By: Israel Umoh
The conflicts, terror and violence ravaging the North East are consequences of the failure of government and deficit in governance in the region, the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, said in its latest National Human Development Report, NHDR.
The 94-page report, entitled “Achieving Human Development in North East Nigeria”, focused on the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe mostly affected by the activities of the Boko Haram terror group.
Findings in the report said the Boko Haram insurgency was “in a significant sense, a response to the consequences of progressive failure of governance”, particularly the persistence of governance deficits frustrating freedom of political choice in the region.
“When the perception of bad governance is coupled with widespread poverty, the youth have become highly sceptical about a democratic system that has brought them little benefit and only serve the interests of a smaller political elite.
“Hopelessness and frustrations as a result of unemployment and widespread poverty have, therefore, lured the largely youthful population to embrace resistance.”
The report, launched weekend in Abuja, highlighted four main findings from the study, which showed a significant relationship between perceptions of exclusion, inequality, widespread unemployment, poverty, religious bigotry, western education and consequences of raging conflicts, terror and violence in the region.
Also, the report said there was a significant convergence of the consequences of the conflicts and violence on infrastructure, loss of property, unemployment, loss of lives, psychological trauma and resultant loss of livelihood.
Other findings included that perceptions of exclusion extended to health, education, agriculture, developmental infrastructure and other livelihood amenities.
Some of the recommendations for preventing the crisis include addressing conclusively, rather than glossing over the root causes; early detection of potential crisis triggers; de-linking state from religion; strengthening rule of law; promoting peace building and peace education initiatives.
In her speech, Zainab Ahmed, supervising Minister of Finance, bemoaned the changing socio-economic status of the region as a result of the orgy of conflict, terror and violence inflicted on many innocent victims in the area.
The minister said the federal government was committed to address, conclusively, the crisis currently ravaging the country’s North East region.
She said it remained unfortunate that the North East, once known for its immense potential and rich historic contribution to Nigeria’s wealth and development, including previously as centre of commerce, is at the moment best known for nothing except for the conflict, terror and violence.
“Our country’s North-east region is now probably one of the most famous geographic locations of the world, largely due to its association with the Boko Haram insurgency,” Mrs Ahmed said.
To ensure the region’s contributions to Nigeria’s socio-economic development were not easily forgotten, she said the current administration was determined to do all within its capacity to bring the crisis to an end.
She noted that the decision by UNDP to focus national and global attention to the North East was extremely important, particularly as it would place the developmental issues and challenges it’s facing in the global context it rightly deserved.
Ahmed expressed hope that the report will provide understanding to the humanitarian and developmental challenges of the people of the region and propose lasting remedial measures to end the crisis.
The report discussed the causal factors and possible internal as well as the external enablers fuelling violence and conflict leading to the monumental humanitarian challenge the region is currently grappling with.
Evidence of the negative impact of the crisis in the region, the minister noted, had been tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of close to two million Nigerians across the six states between 2009 and 2016.
“The North East in its entirety, has also faced other forms of human destruction that are extremely disturbing, including the abduction and trafficking of persons, mostly boy children used as foot soldiers, and girl children used as sex slaves; displacement of persons from their homes and livelihoods, and radicalization of populations through religiously articulated ideological indoctrination and extremist political propaganda,” the minister said.
