#CaravanOfHope for Nigeria's displaced persons

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - A coalition of Nigerian youths and professionals has spearheaded a new organization designed to help millions of their countrymen displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

#CaravanOfHopeNigeria, the name of the grassroots initiative, emerged following the outrage that greeted the publication of pictures of acutely malnourished children and hunger-stricken people, along with sordid details of diseases and deaths at displaced persons' camps across the country's northeast and beyond.

"This movement is a child of necessity based on the current plight of Nigerians with the spate of insecurity which is almost spiraling out of control," Sega Awosanya, one of the initiative’s leaders, told Anadolu Agency.

"We feel the enormous task cannot be left to government alone, thus the need to initiate a voluntary public awareness of the situation and a resulting provision of succor. We believe we can make a difference and save the souls of the innocent children dying weekly in the various camps," he added.

He said the organization is made up of people of diverse backgrounds who are united only by the need to help the weak.

For the past few weeks, relief agencies have churned out reports of the grim situation of millions of Nigerians affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. Figures and pictures have emerged to spotlight the urgency of the situation in the region, including a UNICEF warning this week that every day some 136 children suffering from acute malnutrition could face death if they do not get immediate help.

-Tackling acute crisis

"There are 2 million people we are still not able to reach in Borno state [in northeastern Nigeria], which means the true scope of this crisis has yet to be revealed to the world," Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s regional director for Western and Central Africa, added in a statement this week, underscoring the depth of the humanitarian crisis.

The Murtala Muhammed Foundation, a local group which helps with relief in the insurgency-wracked region, says 7 million of the 14.5 million affected in the violence are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with 3.9 million of them lacking food security. An estimated 1.6 million internally displaced persons lack shelter, while 3.7 million of them are "in need of access to proper healthcare," according to the group.

At least a million children are out of school, while thousands are battling cholera in Borno state alone, it added.

In a report last month, Doctors Without Borders warned of an "acute health crisis" at one of the largest displaced persons' camp in the town of Bama, where it found the graves of 1,233 displaced persons dug within the last year, 480 of them children.

This grim situation is not helped by claims that officials assigned to distribute food and relief materials are instead diverting them. Last month, the government of Borno launched a probe into video footage of officials caught diverting relief materials.

#CaravanOfHopeNigeria, according to Awosanya, is calling for donations from citizens who are troubled by the pictures from the region. He added, however, that the initiative hopes to stimulate other citizen-led initiatives for the displaced persons.

The group has identified a camp in the capital city Abuja – host to thousands of displaced persons from the northeast – for its pilot project, estimated to cost 1 million Nigerian naira, or $3,509. This is to be raised from caravan volunteers and other donors.

"The project [to be launched at the end of July], is hydra-headed, with geopolitical controllers handling each division according to geopolitical zones under the caravan umbrella," according to Awosanya.

The group will try to cover all regions of the country, and every quarter it will have social activities, such as a huge LiveAid concert in Abuja and Lagos featuring local and international artists, with 80 percent of the proceeds going to supplies for the various camps across Nigeria, he added.

The remaining 20 percent will go logistics and staff within the organization, he said.

- Off-the-grid camps

The focus, he explained, will initially be limited to providing food, vitamins, medical supplies, clothing, and eventually the rehabilitation of these camps into a sanitary, habitable condition to prevent disease outbreaks.

"Transferring skills is also another stage once we’re able to stabilize. So as you can see, this is not a short-term project. It’s a long-term project up until the government succeeds at returning them to their homes," he said.

Aliyu Gebi, another leader of the initiative, said they target only camps that are "off the grid" - meaning that their efforts will be geared towards camps not directly under government care.

"We decided to come together as private citizens under a single platform to help with the efforts as regards IDPs [internally displaced persons] in Nigeria," Gebi told Anadolu Agency.

"Our efforts seek to ensure food [aid] gets directly to those in need without government participation. We also seek to set up food banks around the country with a distribution matrix that ensures transparency, accountability, and quick access to those in need," he added.

Samira Ibrahim, a COHN volunteer and activist for #BringBackOurGirls – focusing on the over 270 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014 – said she joined the cause because everyone has a duty to lend some help to the needy.

"For humanity, I am unable to stand by and do nothing when fellow humans are in peril," Ibrahim told Anadolu Agency.

"I know what it's like to be hopeless and not have a way out, it's not a good feeling....Everyone has a role to play in this matter. I am thankful for the opportunity to be honest. I look forward to giving my best to this cause. And I hope all Nigerians will join hands to make it successful," she added.