Care to IDPS’
camps, what would you say the IDPS need most?
They need food. From what I saw on ground, the first thing they need is food. They are very, very hungry. Then, they also need those things that are basic such as water, health care, and protection of their fundamental rights. They also need other things such as soap, and skills acquisition so they can get back on their feet. The people had something doing before the activities of insurgents - some of them were doctors, some drivers, some fishermen, others farmers. They had professions, they had incomes, crafts, they had lives, but now, they have nothing because Bokoharam came and they are devastated.
From their mood and actions, do you think there is still life ahead of them?
Yes. Most of them have hopes; they don’t want to give up hopes because if they do, it means they have given up everything. I think that is what they have learnt. If they know that we are around them, that people are coming and offering them support, and that they have not being ignored, that they are not forgotten, it is a very encouraging thing to them. And we will endeavour to raise more funding to support them in anyway we can.
How much has your visit shaped your impression about Nigeria and her people? The people that I met in Maiduguri are some of the warmest, most loving and the most optimistic people I have come across. The only problem is that at the moment, meal distribution is always complicated. Families with 10 children are given the same portion as those with three children. I have been to most parts of the world where there are conflicts and people are in camps, people with less children share the food among the people with large families. However, one thing I discovered here is that there is a huge sense of community support; and people are dancing, clapping and smiling with nothing left. Most of them have a kind of story you cannot even imagine. Stories about loved ones being murdered in front of them, people running from their homes, children dying. You can imagine the suffering the people have endured, yet, they are hopeful and imploring us to do more.
Does it not beat your imagination that part of these warm and loving people formed the terrorist group – Bokoharamand destroyed even their own people?
I don’t have enough information about the Bokoharam
Sect All I know is that Islamic extremism is an idea, and that its ideology comes from discontent and it is very, very hard to fight. I cannot comment on that now. The people I met on ground are Nigerians like you, and it is really hard to understand how radicalism happens. It is affecting everyone. In London, Islamic radicalism is also devastating the country. It is hard to understand but it is something we all have to acknowledge, that it is a global problem and it takes global support to fight back.