FG to Launch Initiative to Support Internally Displaced Persons

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has revealed plan to launch the ‘Project Skill Up’ for internally displaced persons (IDPs) across resettlement camps in the country.

The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim dropped this hint at the Kuchin Goro IDP camp in Abuja, to celebrate the New Year’s Day with children at the IDPs’ camp.

She said the project, which would be launched in the next few weeks would enhance the skills of IDPs to ensure they also key into nation-building.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim stated the commission would continue to prioritise the well-being of persons of concern and work closely together in addressing critical issues.

She also averred that the commission was planning to strengthen the educational instrument in the existing IDP camps by launching project library to enhance the learning faculty of the children of the displaced citizens.

“The children are our leaders and we are coming from every angle. We are working with a whole of society and have willing partners and people that are collaborating with us to ensure we are going to do more for resettlement citizens,” she said.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq was represented at the occasion by the Director Humanitarian Affairs Alhaji Ali Grema.

Grema, who spoke with reporters, expressed concern that many of the children in the IDP camps were not in schools. He stated the minister had already initiated the alternative school programme, which encompasses all children of Nigeria.

He said the IDPs were captured in the 2022 budget with plans for the children to be in school while the vast majority of the displaced persons would return to their ancestral communities, especially in Borno State.