By Thinkers Newspaper
The Yobe State Government, working with development partners and humanitarian support agencies and organisations, is seeking to develop an intervention masterplan that would address post-insurgency reconstruction of the state, as focus shifts from the provision of humanitarian relief to full-scale resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and reconstruction of areas affected by Boko Haram insurgency.
This was part of the key points raised by Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Wednesday at the opening of a one-day stakeholders’ retreat on “Coordination of Humanitarian Services for Post Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction’ with the theme ‘Consolidating Humanitarian Reovery Plans.”
Organised by the Yobe State Government, the retreat brought togther federal and state agencies, United Nations System agencies as well as national and international non governmenal organisations, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiative (PCNI) and the Victims’ Support Fund (VSF), amongst others, to brainstorm issues and chart a way forward.
“We believe that a streamlined and well-coordinated intervention in humanitarian support and socio-economic assistance will maximise the desired impact on the victims, reduce wastage and ensure value for money. This therefore informs the need to have an intervention masterplan such that no identified need of the victims shall be left out,” he said.
The governor tasked participants at the retreat on the imperatives of a ‘holistic synergy’ for effective coordination of intervention activities, stressing that Yobe State Government appreciates the support of partners in rebuilding the state as Boko Haram is degraded.
The governor said, however, that despite the successes of the state government in rehabilitating some of the infrastructure and services destroyed by the insurgents, there are still schools, hospitals, health centers, water supply facilities, markets, offices, court buildings as well as provate property, including shops, houses, etc that have yet to be rebuilt or rehabilitated.
Also speaking, chairman of the State Resettlement Committee and Deputy Governor, Mr. Abubakar D. Aliyu said activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the state had caused so much loss and psychological trauma to people across the state.
He said the Resettlement Committee had worked assidiously to address the immediate needs of victims, including the provision of water supply, health and sanitation facilities and the delivery of food and essential non-food items to returning IDPs.
“I wish to stress that the for now, the effort of the state government in addressing the prevailing situation has gone beyond rendering assistance in the form of food and non-food items to the real task of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure,” he said.
In their separate remarks, Vice Chairman of PCNI, Tijjani Tumsa; Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi; Executive Director of the Victims Support Fund, Professor Sunday Ochoche; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Maryam Masha, commended the state government for hosting the retreat, saying it is an important step forward for how the humanitarian community and the state government can better work together to deliver support to victims of the insurgency and address recovery and reconstruction.
