By Denrele Animasaun

“If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see.” —Henry David Thoreau

The look of hunger on the emaciated child in the newspaper was shocking and more shocking that it is not a child from the usual drought-stricken country.  No, it is not, this picture was a Nigerian child.

Who would believe that over 1,200 people have died of starvation and illness recently at an aid camp in Nigeria. This child is one of the thousands of displaced people who fled the terror in the north-east of Nigeria. According to the medical charity, Medecins San Frontieres(MSF) who are attending to the sick and the dying in the camp,there are too many people in the camp dying of acute malnutrition. Let this sink in:we have refugee camps in Nigeria.  It is shocking and tragic .

The MSF reported that  there are at least 24,000 people,including 5,000 children,sheltering in the camp located in a hospital compound in Bama. Out of that number, nearly 200 people have died of starvation as a result of fleeing from the insurgents in Bama.

Boko Haram had decimated the city causing death and destruction for six months until it was liberated by the army from the deadly grip of the terrorists in March 2015.

The NIMBY (not in my back yard) crowd have to wake up and realise that this catastrophe is right at their doorstep and it is not in a far-flung country yet,it seems that the powers that be are not addressing this disaster and giving it the priority that it deserves. If it happened in Bama, it can happen anywhere in the country and one would hope that regardless of  where this tragedy is taking place,help should be expedited in reaching those in need. It is interesting that a lot of religious bodies are not campaigning to get aids to this places that need help.

Many of the refugees have lost their family, homes, livelihood, childhood and  they have fled to these refugee camps within the borders of Nigeria and neighbouring countries but it seems that they have fled from frying pan to fire. I have said in the past that more needs to be done for people fleeing this terror and  that many of this people are likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders and  that the displaced would need a coordinated financial and psychological support.

Frankly, this new development is shameful and it does send a message that people do not matter as much as they should. It is depressing to know that in these camps,as many as one in five children are suffering from extreme malnutrition.

The Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) does accept the dire conditions in Bama  was as a result of the fighting between the military and the Boko Haram insurgency and that the people who are ill at the camp have recently arrived in Bama from isolated areas that have become battlefields between the military and the insurgents.  The spokesperson said :”Because they’ve been in communities that were cut off without access, they couldn’t get food and medical supplies in those locations”.

Every Nigerian life matters yet, the past government misappropriated funds intended for curbing the activities of the insurgents, which meant that BH was able to maintain a seven year reign of terror that left over 20,000 people dead and more than two million people displaced. That is seven years too long to endure the vile activities of the insurgents.

This human disaster is reminiscent of the past and now in 2016,the tragedy is real  and on a daily basis the people in these camps are burying their dead;the young,the old and the vulnerable on a daily basis and the most vulnerable are too weak from hunger,succumbing to opportunistic illnesses and as many as 30 die a day from hunger or illness in a country where few have too much and many have not enough to sustain life. The intervention is from charity overseas so where are the Nigerian help and what are the plans to help address this human tragedy on Nigerian soil? It was only with the help of the military that the MSF has been able to reach Bama and help attend to those in dire need.

“This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical. And Ghada Hatim, MSF head of mission in Nigeria said :”We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors”

The government has to do better, there should be a robust plan to ensure that the displaced people are given the immediate help that they need and plans in place to resettle the displaced people and rebuild the towns and cities,give start ups for businesses to return, schools and health structures in the areas that were destroyed by the marauders.It is not going to be an easy process but action is needed to ensure that people can begin the healing and have some semblance of normality.

Better in  than out

They say  be careful what you wish for:you might just get it. The UK has delivered a blow to the European Union and on the 24th of June,has marginally voted to part ways with EU after 48 years.This decision has cost the Prime Minister, David Cameron his job and he has told the British people, that he will step down in October. The EU is an economic and political union which was established in 1951 and it initially consisted of  six countries and currently has 28 members.  One of the sources of discontent for the Leave group was that the EU can impose laws on member countries, but it is up to individual nations to implement them. David Cameron had promised to hold a referendum when campaigning for the re-election of the conservative party in the 2015 general election. There has been a growing number of Euroskeptics in his party and across the country and in particular,  the resentment that the EU can impose laws and the increasing influx of EU migrants in to the UK.The vote on whether to leave the EU – referred to as the Brexit – will have a wide-ranging impact on the global economy as well as the internal politics of the U.K.  One of the main tenets of the EU was the free movement of labour and the UK has benefited greatly as result, but in the time of recession the foreigners always get the blame. The number of strong nationalistic and divisive elements has risen and for those who voted to leave,the anti-immigration agenda was touted unashamedly and there may be a contagion of such elements in other European countries and it will affect businesses, political relationships, domestic and international policies and it will affect the Nigeria diaspora as the sentiments whipped up is very divisive with a xenophobic agenda and in time we will see how that impacts Nigerians home and abroad.

Although the outcome is not legally binding but now that the “leave” side has won, it is now up to the Parliament to repeal the 1972 act that authorised the U.K. to join the bloc. For a lot of people who think that it is better to go it alone, then it is important to watch the aftermath of this monumental and seismic outcome. This will have a knock-on effect on many lives inside and outside the UK.