The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon has said that the humanitarian crises are about to cease with strong institutions in the Northeast. According to him, the challenges are being overcome with the establishment of North East Development Commission (NEDC) and Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. He said that the implementation of strategic humanitarian policies that mitigate conflicts and disasters in insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY).
The 12-year conflict has killed over 36,000 people with destruction of property worth $9.2 billion (N3.42 trillion) in the BAY states. Kallon spoke Thursday in Maiduguri, while handing over 1,000 houses to the Borno State Government by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouk for Ngwom IDP returnees. “I’m here at a critical milestone in search of a solution to these conflicts in Northeast Nigeria,” he said, noting that having spent about five years in the region, there is light at the end of the tunnel for peace.
Continuing, he added: “What we’ve witnessed today, is what I have described in my memoirs that I’ve been writing. “When I came to support the efforts of the governments, there were serious challenges in coordinating the response in the region.”He said the ‘leadership and ownership’ have been evolving fast within five years of humanitarian coordination in Nigeria. He noted that peace and development could not take place without strong institutions in any country.
