2023: Al-Hikmah Varsity Tasks FG, States On Functional  Security Mechanisms To Reduce Displacement

 

The Centre for Peace and Security Studies of the Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, has called on the Federal and State Governments to put in place functional security mechanisms and personnel from now, to ensure free, fair and peaceful general elections in 2023.

Dr Abiola Adimula, the Acting Director, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin made this call at a news conference organised to celebrate World Refugee Day in Ilorin on Monday.

According to her, violence arising from 2023 electoral activities can lead to increase in displacement of persons and deepen security challenges for the nation.

“There is the need for the government to re-strategise its security architecture to be able to arrest old and new vistas of violence and conflict in the country.

“Without tackling security issues, the problem of displacement cannot be sustainably addressed.

Dr Abiola Adimula,  Director Centre for Peace and Security Studies of the Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin,

“A long term plan of returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) should be made. Internally displaced persons’ camps are temporary solutions to the country’s refugees.

“Returning IDPs includes ensuring that the drivers of displacements have been addressed, and there is a strategic line of action to help them resettle and rebuild their lives.

“Nigeria’s displacement problem is only a feature of the deepening level of violence and conflict in the country.

“If the government can effectively tackle the security challenges, it is one step further to solving its displacement problem.

“Solving the security crisis means stopping the displacement figure from multiplying.
Nigeria’s displaced population requires urgent humanitarian attention.

“According to news reports in 2020, about 7.9 million Nigerians require urgent humanitarian supports. Internally displaced persons’ camps are overburdened and devoid of adequate infrastructures for basic survival.

“The number of people in need of shelter keeps increasing as security issues soar. Therefore, as a matter of urgency, the Nigerian state must act fast on these important steps.

Prof. Noah Yusuf,  Vice Chancellor,  Al-Hikmah University,  Ilorin 

Adimula said the ‘World Refugee Day’ is an opportunity to promote empathy and understanding for their plight, as well as to recognize their courage and their resilience in rebuilding their lives.

She noted that It would encourage public awareness and support of the refugees- being people who have had to flee their home lands because of conflict or natural disaster.

The director opined that the World Refugee Day sheds a light on refugees’ rights, needs, and hopes, aiding in mobilizing political will and support so that refugees will not only flourish but grow.

She said that of the total 18 million displaced persons in Africa, more than 12.5 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in their own countries.

“The IDPs and refugees share something in common: the agony and costs of being forced to flee their homes.

“A majority of them are children and youth under the age of 18, Refugees and IDPs suffer loss and dislocation which affect the rest of their lives,” she said.

Adimula said according to UNHCR, there are 65.3 million individuals worldwide who have been forcefully displaced, saying that every 20 people lose their country to avoid war or terror.

She pointed out that Nigeria is seriously faced with the problem of internal displacement, as Boko Haram has displaced about 2.4 million Nigerians in the Lake Chad Basin..

“As at 2019, Nigeria has about 2.5million internally displaced people. There is also the unresolved internal displacement issue, which arose out of the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon,” Adimula added.

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