Members of the Chibok community in Borno State Sunday faulted former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s declaration at the weekend that it was impossible for the Nigerian government to rescue the 219 missing schoolgirls nearly two years after Boko Haram insurgents took them away.
Obasanjo had argued that it was practically impossible for the military operatives who failed to rescue the girls within 72 hours when there was a window of opportunity to do so, to now perform magic after the girls had spent nearly two years in captivity.
But in a swift reaction to the former president’s statement, some leaders of Chibok community said Obasanjo was entitled to his opinion on the matter.
One the Chibok leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said their belief in the possibility of rescuing the girls lives on in spite of lack of information about the girls since their abduction on April 14, 2014.
The source argued that though they were troubled by the continued absence of the girls, they remain highly hopeful owing to the fact that not a single girl from the missing 219 had been identified or found dead in all the raids of camps and rescue operations so far carried out by the military.
The community leader said: “Obasanjo is a respected former president and retired military officer who may have his reasons for making such statement but, to us, he is entitled to his opinion, because we still believe the girls are alive and can be rescued.
“Our hope lies on the fact that since their abduction, none of them has been found dead or alive; and that, to us, it is a good sign that they are alive. We would have been worried had there been any form of report that some of the girls were found dead, or some have been rescued during the rescue operations that were carried out recently.”
The source opined that, perhaps, Boko Haram is keeping the girls as a last bargaining chip.
“Going by the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists in the last four years, one would be deceiving himself to say that they are not an intelligent lot. They know the high premium the world has placed on the need to rescue the girls; so the schoolgirls may be their priced asset for bargain when push comes to shove. We don’t know where they are, but we believe our girls are kept somewhere, either within or outside the country. And our prayer is that, one day, we may see them, even though we are not ruling out the fact that it is a difficult task and all of them may not be rescued at the end of the day.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had declared that his government was still very much ready to get the girls rescued no matter what it took, and that negotiation for their release could only be initiated if a credible leader of the Boko Haram is identified and clear evidence is presented to prove that the girls are alive.
This position by the Chibok leaders came after Obasanjo had said, during an Annual Roundtable Discussion programme organized in his honour at the Obafemi Awololwo University of Ife, that “if any leader is promising to bring back Chibok girls now, he is lying.”
He had contended that if security operatives could not rescue the abducted schoolgirls 72 hours after they were abducted, it was less likely they would do so now, almost two years later.
The girls were snatched from their hostels on April 14, 2014.
Boko Haram: 1,500 IDPs gave birth in 2015
The Borno State Primary Health Care Management Board has said that no fewer than 1,500 women gave birth in 28 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state in 2015.
Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr Sule Mene, told newsmen in Maiduguri that the deliveries were recorded between January 2015 and January 2016.
Mene said about 14,600 pregnant women received anti-natal health care, psycho-social services and child nutrition support, adding that the agency has also received about 1,200 severe medical cases, which were referred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for proper care.
The official said the agency had established 20 Integrated Primary Health Care Centres for IDPs in all the camps to provide integrated primary healthcare and referral services.
“The Borno State government has procured health kits for each of the IDPs to help cater for their immediate needs. We have equally distributed mosquito nets to each and every one of them,” he said.
According to him, the agency, in collaboration with Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), had trained its drivers to ensure prompt movement of expectant mothers to health facilities.
Meanwhile, the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ASEMA) has said that about 90 per cent of IDPs in the various camps in the state have returned home.
ASEMA state secretary, Haruna Furo, who revealed this in Yola, said the affected persons were from seven local government areas of the state.
“Following the recapturing of the areas and return of normalcy, about 90 per cent of the displaced persons in the camps have left. The displaced persons that remain in the camps are those whose villages are at the fringes of Sambisa, who felt it was still not safe to go back home,’’ Furo said.
Budget: Why Buhari plans to spend N500bn on social investments – Presidency
The need to pay attention on the common man and spend the resources of this country on the poor people explains why the Buhari Presidency has earmarked N500 billion in the 2016 budget proposal.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed that at no time in the nation’s budgetary history had the federal government proposed a vote of such volume specifically for social welfare.
“Even economic historians now say that not only is the half a trillion Naira vote unprecedented, but it is also the greatest service ever done to the Nigerian state and people by any federal government administration,” Akande said.
He noted that the six social safety plans would reduce high levels of poverty and vulnerabilities, while also increasing Nigeria’s Human Development Index in the global UN rankings.
“The President’s vision is to increase investments in human capital to guarantee security for all, employment and improved well-being of the people,” the Vice President’s media aide added.
He disclosed that the Presidency was aware that past attempts to address poverty had suffered because of insufficient political will, presence of various uncoordinated initiatives and poorly targeted beneficiaries among other factors, and was working to avoid the pitfalls.
The senior special assistant said for the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), where one million extremely poor Nigerians will receive N5,000 monthly in 2016, the money would be paid directly to the beneficiaries through a payment system that is being worked out. He said World Bank and the Bill Gates Foundation are collaborating with the Presidency to develop an efficient payment system. Altogether, about N60 billion has been estimated to be paid out to extremely poor Nigerians, adding that implementation starts once the budget is passed.
Akande also disclosed that there would be direct payment in the Homegrown School Feeding Programme.
“In the case of the CCT, those one million poor Nigerians would be paid directly, while in the case of the Homegrown School Feeding, the suppliers of the meals to the primary school pupils would also be paid directly by the federal government. There would be no middle agents involved,” according to Akande.
The media aide observed that the recipients of the CCT would meet the conditions of their children participating in immunization and school enrolment, noting that this would help to boost the economy as the money would enhance consumer spending in the economy.
He stated that regarding the Homegrown School Feeding programme, the federal government will start a pilot scheme in selected states once the budget is passed, with an estimate of over N96 billion proposed to be spent on the programme this year.
The one-meal-a-day programme is also being supported by the Imperial College in the UK through one of its agencies, Partnership for Child Development, PCD.
According to Akande, the Homegrown School Feeding programme will not only feed the children and help their learning significantly, but it would also boost the local economy of the states and the local communities.
The Buhari Presidency has four other social investment plans, including the 500,000 direct jobs where unemployed graduates would be trained and hired to become volunteer teachers in their communities while looking for jobs in their chosen professions.
There is also a Youth Employment Plan that would take 370,000 non-graduates youths through skills acquisition and vocational training programmes. Like the teaching jobs, the selection of beneficiaries for this scheme would be done on states and the FCT, and open to all Nigerians.
For small scale traders, artisans and market women, there is the Micro Credit Scheme where one million Nigerians would get a one-time soft loan of N60,000 each through the Bank of Industry (BoI).
And finally, there is the Free Education plan for students of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) where government will pay tuition for 100,000 students in the science field.
We’ll use part of looted funds to rebuild North-East – Dogara
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has said that part of the recovered funds from the treasury looters will be used by the federal government to rebuild the North-East zone of the country, which has been devastated by years of insurgency.
According to a statement by his spokesman Turaki Hassan, Dogara made the disclosure Sunday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, when he visited an Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp in Uhogua area.
“Dogara told the IDPs that the present administration is committed to rebuilding the North East with parts of the loot being recovered by the government,” the statement said.
The Speaker was also said to have broken down in tears during his encounter with the IDPs, who are mainly from Adamawa and Borno states of the North-East geopolitical zone.
Dogara, who was in the camp to donate relief materials to the displaced persons, could not hold back his tears on sighting hundreds of orphaned children that constitute the majority of population in the camp.
He appealed to public spirited individuals to come to the rescue of millions of internally displaced persons in the country.
He encouraged the IDPs not to lose hope, and assured them that government was doing everything possible to return them to their communities soon.
The statement quoted Dogara saying: “When I came in here, I saw a people who are determined not to be broken in spite of the circumstances that surround them. I must encourage you.
“I am part of the region of the North where you came from. I am also affected. I had to concede one of my houses for IDPs from Yobe and Borno states to live in,” he said.
The Speaker urged the people to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness, noting that “the situation we found ourselves is not just peculiar to us but has been happening in the course of human history.
“As long as this government endures, you will always be in our heart. Thank God for the change. If we had continued like before, probably, Boko Haram will have taken over Jos, Plateau State, by now,” Dogara added.
The Speaker further pointed out that “divine intervention” saved the country from being taken over by Boko Haram terrorists.
“God had mercy on us in response to our prayers and change came and we are committed to ending this violence.
“Very soon, maybe this year, some of you may go back home to your communities. This is something we must do because we have no other country than Nigeria,” he assured.
Meanwhile, Dogara has also pledged to write off the fees of hundreds of children who sat for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)-prescribed examinations.
Receiving the items on behalf of the IDPs, 10-year-old Grace Ayuba, who is from Borno State, expressed gratitude to the Speaker and his team and prayed God to bless him the more.
Dogara was accompanied by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Management led by the chairman, Hon. Jibrin Satumari.
…Boko Haram would have overrun Nigeria under Jonathan
Speaker of the Federal House Representatives Yakubu Dogara has said that but for the change in government brought about by the All Progressive Congress (APC) government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, millions of Nigerians would have ended up in camps as internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Besides, the lawmaker also assured them that members of the green chambers are doing everything possible to ensure the quick passage of a law that will establish the North East Development Commission (NEDC) just as he called on the federal government to immediately convene an international donor conference aimed at raising funds for IDPs across the country.
Dogara, who also donated various food items to IDPs camp at Uhogua in Ovia North East local government area of Edo State, was accompanied by the lawmaker representing Ovia federal constituency, Hon Omosede Igbinedion, Hon E.J. Abonnayima, and the Chairman, Committee on Disaster Management, Hon Jubril Satimari.
The Speaker said: “Let me say that we are doing everything possible on the part of the government to see that peace returns to affected communities, apart from the war against terrorism. In the House of Representatives, where I and other honourable members who are here are trying to pass a law that will establish the North East Development Commission; so if that happens, it means that we are going to have funds that will be used to rebuild the communities where you come from as soon as the war is over.
“Apart from that, there is also a provision in the budget meant to cater for IDPs, and that is to say that government has not forgotten about you. We want to reiterate to government to immediately convene a donor conference and, as soon as this fund starts coming, we will make sure that wherever IDPs are in Nigeria – not only in the north east – that we will extend a hand of help to all.
“We also want to thank God for his intervention in our affairs, that he brought about change in government; if we had continued like before, probably the Boko Haram fighters would reach places like Jos and then we would have thousands and millions of IDPs, so we thank God for answering our prayers for bringing change.”
At an earlier morning church service, the Speaker assured the victims of government’s determination to re-unite them with their families as soon as possible.
The Overseer of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho of the International Christian Centre mission, a faith-based group, in his remarks thanked the Speaker and other dignitaries for the visit and support towards the welfare of the IDPs.
-Leadership
