…As Nigeria misses 2017 target on Polio-free Status
By Nse Anthony-Uko
ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer, on Monday called for concerted efforts to address the underlying cause of the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin in order to ensure lasting solutions. Lanzer, who spoke during a media briefing at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Abuja, said the root cause of the crisis which is poverty must be addressed in a sustainable manner in order to secure the future of the people, saying that was not the responsibility of humanitarian agencies. “We are not addressing the root cause of this crisis. That is something the development actors, the environmental practitioners have to do. If we are going to eliminate and eradicate poverty, and we pledge to do that with the new sustainable development agenda, to make peoples future sustainable in an environmental way, that is not something that we would not put on the shoulders of humanitarian. “I want to see the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environmental Programme work hand in hand with the Lake Chad Basin Commission, with the governments of Camerooun, Chad Niger and Nigeria to address the root cause of the crisis because otherwise all the hard work of the relief agencies will be temporary solutions and not address underlying causes of the crisis throughout the Lake Chad basin.” Speaking on his recent visit to the rural parts of Nigeria’s north-east and Bama, one of the most destroyed towns, Lanzer noted a more improved condition than witnessed during his earlier visit in April. According to him, Bama is firmly under the control of the Nigerian authorities and felt more stable and safe than earlier this year. “There are about 20,000 people in Bama and they are concentrated in the town’s camp for displaced persons. Conditions there in April were poor but this time I saw considerable improvement. The Nigerian authorities have opened a school and are conducting classes. They have also opened a clinic and are attending to people who are sick. Aid agencies have stepped up their engagement. For example, the World Food Programme is providing rations for more than 15,000 people and the International Organisation for Migration and the UN’s Refugee Agency have supported families to build hundreds of all-weather shelters. I was particularly heartened to see young people of Bama, who had been displaced to Maiduguri, returning to Bama to help the aid agencies with our work.” He said, however. that a lot still need to be done. “There is no question that much more needs to be done in Bama, and indeed in other key towns of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, and more broadly across the entire Lake Chad Basin. The scale of the crisis in the region is staggering: nine million people need emergency relief; 4.5 million people are severely food insecure; 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes. “I expect in the coming days and weeks more results from non-governmental organisations and UN agencies, such as UNICEF, as we are able to move along the roads and overnight in key towns.” He said the re-emergence of polio in Borno is another blow to the people of the region and a challenge for the authorities and aid agencies. According to him, the two cases have come out of areas that have been under the control of Boko Haram for many years. While the medical teams could not have reached these children when the places where under the control of Boko Haram. What was done immediately was that the immunization teams were deplored to Goza and other communities under the campaign to reach 5 million children. “We did not declare Nigeria polio free. We said after one year of no cases we said there has been one year of no cases, after two years of no cases we also announced it. Had there been a third year of no cases then there would have been an official declaration that Nigeria and the entire African continent was considered polio free so it is a setback because we did not reach that third year anniversary,” he said. “The key for sustainable peace, also, will be continued security and a greater engagement by the civilian authorities and development and environment organisations which together must address the root cause of the suffering: abject poverty. Re-establishing security in all towns and across the rural expanse is crucial to enable people to farm, tend to their livestock and trade. Building on people’s will, energy and resilience is the best way of ensuring a safer and more prosperous future for the people of Nigeria and the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.”