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Commission reveals real causes of boundary crisis in Nigeria

The Director-General of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Mr Adamu Adaji, has stated that the agency is poised for the speedy resolution of the boundary crises in the country.

Adaji said this in a statement by Mrs Efe Ovuakporie, Head of Information Unit, on Thursday, March 4, in Abuja.

Adaji traced the history of boundary conflicts in the country to the emergence of new states without the prerequisite definition and demarcation of the internal boundaries.

The director-general said that such conflicts at various times made different governments at different times set up ad hoc commissions to handle disputes arising from the creation of states.

He said that there was the need to sensitise stakeholders on the activities of boundary managers at the three levels of government, as well as providing the platform for cross-fertilization of ideas.

“Failures on the part of the ad hoc commission to successfully handle all the boundary-related issues compelled the Federal Government to establish the NBC as a specialised border interventionist agency, to address all boundary disputes across the country.

However, the states are mandated to constitute the states and local governments boundary committees to handle inter and intra-boundary disputes, to complement the works of the NBC,” Adaji said.

He urged participants to evolve far-reaching ideas that would facilitate speedy resolution of boundary-related issues, particularly in the zones and in Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking, Head of Research and Policy Analysis Department, Hajiya Amina Nyako, noted that the agency was committed to ensuring a peaceful border regime between the constituent states in the country and between Nigeria and her proximate neighbours.

In doing this, she said the NBC would continue to monitor trans-border relations with a view to detecting areas of tension and possible conflict and finding a lasting solution that would promote trans-boundary cooperation.

She charged participants to join hands with the NBC in the discharge of its mandates saying, “the tempo toward peaceful coexistence can only be sustained through joint efforts”.

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI, has revealed that more than 2.6 million Nigerians are internally displaced within the country.

This was contained in a statement issued by the NCFRMI Commissioner, Sen. Basheer Lado, at the flag-off of distribution of relief items to 7,500 displaced persons, held at the Kano State Government House on Sunday, February 28.

According to Mr Lado, the displaced persons are spread across both the Northern and Southern parts of the country.

Speaking on the distribution of the relief items, Mr Lado said that about 7,500 displaced persons identified across 1,500 households will benefit from the gesture which includes different variety of food and non-food items.

He stated that the intervention was due to the alarming rate of displacements across Nigeria.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to support the Commission towards supporting the displaced population across the country, stressing that “we as a Commission will continue to work assiduously in this regard”.

“To this end, in addition to the distribution of food and non-food items to all displaced persons here present today, the Commission will soon launch Project Reliance and the Resettlement City Project in Kano towards the empowerment and resettlement of displaced persons,” he added.

Furthermore, he disclosed that the NCFRMI would build housing units to accommodate those who have lost their homes in Kano.

“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, has been tremendously supportive of the keystone projects of the Commission, especially as it relates to the empowerment and resettlement of displaced persons across the country.

He also thanked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for his contribution of 20 hectares of land to the Commission to fast-track the construction of the 600 household Resettlement City estates which, according to him, have already reached advanced stages in Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, and Edo states.