News Thumb Magazine ..news reporting..
It was indeed renewed hope for the people of Borno state as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Dr Betta Edu arrived Borno state for a two days working visit, which happens to be her first official visit outside Abuja since resumption of office.
The Honorable minister Dr Edu who was received at the Government House by the Governor Professor Babagana Zulum, thanked His Excellency for the grand reception and for the excellent work he is doing in Borno State that is bringing peace development and stability to the people and the region. She informed the Governor that Borno State is the first state she is visiting in her capacity as minister since her swearing in as Minister to show how important and strategic the state is to achieving results on humanitarian response and ending poverty in Nigeria as well as stabilizing North East in particular and Nigeria.
Dr. Edu reiterated President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s commitment to minimizing the humanitarian crisis and eliminating poverty in Nigeria in fulfilment of the President’s renewed hope agenda and the SDG 1 & 2. “it is important that the Ministry renew its partnership with the State and leverage on their successes and experience to find better ways of doing things. The Ministry will not only aim at eliminating poverty, but it shall also provide safety nets to prevent Nigerians from going under the poverty line”. She also informed the Governor that the Ministry is committed to returning refugees and migrants by 2024, so structures must be repatriate and reintegrate persons back into the communities.
Furthermore, she informed the action Governor that the National Social Register shall be cleaned up and expanded to accommodate more people in other to meet target!while the Ministry shall establish humanitarian hubs in all Local Government Areas as a deliberate policy of targeting the grassroots, the rural poor that are more in large numbers in communities and villages. The Ministry shall also deliberately create job opportunities for youth on a short – and long-term basis, give micro-credits, vocational training, etc,
Finally, she encouraged the Governor to continue giving leadership and support at the state level so that the overall objective of eliminating humanitarian crises, hunger, and poverty will be attained.
Responding, the Governor congratulated the HM on her appointment as Minster and welcomed her to Borno State. He assured her of the commitment of the state towards addressing humanitarian issues and poverty. However, he stated that the state has three priorities pillar for collaboration, which includes
i. Poverty: There is a nexus between poverty and insecurity. So once poverty is addressed, insecurity becomes addressed.
ii. IDPs:- It’s not sustainable to keep displaced persons in camps. Other issues with IDP camps are population growth and gender-based violence. So, the State Government houses displaced persons for only a short time as transit facilities while they try to provide durable solutions from humanitarian to sustainable solutions. They create SME opportunities for displaced persons.
iii. Refugees: He said that there are over 200,000 refugees in Niger, 60,000 in Cameroon, and 24,000 in Chad. So, the state must work with the ministry to bring these refugees back home. They need houses, money, and jobs.
The Governor informed the HM of the existence of the Presidential Committee, which is to return and reintegrate these refugees. The Vice President is the Chair, and although the work of the Committee has gone far, the Ministry has a very huge role to play in that committee. On the Humanitarian development Partners, the Governor said they must understand that their role is to complement what Government does and not to take the lead in responsibilities of Government, Also, the priorities of Government must be their priorities too. So, they must key into government priorities. On the National Social Register, the Governor said that states should have the opportunity to owning the register because the poverty index is continuously changing. He thanked Dr. Edu for visiting and presented a souvenir to her.
