*says 50% teachers in Northeast killed or displaced
The Federal Government has constructed 1,000 housing units costing N17 billion for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State, as part of resettlement efforts for millions of inhabitants displaced by the insurgency in Nigeria’s North-East.
Managing Director, North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Mohammed Alkali, disclosed this to journalists at the 50th Session of the State House Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
According to him, the 1,000 houses were built in Ngwom, Borno, with plans to build 500 housing units in each of five other affected States in the Northeast, which would cost N17.5bn.
The mass housing project includes two-bedroom flats built in clusters, and have been handed over to the Borno State Government which distributed it to various households.
Nonetheless, some of the IDPs in the region are unwilling to return to their ancestral homes, the NEDC said.
NEDC Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs, Musa Yashi, said these IDPs have so integrated with their host communities that they see no need to return to their original settlements.
Noting that 20 to 30 per cent of displaced persons do not live in camps, Yashi explained that this demography has thrived in communities outside their homelands which has made them to be reluctant to return.
Citing the dismal condition of severely impacted towns like Monguno in Borno State, he argued that resettlement would require the reconstruction of whole communities; a task so daunting that the NEDC does not have enough funds to undertake at this time.
Meanwhile, Alkali revealed that the Commission would require about N31 trillion ($80 billion) to fund the 10-year North-East Stabilization and Development Master Plan 2020-2030.
He said the master plan would address humanitarian challenges facing the crisis ridden region comprising the six States of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
According to him, the Commission hopes to raise 20 percent of the estimated fund through budgetary allocations while the balance will be sourced from the private sectors, development partners and donor agencies.
The NEDC boss also lamented the dearth of teachers in the region, disclosing that about 50 percent of teachers there has either been killed in the insurgency or displaced over time.
The Managing Director further said that the NEDC had executed 647 projects ranging from agriculture, health, education, energy/power across 112 local government areas in the Northeast.
With each LGA gulping at least N50 million, the total costs accrues to N5.6 billion.
He noted that three bridges have been constructed in Kudzum, Dilechim and Wuro-Ngayandi areas of Adamawa State.
He argued that the lack of a robust education system in the Northeast has fuelled the insurgency.
The NEDC was inaugurated by the President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017 to coordinate all humanitarian interventions by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies based on the Northeast stabilization master plan.
