On the request of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
\ndelivered a message of hope, restoration and comfort to Nigerians affected
\nby the insurgency in the North East when he visited one of the several IDP
\ncamps in Maiduguri on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He also told Nigerians displaced by the insurgency that the federal
\ngovernment led by President Buhari will not rest until every one has been
\nresettled back to their homes.<\/p>\n
The Vice President, accompanied by the Borno State Governor Kashim
\nShetimma and the Director General of the National Emergency Management
\nAgency (NEMA), Mohammed Sani Sidi, visited the Dalori Camp in the state
\ncapital, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the palace of
\nthe Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi.<\/p>\n
One of the major highlights of his visit was his stop at the Teaching
\nHospital where he interacted with a number of bomb victims undergoing
\ntreatment in the hospital. There he met Aisha Ibrahim, a baby girl who
\nsuffered severe burns from a terrorist bomb explosion. Touching the baby
\ngirl and comforting the mother Ms. Mariam Ibrahim, Prof Osinbajo promised
\nthat plastic surgery would be explored to improve her situation and
\nenhance her recovery.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Dalori camp, one of the 22 camps with over 18,000 IDPs,
\nthe VP said the President “out of great concern for the welfare and well
\nbeing of the very many men, women and children who are in this camp, asked
\nme to come and to join the Governor to see for myself what exactly is
\ngoing on in the IDP camps.”<\/p>\n
Continuing, he said the concern was not just for the IDP camps in Borno
\nState, but all the other states -ie Adamawa and Yobe that have been
\naffected by terrorist acts and insurgency.<\/p>\n
“The President is extremely concerned especially about the welfare of the
\nwomen and children, and of course the displacement of the people in the
\nNortheast and in particular those who are here in Borno State, ” Osinbajo
\nsaid after touring the camp interacting with the IDPs including men, women
\nand children.<\/p>\n
“President Buhari wanted me to go round and have some conversations, and
\nwe have tried to do so today. From the brief interactions I have had, it
\nis quite clear there has been a great deal of human suffering, a great
\ndeal of trauma, ” the Vice President observed.<\/p>\n
According to him, “the work of resettlement involves a great deal. It
\ninvolves not just taking the people back to where they came from, but
\nrebuilding their homes, rebuilding their markets, and rebuilding their
\nplaces of worship.”<\/p>\n
His visit to the camp, is only the beginning of the process, the VP
\nexplained, stressing that “our task has only just started, until every
\nsingle person who is in a displaced camp is back in their homes, we cannot
\nrest. Until every single child, who is an orphan is taken care of, we
\ncannot rest.”<\/p>\n
In order to accomplish the task, Prof Osinbajo noted that the federal
\ngovernment will be partnering with the state governments, development
\npartners, and with the aid workers adding that “all of this, we must do
\nwithin the shortest possible time, and that is exactly why I am here.”<\/p>\n
Briefly hinting on the potential cost and the implications of that for an
\nadministration that inherited substantial and huge public debts, the VP
\nstated that the rebuilding “is an enormous task and it involves a lot of
\nmoney.”<\/p>\n
He said, “as you know the administration is grappling with huge debts that
\nthe FG owes. In fact as you know, in the past few months, even in order to
\npay salaries of workers not just in the states but also in the FG,
\ngovernments have had to look for ways and means to pay those salaries.”<\/p>\n
Yet even under those circumstances, Osinbajo assured the IDPs that the
\nfederal government “knows that you who are suffering from terrorist acts
\nare even worse off. That is why your matters are priorities to the federal
\ngovernment.”<\/p>\n
During the visit he went into a temporary class room on the camp for
\nchildren, speaking words of inspiration to them.<\/p>\n
He told the children who gave a cheering applause that “the president has
\nsent me to tell you that he is thinking about you everyday, and your
\nparents everyday to make sure that you go back home and that you resettle
\nand that you continue with your education.”<\/p>\n
He added that “we are here to make sure that we see how you live here and
\nhow you are doing. And also to find out whatever support the government
\ncan give to you and your families. Very soon, you will be able to go back
\nhome.”<\/p>\n
He concluded by telling the children “everyone of you will be a great
\nNigerian. You will all stay in school, you will be doctors, you will be
\nlawyers, you will be engineers, you will be good politicians, you will be
\ngovernors, you will be presidents. Yes, that is what will happen.”<\/p>\n
The Vice President conveyed the appreciation and thanks of the President
\nfor the efforts of Governor Shetimma, NEMA, UNICEF, Red Cross, other
\ndevelopment partners and all those who have been supporting the displaced
\nNigerians all across the IDP camps in the affected states.<\/p>\n
All through the visits to the camp, the hospital, the palace and across
\ntown, the Vice President received a warm reception with the people lining
\nup the streets waving, singing and applauding him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the request of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo delivered a message of hope, restoration and comfort to Nigerians affected by the insurgency in the North East when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n