By Flowerbudnews
Abuja (Flowerbudnews): Borno State Government has began moves to forge collaboration with North-East state governors and the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to deepen help and restore hope to displaced persons in the state.
Gov. Babagana Zulum disclosed this while speaking in interview with newsmen on the sideline of the Nigeria Housing Design Competition tagged “Home After Crisis”, an event organised by the IOM through funding from the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund (NHF).
in Abuja on Friday.
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The governor said that the partnership would boost measures towards safety of lives and property of displaced persons in the North-East region.
Gov Zulum said that the partnership would boost measures towards safety of lives and property of displaced persons in the North-East region.
According to him, Government of Borno and the North-East states will provide the political will needed to partner the IOM and other organisations, to build more hopes to the families of the displaced persons.
”We are into an agreement with the IOM and we will see how we can partner, and do more; most importantly the fact that the First Prize winners of the competition are from Nigeria means a lot.
”The University of Maiduguri and Yola are good to go. The security situation in Borneo has improved by not less than 90 per cent. We are doing very well, so we have many safe areas.
”We will do everything possible to ensure the houses when built and completed are set in dignified manner, in line with the Kampala Convention”.
The governor disclosed that about 90 per cent of housing in Borno has been destroyed by Biko Haram within the past 12 years.
”Beginning with my predecessor, I think we have built more than 30 per cent of that, but we still have huge significant deficits amounting to not less than 50, 000”, Zulum said.
Also speaking in an interview, Mr Laurent De Boeck, Chief of IOM Mission in Nigeria, said a lot would be achieved through the partnership with the government of Borno in such regard.
According to him, the IOM has an aim of one million housing plan in Maiduguri and Yola only. We hope it will also grow for the country? so we want the private sector to look at the protection support.
”This is why we have associated our work with the Nigeria Architecture in different situation. We have a commitment by the state which is quite encouraging.
”So, we hope we will be able to build 23 million houses in Nigeria. It is a shift of mind we want, we want a way of responding to the needs of displaced population.
”If we do it for North-East, we will do it everywhere as an organisation. We basically want to promote that way of thinking in response to displaced population,” Boeck said.
Meanwhile, the initiator of the ”Home After Crisis”, Davies Okoko, said the idea was conceived during the presentation of 1.9 million returnees and 2.3 million IDPs in Maiduguri in 2021, and the thought to return them to a home.
According to Okoko, Programme Manager of Shelter and NFI, we are trying to see how best to address housing deficits for displaced persons in the North-East, we have now settled not less than 9 000 IDPs.
”It is an indicator that they have crossed the lines. Our next step is that we want to go into duale housing whereby an IDP can get a house that has relative space in areas they choose to settle.”
Highpoint of the event was presentation of 5 000 Euros to Sabon Gida, Sabon Farko, “New Home, New Beginning” as the First Prize winner
Zuhura Zuhair won the Second Prize of 3 000 Euros, while the ‘Be coming Home’ emerged third with the Prize of 2000 Euros. Flowerbudnews
