Hard As Nails

No doubt terrorism has ravaged most communities in the North-east region of Nigeria. Government agencies, international donor agencies and non-governmental organisations have channeled various degrees of assistance in addressing the humanitarian crisis the conflict is engendering. Some communities in the region have also come up with different endogenous resilience strategies that have helped to improve their capacity to survive the harsh realities of the war, wade off potential attacks, and continue to habit areas prone to attacks.

Some terror-affected people would rather remain in their communities than take refugee in overburdened and overstretched internally displaced persons’ camps where they are still faced with terrorists\’ attacks, physical and sexual abuse, and other inhuman conditions. Be it dignity or self-worth, some people in the North-east have resolved to remain in their communities and face the many shades of war than be displaced. They have organised themselves in different fronts to survive the insurgency.

It is important for government agencies (security agencies), international bodies and relevant stakeholders working in the North-east to focus on strengthening resilience capacities of these communities in withstanding the harsh realities of violent conflicts. The resolve of people to remain in their community could be an effective way of rebuilding lives in the North-east, and as part of the counterinsurgency strategy. As Nextier SPD current study in the Northeast advocates, the rebuilding of the northeast must be hinged on the understanding of how some communities have been able to remain resilient in the face of the war while others have not.

Relief materials and support should be sent to the communities as a way of strengthening their resilience, whether they are in active war zone or not. State and non-state actors should improve the capacity of these communities by providing basic amenities necessary for continued existence. Troops should be deployed to areas were community resilience is in existence to help maintain stability in such communities. This support will likely encourage them to provide local intelligence which seems to be a deficiency in the operations of the military in the fight against terror. Government must prove through actions, that they are totally committed to ending the war by saving and rebuilding lives in the war-rampaged North-east.

For Further Reading, Click: Strengthening Community Resilience