- Aliyu underscored the need to equip them with needed skills that would make it easy for them to fend for themselves.
The Federal Government has disclosed that over 6.1 million Nigerians have lost their homes and do not have a shelter of their own due to perennial insecurity and natural disasters.
The National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) Federal Commissioner, Alhaji Tijjani Aliyu, made the disclosure during a visit to Gov. Dikko Radda of Katsina State on Friday in Katsina.
Aliyu said it was not sustainable for the government to continue to carter to the needs of the displaced persons, underscoring the need to equip them with needed skills and craft that would make it easy for them to fend for themselves.
He said as of 2022, the commission had about 3 million displaced persons, “but with floods and other natural disasters, we now have an additional 100 per cent of such displaced people.”
He explained: “Today, I can authoritatively say that we have not less than 6.1 million Nigerians displaced out of their homes.
“What do we do if all of them cannot go back, how do we fend them? Can the government continue to feed them, providing them succour?
“Absolutely not possible, we have to find a way to teach these individuals trades, give them skills, so that at the end of the day, they can be on their own,” he said.
Aliyu disclosed the commission’s intention to construct three well-furnished skills acquisition centres across the Northeast, from the 2024/2025 budget.
He said the essence of the visit was to distribute food items to about 700 displaced people in the state.
“Before today, the commission has been putting its efforts to ensure that these people were not left in an undignified way. Their children have received educational training funds from us.
“About 120 of them were trained, and also about 70 of their mothers were given some small starter packs to improve their living standard,” he said.
Aliyu said, in addition to that, the commission identified the problem of water in the IDPs camp but immediately intervened by providing a solar-powered borehole.
“We have also built settlement cities in IDPs camp located areas, for those who may not want to go back to their ancestral homes, and Katsina is one of the beneficiaries,” he said
For his part, Gov. Radda commended the commission’s gesture, describing it as a collective responsibility of both the state and the federal government to ensure the welfare and well-being of the IDPs.