and beg the government let us stop throwing monies at people in Nigeria it's not just throwing money you know there's this thing that says that if you actually you should not give people money but you rather teach them how to fish the point here is we should you know because this are structural issues we should be able to address some of these issues okay so I'm saying let the government sit back and prior to this I want to believe that they're already looking at the drawing board and find out what causes this conflict and what they know about all of the issues to ensure that these persons are not this does not happen now to say you want to resettle them please where are they going back to do they say do they still have houses to go back to and how safe are these houses so government should ensure that they are not going to be exposed to more attacks they are protected because it's government's responsibility it's simple the schools they have to go back to schools they have to go back to their businesses and all of that so it's just that we these concerns have been raised we're hoping that it's simple that some of these issues would have been addressed but how much time do we have we're looking at the deadline of November 30th so today is just 25th and then we have five more days just before the 30th and so it costs for a little concern that's the much but I'm hoping that you know we would have more answers I'm thinking that you know we have to call this a wrap at this point in time we really do appreciate your time and we thank you so much for being part of the conversation we hope you actually enjoyed it and if you missed out on any of any part of the conversation it's alright to follow us on any part of our social media platform on Facebook and Instagram it's a plus TV Africa and on YouTube it's a plus TV Africa lifestyle I am a message for you and I'm Justin Godinio many thanks for being a part of the show return again top of the r7am tomorrow bye for now