RECAP OF MAJOR EVEN Inhuman situation of the Internally Displaced People of the North-East States of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno(28TH OCTOBER, 2014) Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan (Yobe North): Mr. President, I would start by thanking my Colleague and friend, Senator Ita Enang, for being so magnanimous and I second that Motion. Sir, the strength of any nation is said to be adjudged by how it treats its weak, vulnerable and disadvantaged. Nigeria is the giant of Africa and here is a test. Our citizens are in all parts of Nigeria and even beyond our borders as refugees. What we require to do is for all of us to work with the Federal Government, States and Local to ensure that these displaced citizens are catered for. This is a task that we do not have to rely on the International Community. They look at us as a country; they think and are convinced that we have the resource and we can handle it ourselves because we have gone out. Our country took out our men to other countries to prosecute wars and expended billions of dollars. If we can do that for other countries, why cannot we do something similar for ourselves that is even less expensive? Here, I want us to recall the participation of Nigeria in the Liberian war, Sierra-Leone and so on. It is not enough to say that we should be giving the displaced people grains; they need more than grains. They need to be treated with dignity as Section 17 of our Constitution says and I am sure that we have failed in doing that. I hope that the Federal Government in particular is listening to what we are saying. It is not the affairs of the Federal Government alone; almost all the States in Nigeria are affected. The difference is that some are more affected than others. There should be collaboration and partnership to take an audit of internally displaced peoples’ centres and know exactly what their demands are and what they require to leave in dignity before the entire situation is brought under control. I do not think waiting for a Budget is the answer. Billions of Naira has been taken out of the Treasury for one reason or the other. We do not want to wait for any so-called Budget. The Federal Government should come out with funds. There are so many other sub-heads in the service wide vote and so many other ones that they have been using. Our people are desperate and require desperate measures to have their situation improved. Please, we are not asking for any extra-ordinary thing, this is something that Government supposed to do. Like Senator Ndume quoted Section 14 of the Constitution, the essence of Government is to ensure the security and welfare of its people. This is the primary purpose of Government and any Government that fails to do that is a failed Government. I want to round off by emphasising that internally displaced people are everywhere. I know that in Yobe, we have two Local Governments;GujubawuandGulani, theyare under the controlof Boko Haram. The displaced people are up to my Local Government, Bade and up to Gashe, my home town which is a distance of about 300 kilometres; civilian and security personnel seeking to be catered for with basic necessities of life. I want to thank everyone here because I am sure this is a Motion that would be passed and given all the support. I reiterate that the Resolutions should be taken seriously. They should not be treated as mere advice to the Executive Arm of Government.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:35:10 +0000
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