It is axiomatic that as long as humanity continues to invest in mass weapon production to kill; as long as people continue to resort to violence when it comes to settling irreconcilable issues; as long as human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, it is unlikely to find a lasting solution to refugee crisis. This is why very few countries are free from the vicious circle of refugee crisis in this world. Nigeria just like other countries around the world is still grappling with refugee crisis and human-made disasters which have made Nigeria, given its imploding population, one of the saddest places for refugees. All this aside, how did Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, Honourable Federal Commissioner at National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) manage to make a dent in refugee crisis in Nigeria? Daily Review Newspaper will take a cursory glance at some of her key milestones in 2022.
A home to over 3.1 million Internally Displaced Persons as well as more than 87,000 refugees and asylum seekers, Nigeria is an important international partner which as both the Federal Government an state governments work with other multinational donors, NGOs, private donors from patriotic citizens all in a bid to make sure these Persons of Concerns are provided with food, healthcare, shelters, and a holistic approach to educate, train and eventually help them reintegrate into the society. Honourable Federal Commissioner, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim was, in 2022, able to immerse herself in various altruistic services at the various frontlines of humanitarian crises. It was a well-known fact that Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Cross River were still reeling from the effects of insurgency, terrorism, and flooding. But Mama Migrants did get dissuaded by those monstrous challenges as she kept touring across the country to help provide humanitarian assistance to the IDPs especially women and children who are often the most vulnerable victims of conflicts and Climate Change.
To reassure Nigeria’s international partners in combating refugee crisis, Mama Migrant was instrumental to the visit to Nigeria by the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Gueterrus to Nigeria in the early month of May, 2022 during which he met with refugees and IDPs, and appreciated the efforts being made by the Nigerian government under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs under which Mama Migrants is a pillar of.
Helping look after the migrants and IDPs is one thing, reintegrating them into the society is another. To reintegrate these people, it requires a great deal of manpower to educate them, arm them with skills and attend to their mental health crisis, and to be able to achieve all this, the Federal Government embarked on various inter-agency projects in order to offer helping hands to the Persons of Concerns as well as durable solutions to the PoCs, including, refugees, IDPs, stateless persons, asylum seekers and Nigerian stranded around the world especially in Libya, and European countries.
In 2022 alone, her agency managed to help repatriate thousands of stranded Nigerians in Libya, Italy, Spain, UK and Canada as well as educating the hapless youths to work hard and make Nigeria become a better country for Nigerians.
While there is still a huge demand for synergy and more collaboration with international partners given the continued insecurity challenges and climate change catastrophe which, unless a drastic measure is implemented, is likely to worsen over the years and potentially displace more people, Honourable Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim has made the year 2022 a year of tangible achievements and copacetic efforts to help those in need. It is hoped that the stride recorded last year would pave the way for more milestones this year.
