The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has revealed that Nigeria comes after war-torn Syria and Iraq, with the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) put at almost a million.
He gave the figure on Monday, July 6, during a national conference organised by the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), the MDGs Office and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) with the theme, ‘Good Governance Beyond 2015: Setting Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Era of Change.’
Odinkalu, who attributed the development to the insurgency ravaging the Northern part of the country, said the violence has weakened the state and its institutions.
He quoted the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) Global Overview of 2014 which reads: “Boko Haram’s ruthless campaign to establish an independent Islamic state in North-eastern Nigeria also drove new significant displacements.
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Prof. Odinkalu
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It was responsible for displacing more than three-quarters
of at least 975,300 people in the country during the year, while many
others fled inter-communal violence in the Middle Belt region.”
The IDMC report revealed that as at the end of 2014, about 38 million people around the world were forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflicts and generalised violence. He said these people are living in displacement, around the borders of their own country. He said 11 million new people were displaced from the beginning of the year. He said no fewer than 30,000 people are displaced daily.
The report further reads: “Never in the last 10 years of IDMC’s global reporting, from the peak of the Darfur crisis in 2004 have we reported such a high estimate for the number of people newly displaced in a year. Today, there are almost twice as many IDPs as there are refugees worldwide.”
Earlier on, the executive director of OSIWA, Abdul Tejan-Cole, stated that the MDGs, which will end in September, 2015, would be replaced by the signing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by all the nations of the world during a meeting on a new development agenda in New York.
He said: “Nigeria has made very impressive progress with the MDGs but the story of the MDGs is an unfinished business because we still have issues like HIV, illiteracy, hunger, sanitation and more. We are going to transit these development issues to the next agenda.
“All the stakeholders are here and we shall be talking and strategising on how we can lay the structural, institutional and legal framework for the early implementation of the SDGs.”
Odinkalu observed that the MDGs and likewise, the wider project of development are founded on the beliefs of human rights, human dignity and equality.
Meanwhile, in a response to the latest Boko Haram bombings in mosques and churches in the northern region, the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has directed all Commissioners of Police in the country to beef up security at all worship centres.
The IDMC report revealed that as at the end of 2014, about 38 million people around the world were forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflicts and generalised violence. He said these people are living in displacement, around the borders of their own country. He said 11 million new people were displaced from the beginning of the year. He said no fewer than 30,000 people are displaced daily.
The report further reads: “Never in the last 10 years of IDMC’s global reporting, from the peak of the Darfur crisis in 2004 have we reported such a high estimate for the number of people newly displaced in a year. Today, there are almost twice as many IDPs as there are refugees worldwide.”
Earlier on, the executive director of OSIWA, Abdul Tejan-Cole, stated that the MDGs, which will end in September, 2015, would be replaced by the signing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by all the nations of the world during a meeting on a new development agenda in New York.
He said: “Nigeria has made very impressive progress with the MDGs but the story of the MDGs is an unfinished business because we still have issues like HIV, illiteracy, hunger, sanitation and more. We are going to transit these development issues to the next agenda.
“All the stakeholders are here and we shall be talking and strategising on how we can lay the structural, institutional and legal framework for the early implementation of the SDGs.”
Odinkalu observed that the MDGs and likewise, the wider project of development are founded on the beliefs of human rights, human dignity and equality.
Meanwhile, in a response to the latest Boko Haram bombings in mosques and churches in the northern region, the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has directed all Commissioners of Police in the country to beef up security at all worship centres.
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