Let me begin by recognizing and appreciating the magnanimity of some individuals, organizations, corporate bodies, and governments for the provision of palliatives and embracing the Ramadan Feeding Program aimed at bringing succor to the less privileged and internally displaced persons in the stricken states of the North-West and Niger. This is highly commendable.
By Nasiru Yahaya Isa
However, beyond the provision of palliatives and feeding of the needy persons during the Ramadan period, what other measures will the governors from the states affected by banditry put in place to ensure that the needy and the vulnerable population can afford to eat three times a day? The Executive Governors of Kaduna, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara, and Niger being the states hard hit by the abhorrent activities of these bandits should however, note that there is more to their efforts than meets the eye. I do recognize the concerted efforts of the Governors of Katsina, Zamfara, and Sokoto states for the establishment of Community Protection Guards to complement the efforts of other security forces toward ending banditry in the North.
However, I am worried seeing how daily, the urban towns and capital cities of these states and their neighbours vexatiously witness flocks of impoverished minors, widows, and the aged who have been displaced and forced to migrate to these urban cities due to insecurity. These homeless individuals, otherwise, referred to as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are hopelessly roaming the streets of state capitals, many of whom are walking barefooted in this scorching sun and sometimes, seen scavenging on heaps of refuse dumps as they struggle for survival.
Our governors are also quite aware that, the insecurity brought about by banditry in the North-Western states and Niger state which led to the displacement of numerous rural communities and depriving them of access to their farms and other forms of economic activities resulted in food shortages which pushed them further into the valley of abject poverty.
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I strongly believe that the Executive governors of the banditry-overwhelmed states are also not unaware of the fact that, there is an appalling hue and cry from the public given the economic hardships being faced in these states. The unmitigated suffering being witnessed under the current political dispensation as a result of the removal of fuel subsidies and devaluation of the Naira against the United States Dollar was never bargained for, by the masses. The high cost of living has significantly burdened the ordinary citizens in these states.
Beyond the provision of palliatives and Ramadan feeding, there is an urgent need for the governors to institute measures that will improve the economic status and ensure stable food on the tables of ordinary citizens and the downtrodden masses in their states.
In my opinion, the way forward to cushion the effects of poverty and persistent hardships being faced in the state is to as a matter of necessity and importance, implement certain social and economic empowerment interventions which include but are not limited to the following:
Scaling up the provision of palliatives to vulnerable populations: Even though the provision of palliatives has received the blessing of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was full of praises for the timely intervention regarding the N5billion support for each of the States which was basically to provide food items and agricultural input, most of the governors have complied to some certain extent by distributing of food items to the vulnerable groups and Internally Displaced Persons in their states. There is, however, a need for the distribution of these palliatives to be scaled up at the Local Government levels across the states. More funds should be channeled directly to LGA authorities to ensure increased coverage so that more vulnerable populations are reached.
Setting up of more formal IDP camps and strengthening of the existing IDP camps in these states:
There is a need for the state governors to emulate the Borno State Government in the area of rehabilitation, reconstruction, and resettlement of IDPs to provide critical lifesaving and sustaining support to those banditry-affected populations in their respective states. It is worrisome to note that, many villages in the affected states have been deserted. As an indigene of Sokoto State who hails from Isa Local Government which is badly affected by banditry, I can give a typical account with sober reflection of how many villages have been deserted in the Sokoto East and now in moribund state.
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If one may ask, what is the fate of the displaced children who have dropped out of school? What future awaits these homeless and hopeless children? Would they continue to be homeless? Is it not the responsibility of the government to rehabilitate them by sheltering them, portable drinking water, and access to education and health? What plans and interventions are the state governors putting in place to support these affected populations towards reconstruction and resettlement back to their villagers if the bandits are eventually decimated? Doing nothing about the Internally Displaced Persons from these North-Western states is like in the words of the Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar (III) while addressing his fellow traditional rulers at the 6th Executive Committee meeting of the council held at Arewa House, Kaduna while expressing his fear “that with millions of Nigerian Youths left without jobs and food, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder”. It is beyond just providing palliatives. In my thought, there is a serious need for the constitution or establishment of a committee or commission as may suit the individual governors, for the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement of IDPs which will work under the coordination or in collaboration with the State Ministries for Social Welfare or relevant MDA in their states.
I wish to also advocate like the North East Development Commission, for the establishment of a similar commission that will be charged with the responsibility of assessing, coordinating, harmonizing, and reporting on all intervention programs, and initiatives by the Federal Government or any of its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), States; and other Development Partners and for the implementation of all programs and initiatives towards the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and resettlement of the affected populations in Kaduna, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Niger states. I, therefore, wish to seize this medium to crave for the indulgence of our distinguished senators from these affected states to as a matter of national importance, individually or jointly, sponsor a bill for the establishment of this institutional structure.
Supporting the Youths, Entrepreneurs, and Businesses: In my recent article titled “Investing for the future: The Sokoto State of my dream” which was recently published in some national dailies specifically Blueprint newspaper on Friday, March 1, 2024, and FactCheck newspaper of March 4, 2024 and other online publications like Opera News, the storiesng.com and ashenewsdaily.com, I made lengthy valuable suggestions in respect to economic empowerment interventions to be undertaken by the Sokoto governor to boost economic activities and pave way for industrial development in Sokoto State. I advocated for partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) and other development banks to secure and disburse loans to small, medium, and large-scale entrepreneurs. The BOI and other development banks should contribute a matching fund while the state governments commit counterpart funds and serve as guarantors to the prospective loan beneficiaries who will only repay the principal over an agreed period while the state takes up the responsibility of paying off the interest making it interest-free to the beneficiaries. I, however, cautioned that the state governments must come up with workable modalities and stiff measures towards the repayment and recovery of the loans so that the electorates should not in their usual manners, regard and treat these economic empowerment endeavors of the governor as another political largesse. I believe it is worthwhile for our governors to embrace this lofty idea.
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I also recommended the establishment of agricultural skills acquisition centers in each of the three senatorial zones in a bid to improve livestock production in these states. I am of the view that, these centers when established will go a long way in imparting skills in animal husbandry and poultry farming towards boosting the economic activities of our rural communities. The State Governments may also take advantage of these agricultural skills acquisition centers and leverage them by taking them out of the streets and enrolling the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) to empower them to become self-reliant and meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
There is no doubt that the entire North-West and Niger states are sitting on gold mines. These states are blessed with abundant mineral and agricultural potentials that could be tapped and exploited by these governments to enhance the fortunes of their states. The time to exploit these investment and economic potentials is now. The governors should take the bull by the horns and pursue economically viable investments that will bring about the mobilization of resources for sustainable development in their states. Doing so will not only create more jobs and improve the standard of living of the people, it will also ultimately secure the future of the next generations. It is interesting to note that, the Executive Governor of Niger State, His Excellency. Hon. Mohammed Bago has started an agricultural revolution in the state. Just recently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in Niger State to commission agro-mechanized implements and tractors. This is a heart-warming initiative, hoping it will see the light of the day.
Payment of all outstanding gratuities of retired workers and review of pension upwardly: The non-payment of accrued gratuity to retired civil servants over the years by the past administrations had made life unbearable to the sizeable chunk of retired civil servants and their families. There is no doubt that payment of pension and gratuity will ameliorate the economic hardships being faced by pensioners.
The governors could recall that, about one and half months ago, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu during a meeting with the state governors to address the current economic challenges facing the country as part of key takeaways by the governors, requested the governors to ensure that, payment of salary arrears and gratuities to workers and pensioners are cleared as a way to put money into the hands of the people to cushion the effects of high cost of living since states are now getting more monthly FAAC revenue. Also just last week in Niger state, the president reiterated his commitment to addressing the plights of workers by appealing to all the sub-nationals for the payment of wage awards to workers. The Niger state government which has over 80,000 workers at both the state and the local governments and has already started paying N20,000 as wage awards to their workers. The government will be paying over N1.6 billion every month to the workers. It is also heartening to note that, the Sokoto state governor has paid half the salary to all workers in the state, whereas, his counterpart, the Zamfara state governor paid annual leave grants to Zamfara state workers as Ramadan bonuses.
To answer to that clarion call of the president, the Executive Governor of Zamfara State, Dr. Dauda Lawal has approved the payment of N13.4b gratuity backlog from 2015 to 2023 to retired civil servants in Zamfara State. The Kebbi State government under the administration of the immediate past Governor Atiku Bagudu had settled all outstanding gratuity of its retired workers across the state as of May 15, 2023, before he handed over to the new administration of Dr. Nasir Idris (Kauran Gwandu). In his renewed commitment to continue with this good legacy of his predecessor, the Executive Governor of Kebbi State, Dr. Nasir Idris has also recently approved the release of N1,795,505,173.08 for the payment of gratuity, contract, and death benefits to Kebbi state retired and contract staff effective from May 15 to October 15, 2023. In this regard, the Executive Governor of Sokoto state has also set up a committee under the chairmanship of the State Accountant General towards the payment of the workers’ gratuity, hoping that other states in the North-West zone and Niger state will follow suit as this will not only touch the lives of the retired civil servants and their families positively by improving their economic status, it will also create access to other means of viable productive engagements for them.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that, beyond the provision of palliative in the form of food items and the Ramadan Feeding Program which is a short-term measure, implementing the measures enumerated above, which are of long-term nature, will go a long way in ameliorating poverty and improving the living standard of the vulnerable population of the banditry-afflicted Northwest and Niger states of Nigeria.
Isa (Wamban Isa), a retired Permanent Secretary of the Sokoto State Civil Service writes from Sokoto and can be reached @ nasiruyahayaisa@gmail.com
