The IDP Camps, a Test of Humanity By Kayode Komolafe

Veteran conservative politician Adamu Ciroma played the role of a party elder very well the other day in a meeting with the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). When Ciroma talks politicians should listen regardless of party affiliations. This is because as they say, the elder statesman has seen it all. As a founder of the party that is now out of power, Ciroma expectedly berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the centre as being “ill-equipped for good governance.”
He also gave a pep talk to his crisis-ridden party: “Politics would always be there. There must be people, good and bad who participate in it. Everybody who participates in politics is in it for good cause and that good cause must be for the interest and political stability of all Nigerians…

“When you talk of politics people talk about PDP as if APC does not exist. So far APC is not playing the right role. APC will make a lot of mistake and PDP must be ready to put things right and all of you must be ready to contribute and participate and get involved for the interests of Nigerians.”

Ciroma spoke from Abuja, but he is from Yobe, one of the states in the northeast in which humanitarian crisis is prevalent in the camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The consequences of the seven years of the Boko Haram war are glaring in the camps. The war itself is a symptom of the crisis of governance bedeviling Nigeria. Boko Haram is a product of the failed elite politics dominating Nigeria. In the unfortunate circumstance, it would be expected that a part of the “good cause” of politics that the Ciroma talked about should be the condition in the IDP camps in the northeast. It should be a legitimate cause to pursue. Sadly, however, what happens at the camps is not a priority for most politicians. To be sure, politics has no bearing with our collective humanity if it is not about issues affecting hundreds of thousands of poor people in the horrifying camps. Indeed, the condition in the IDP camps in the northeast is a test of humanity in Nigeria. You could measure how much compassion exists in a society by the attitude of the government and people to the inhuman situation in the camps. For now, the camps constitute another barometer for measuring humaneness in this land.

In the sort of “politics” being played by APC and PDP issues concerning our collective humanity is not central to their agenda, if any. Here lies the problem with liberal bourgeois politics in Nigeria. It is basically an intra-class squabble for power and position. In the series of the controversies dominating the political landscape in recent times, you would not find the condition in the camps as a prominent item. For the sake of human progress in Nigeria, this elite politics has to be transcended. That is why the people should be mobilised for popular democracy. Voices of the elements of the ruling class are loud when they talk about “marginalisation” in political appointments. They are busy scheming for party positions and strategising for 2019 as if liberal democracy is all about periodic elections. Why are politicians from the northeast not vociferous about the situation in the camps? If they loose out in the scramble for political appointments, you would hear their strident voices.

The provenance of Boko Haram could be traced to the period when Ali Modu Sherriff was in power in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis. The man is all over the place in “the fight for the soul” of the PDP. His voice is never heard in the battle to save the lives of the displaced persons in Borno state, much less the whole of the northeast. Is he bothered about the body and soul of the displaced? The devastation of a state he had the chance to rule is not the focus of his politics; his attention is about the ownership of the PDP structure. The Aliko Dangote Foundation is providing relief to the camps to the tune of billions. Where are the billionaires of the northeast to put money into the relief efforts?

So who will agitate for the poor who are exposed to the elements in the camps? The socio-economic marginalisation of the helpless women and children is never a major issue of political discussion. Marginalisation is only discussed in geo-political terms. Why shouldn’t the deterioration of the humanity of the displaced be a central issue of politics? The constitution says the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. And politicians seek power to form governments. In the first place, the Nigerian state has abysmally failed the people of the northeast by not securing them against the onslaught of Boko Haram mass murderers.

Will the Nigerian state fail again in the second duty of ensuring the welfare of the people in the camps? That is the political question to be answered. Both APC and PDP should address this question from their respective party positions. They should talk about the immediate issues of malnutrition and dehydration at the camps before talking about 2019. Political parties in power and out of power in western liberal democracies have been confronting the humanitarian crises engendered by the influx of socio-economic migrants into these countries. Politicians in those countries argue in parliaments about the policies and approaches to the problem. It is not so here. The condition of the poor is not the focus of politics. The poor people are only relevant when they are called upon to be on the voting queues.

The news and pictures from the IDP camps are scary. Food, water, healthcare, sanitation etc., are still beyond the reach of many persons in the camp. Ironically, it appears that external voices are louder in drawing attention to the poor condition of the camps. Only last week, the humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), came up with a release replete with photographs that about 24,000 IDPs were in desperate condition. It was also reported that at least 30 persons, mainly children die daily in the camp. Another UN agency has drawn a parallel between the northeast of Nigeria and the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Southern Sudan.

To worsen matters, there have been criminal allegations of fraud and corruption in the handling of the resources and materials provided by local and foreign philanthropists for the relief of the poor people in the camp. The reports of theft of relief materials for the displaced are also mindboggling. President Muhammadu Buhari is reportedly outraged by these reports of inhumanity of some officials. The trend should be effectively checked. The diversion of resources is responsible for the inadequate impact of the billions of naira provided by the donors.

All told, the federal, state and local governments should step up the care for the displaced persons and ensure that they eventually go home to rebuild their lives in an atmosphere of security. Local and foreign philanthropists should continue to support the relief efforts. For the way we show compassion to those in distress is a measure of the humanity in us.