Data and Displacement Research Team from the University of Ibadan has called for the harmonisation of relevant data to address challenges in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Nigeria.

The researchers gave the advice at the presentation of a research report on “Humanitarian Crises and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria: A situation Analysis” in Abuja.

The project: “Data and Displacement: Assessing the Practical and Ethical Implementations of Targeting Humanitarian Protection” was carried out by the University of Ibadan Research Team led by Dr Funke Fayehun and Dr Olayinka Akanle.

Fayehun, an Associate Prof. of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, said there was a need to start addressing the lack of coherent data on IDPs in the country.

She also said there would be the risk of duplication of data by having different agencies documenting the same people.

Fayehun, who was the Lead Investigator on the research project, said there was a lack of coherence in the management of data on IDP camps in Nigeria, hence the need to work on it.

She said: “Even when you have data sets and are not well coherent because of the multiplicity of data from different organisations, the problem of reliability and quality of the data will be a big issue.

“It is going to be difficult for us to start making interventions over data where you have different sources.

“So, what you are seeing from this project is that let there be the coherence of systems or structures on IDP data. Let us enhance technological infrastructure in the IDP camps such that data will be accessible and will be easy for people to use.”

Fayehun said if relevant organisations could work together concerning the IDPs data set, and stop the multiplicity of data sources, they could recommend appropriate interventions for the government and the people that benefit from it.

Akanle said data ethics and the value chain ecosystem were very important in contexts of humanitarianism and IDPs in Nigeria.

Akanle said the study examined the data targeting processes in the humanitarian sector and other ethical issues.

The representative of Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho said dealing with the basic needs of displaced persons was not sufficient enough to return them to their homelands.

She said: “The fact that the insecurity, particularly in the Northeast, has continued to ravage till date, despite over 10 years of intervention in those areas.

“So, many other factors have contributed to what I will call a lingering sore that has refused to heal in Nigeria concerning people impacted by conflicts.”

Executive Director of CORAFID Centre for Innovation and Research, Makurdi, Nathaniel Awuapila, said the reports would help in effective planning for IDPs.

Awuapila, who is also an advisory board member of the project, said that the research would be of greater benefit to all stakeholders including the displaced persons.

The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has alerted some communities in nine local government areas in Yobe State about flash floods in the state.

The Executive Secretary of SEMA Dr Mohammed Goje gave the warning in a statement yesterday in Damaturu following an alert from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET).

He said NiMET and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had predicted that Yobe is among the 32 states in the federation that will likely experience flash floods in the next three days.

“Following these predictions, there is the need for the public, especially residents of the state, to prepare for the likely impact of this year’s weather pattern.

“Consequently, residents in areas that are prone to flooding are Potiskum, Gashua, Nguru, Fika, Gaidam, Damagum, Gujba, Gulani, Damaturu local government areas and those living near flood plains are advised to take precautionary measures during this rainy season,” he said.

While reiterating the agency’s commitment to the protection of the lives and properties of residents of the state through various activities, Goje said the state government has taken measures for an effective emergency management system.

“SEMA is on alert as it is working round the clock on disaster management, mitigation, recovery and provision of relief materials to victims,” he said.

Goje added that the state government would establish Local Government Emergency Management Committees (LGEMC) at the local government area levels.

He said the committee would provide first aid support to victims of the disaster at the grassroots before support from the SEMA.

Goje also warned citizens to stop the habit of dumping garbage on the roads and drainage systems.

He also enjoined the residents in the flood-prone areas to make adequate preparations to safeguard the vulnerable members of the community such as children, the elderly and physically challenged people.

The executive secretary also called on the local government environmental and sanitation boards to educate members on the need to clean drainage.

They should also remove properties constituting restrictions to drainage channels and stop building on waterways.

Goje implored farmers, especially along the coastal areas and riverbanks to take advantage of the weather outlook to plant and harvest properly, to prevent damage to their crops and livestock.

He advised motorists and pedestrians to be mindful of the peculiarities of the season and be safety conscious while commuting during the period.

On July 11, the agency confirmed that two persons lost their lives after a downpour in Kukuwa Community in the Gulani Local Government Area of the state.

On July 18, Governor Mai Mala Buni said floods, resulting from days of torrential rains, have cut off Gulani Local Government Area from other parts of the state.

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has commenced training citizens in Zamfara State on the use of waste products to produce household items such as cooking pots and shoes, among others.

The training tagged “Enviropreneurship Development Scheme (EDS)” is implemented under the Special Public Works Department of the National Directorate of Employment.

At the flag-off of the training of 30 participants in Gusau yesterday, NDE’s Acting State Coordinator, Malam Mustapha Aliyu Goniri said the EDS was a newly developed scheme by the Special Public Works Department for the recycling of environmental waste items to be converted to new products and materials for economic and household needs.

According to him, the training is in line with the NDE’s mandate of designing and implementing job creation programmes that will promote attitudinal change, employment generation, poverty reduction and enhancement of wealth creation.

He said: “It is my pleasure to address you on the occasion of the opening ceremony/orientation and the commencement of training on aluminium pot-making, sandals making and tinker, all from waste items.

“It is worth mentioning that the training is to commence immediately on the same date. It is the third phase of the programme that are to be conducted nationwide with 30 participants in Zamfara State for the duration of three months.

“There are ethics and requirement of the training i.e what you are expected to do and not to do,” Goniri said.

Commending the NDE Director-General, Mallan Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo for swift approval for the training, the Acting State Coordinator praised the Zamfara State government and its people for supporting the NDE in the implementation of its programmes.

The Bauchi State Government has said no fewer than 700 teachers failed the primary six Mathematics, English language and essay writing examinations in the state.

Aliyu Usman Tilde, the State Commissioner for Education, stated this on Monday, noting that over 700 out of 1,000 women trained in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) failed the examinations which were part of steps to employ them as teachers.

The prospective teachers had staged a peaceful demonstration to protest their non-employment in the state’s teaching service.

However, while addressing them, Tilde said employing unqualified teachers would jeopardise the future of millions of education-seeking pupils in the state.

Tilde noted that some of the protesting women were among the beneficiaries of the 1,000 female teachers’ training scheme, introduced in 2019.

“UNICEF trained 50 of them, while the Bauchi State Government trained 950,” he said.

It was gathered that the trainees were promised immediate employment to teach in primary schools after acquiring National Certificate in Education (NCE), but failed the aptitude test.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Government, has successfully returned 10, 353 out-of-school pupils to school in two local government areas of the state.

The Desk Officer of UNICEF at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Education Mr Ali Musa stated this during a chat with reporters in Lafia yesterday.

According to Musa, the Coronavirus pandemic had ravaged and is still ravaging the economy of several countries; thereby leading to the loss of jobs by parents and causing many children to drop from school.

He stated that UNICEF came up with the back-to-school initiative to help return those who dropped out because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons.

“We feel it is important we come up with the project which is currently being implemented in many states including Nasarawa to help children get back to school and secure their future,” he added.

He added that the project was currently being implemented in 370 primary schools in Lafia and Nasarawa council areas.

“From the 205 schools in Lafia and 165 schools in Nasarawa council; 6,116 male and 4, 237 female children have been returned to school under the project,” he said.

He, therefore, said the team would not rest on its oars until every child that is supposed to be in school had been returned to school.

He appealed to the media to continue to support them to achieve the objectives of the project.

The Commissioner for Education in the state, Hajiya Fatu Sabo, said the government had since keyed into the initiative by UNICEF to ensure that every child of school-going age is in school.

The commissioner, represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the ministry, Abdulkareem Bala said the initiative was in line with the priority of the Governor Abdullahi Sule-led administration to improve school enrollment of children, especially in the rural communities.

The commissioner, therefore, said the government was ready to collaborate with any group working to complement its efforts by adding value to the quality of life of its citizens.

Also, yesterday, UNICEF said it received $2.7 million from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to implement the maternal nutrition counselling and acute intervention programme in the Northeast.

In a statement yesterday, Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria said malnutrition, the single most deadly threat to child survival, was affecting children in the Northeast.

Hawkins said insecurity, global hike in food prices and humanitarian interventions targeting early detection at the household level were resulting in a record number of fewer than five children presenting symptoms of acute malnutrition and needing life-saving services.

“UNICEF is grateful that the support from SIDA will help to scale treatment services to more children and address contributory water and sanitation services issues in camps and settlements.

“It will also help to increase investment in preventive nutrition services targeting expectant and lactating mothers with maternal nutrition services,” he said.

Hawkins said unless urgent actions were taken, at least 1.7 million under-five children in the Northeast would need acute malnutrition treatment this year.

According to the UN agency, 13 years of armed conflict in the Northeast has left women and children in acute vulnerability.

It asserts that congestion in camps, high rates of open defecation and poor sanitation practices have put conflict-affected families and children at risk of disease outbreaks and preventable deaths.

Also, insecurity, loss of livelihood opportunities, high food prices and COVID-19 combined have put 4.1 million people in need of food assistance, drastically impacting the nutrition quality available for children in the region.

The UN body said the Northeast is currently experiencing its highest burden of acute malnutrition since 2016, with a 34 per cent projected to increase this year, compared to the rate last year.

 

As part of its contributions to advancing inclusiveness, cultural diversity and peace in the country, a group, Dance and Arts Festival Abuja (DAFA) has pledged to foster peace through art festivals.

The Creative Director and Convener of DAFA, Esther Ikyanyon said this in a statement at the end of its annual dance and cultural festival in Abuja.

Ikyanyon stated that the art festival, DAFA2022, with the theme “Breaking Borders,” was a showcase for creative artists to display their potential.

According to Ikyanyon, the event was also targeted at raising the hope of Nigerians after a long period of the COVID-19 pandemic which led many of them to lose hope.

The statement reads: “The Dance and Arts Festival is an annual multi-dimensional dance and art event organised by Stinex Dance Kompany and has been running for three years.

“The festival offers a platform for creative artists to display their capacities. This year’s festival tagged “Breaking Borders” is targeted at raising hope in a time when many people have lost their hope following the effects of the global pandemic.

“We put together one of the largest dance, arts and entertainment events in the City of Abuja which resounded across borders.

“We are not just another dance event or promoters, we are community builders and activists who foster inclusiveness, cultural diversity and peace through dance and the arts as it is our firm belief that the creative arts can unify.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, has urged journalists to always ensure they get their facts right before going public.

Gbajabiamila said this at the inauguration of the new Executives of House of Representatives Press Corps and the launch of its maiden magazine “Green Sentinel” as well as its website on Wednesday.

The Speaker, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Rep Ahmed Wase, said the House was always ready to provide any information that is required by journalists.

“I urge you to use available opportunities of cross checking your facts. Our doors are always wide open. Nothing is done is secrect because we believe in communication. Communication is power. Where you lack communication there would be gaps,” he said.

He assured the Press Corps cooperation in the discharge of its duties.

“We believe you have the capacity to discharge your onerous functions. You have a role to improve the society and you have been doing that but you should do more. Nigeria should move forward and we shall collectively move the Nigeria project forward. Democracy is about teamwork and we must work together to protect those things that would promote the tenets of democracy and good governance on Nigeria. We must all work together for Nigeria to work,” he said.

While congratulating the Corps on the inauguration and launch of the magazine , he prayed God to help the leadership in the discharge of its functions.

Chairperson of the Press Corps, Comrade Grace Ike, thanked the leadership of the House for their assistance and cooperation with the Corps, saying they have been part of its achievements.

She described the occasion as “another milestone in our drive as parliamentary reporters to be responsive, responsible, engaging and keeping time for posterity.”

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She said it was the first time in the history of the House of Representatives Press Corps and indeed the Press Corps in National Assembly, a female was being sworn in back-to-back as chairman.

This, she said, is confirmation that the Press Corps is gender-sensitive.

She expressed gratitude to everyone who made the publication of the magazine possible.

“Being here today is a testament to the can-do spirit in which the leadership of the House as exemplified by the Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker has inculcated in us all for more than three years.

“Our decision to embark on this publication is premised on the realisation that as a select few opportune to experience first hand the work of the peoples’ representatives to make good and enduring laws for our country as well as being sources of empowerment, it is important for us to document these and behind-the-scenes moments. Though we are journalists, we are historians as we document most that happen for generation to come” she said.

Spokesperson of the House, Rep Ben Kalu, also congratulated the press corps.

He said the press corps was independent as the House does not interfere in its activities.

Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Emmanuel Ogbeche, urged the Corps that their allegiance was to Nigerians.

He called for balance reportage and urged that democracy must always be promoted.

He urged the journalists to always ensure they are on the side of truth and accountability.