Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has assured the United Nations(UN) that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is taking deliberate and practical steps to address the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Kalu assured the audience when he participated as a panellist on a high-level United Nations Special Online event on Wednesday to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons.
The deputy speaker highlighted the government’s concerted efforts to domesticate the Kampala Convention, a pivotal regional treaty designed to protect and assist IDPs.
He emphasised that Tinubu’s administration had proactively activated key treaty components to enhance the living conditions of IDPs significantly.
Kalu further informed the UN that the Nigerian National Assembly is diligently finalising legislation to provide legal backing to the treaty.
He assured that upon securing presidential assent, the States of the Federation would also adopt the legislation, ensuring a unified approach to addressing IDP issues nationwide.
Kalu said, “I am humbled to contribute my legislative activities and perspectives on this particular issue, particularly in regard to concrete steps taken by my country in addressing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Our country, Nigeria, believes so much in these principles.
“The ones that are on the front burner for us as we activate issues around the IDPs. The principle one is protection from arbitrary displacement. Three is protection during this displacement; ten is the right to know the fate of relatives’ whereabouts; and twenty-eight is the right to be returned or resettled. These are the ones on the front burner. We also believe in other ones; these principles form the bedrock of the Kampala Convention.
“Our target is that these principles become alive in our country by ensuring that the Kampala Convention, which we’ve rectified, will be domesticated in our laws.
“Nigeria, after rectifying it, leaving it as it is, is not enough. The next step is to make sure that it is domesticated. To do that, we’ve taken it upon ourselves. I proposed the enactment into our laws and sponsored it in the House of Representatives because I believe in the potency of those principles. It can only be active in Nigeria if it is made to be part of our laws, especially as it concerns arbitrary displacement, upholding the human rights of these Internally Displaced Persons and working in partnership with organisations like yours to make sure they are well taken care of.
“I proposed a bill, the House of Representatives has approved it, and it has moved to the Senate for Concurrence. The Senate report is ready and will be considered when we return from recess on April 29. After that, the National Assembly clerk will take it to the President for assent.”
Kalu also disclosed that the government, through the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria (NCFRMI), has improved the lives of the IDPs by resettling about 300 of them, particularly in Keffi, Nasarawa and Kano States with the delivery of over 40 new homes.
“Having said that, the executive, on their part, have taken some steps to make sure that the lives of the Internally Displaced Persons are being taken care of through the development of national policy on IDPs.
“This has been done to ensure the framework governs activities around the IDPs. Through legislative intervention, the government has also provided a commission for the protection and rehabilitation of IDPs, and we call it NCFRMI as a result of a Bill we passed in 2022 to strengthen it.
“The commission’s objective is to serve as an institutional framework to coordinate resettlement to handle rehabilitation and look at livelihood restoration initiatives for communities affected by the conflicts or displacement. We must commend the commission for taking steps to ensure that the objectives of establishing the commission are achieved.
“We have the Keffi and Kano state examples, which demonstrate concrete progress in the resettlement and livelihood of these displaced persons. These efforts aim to integrate the affected communities into sustainable economic activities and a blueprint for a nationwide rehabilitation approach. The commission has established the resettlement city and used that resettlement city in Keffi to absolve almost 300 internally displaced people.
“They have also handed over in the last few days 40 brand new homes, and the Chairman of this particular commission is promising that more will be done in the coming days. This means that the government is in support of making sure that the lives and livelihood of these IDPs are well taken care of”, he said.
While emphasising the need for the domestication of the legislation, Kalu also said that the government was evolving formidable mechanisms to address the root causes of the displacements.
“The laws must be domesticated, and once the laws are domesticated, the elements that affect their participation will be highlighted, and that’s why we are pushing hard through partnership and collaboration with various MDAs and international organisations to push for this domestication to take place as soon as possible.
The Deputy Speaker said, “The government must be commended. Even without the domestication of the Kampala Convention, steps are being taken through national policy on IDPs and this commission to make sure the lives of affected people are taken care of.”
