.Honourable Federal Commissioner HFC National Commission for Refugees Migrants and internally Displaced Persons NCFRMI, Hajiya Imaan- Suleiman-ibrahim was appointed in June last year precisely in 2021, after her redeployment from National Agency for the Prohibitions of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP after six months stint in the organization.
Imaan known as ‘Mrs Reformer’ for few months carried out a wholistic template on her intention to repositioned the moribund agency before his redeployment to NCFRMI.
Even at that, few months at the mantle of leadership in NAPTIP, aside her passion for staff welfare and synergy with both private and international body to curb human traffickings, she opened up offices in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
The impressive performance and template introduced few months into her leadership of NAPTIP encouraged the government into redeploying her to NCFRMI, to tap from her huge wealth of experience garnered both from the private and public sector.
Soon after her redeployment, she quickly settled down to acquaint her self of the rudiments of humanitarian entity enlarged from the previous assignments in NAPTIP.
Knowing the demanding nature of the new assignment, the Honourable Federal Commissioner quickly settled down to addressed and tackled headlong the lingering crises of IDPs and persons of concern POCs in Nigeria.
She stressed the need to give special attention to the vulnerable persons in the society from both natural and artificial phenomenon ranging from Refugees, stateless persons, Returnees, asylum seekers both in Nigeria and outside the shores of the country.
Hajiya Imaan-Suleiman-ibrahim introduced new policies and programs as well as rebranded some of it’s activities with a view to delivering on her mandate.
With a high staff morale and financial prudence, the new leadership deployed both the foreign and local partners as launching pad on it’s new programs.
He prioritized the provision of basic amenities, relief materials for households,in collaboration with Defence, DEPOWA and Nigeria Army Officer’s Wives Association NAOWA.
She also transformed operation zero hunger to ‘Project Zero Hunger’ that brought succor to persons of concern POCs.
With the second phase providing individuals and organizations an opportunity to feed one POCs each one, feed one.
The project embarked on distribution of food items and non- food items to the POCs scattered around FCT, Borno , Kaduna, Kano, Nassarawa, Lagos ,Niger and Plateau states among many other states of Nigeria.
Another legacy of the new leadership in NCFRMI is not only giving the necessities of life to the IDPs, but engagement routes to the persons of concern POCs.
It introduced Project Skill Up to train selected POCs in skill acquisition, development and capacity buildings in the IDPs.
The new project skill up had trained 50 POCs as pilot program in carpentry, tiling, welding, tailoring, barbing, shoemaking, hairdressing, make up,cooking, web design, graphics, photography, videography among many others .
It also partnered with National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA to train IDPs on digital technology, synchronized data base of POCs and dash board integration with a view to moving the IDPs into digital age inline with the global expectations.
The new project NCFRMI go digital initiated by Imaan Suleiman-ibrahim provided interventions, monitor progress and development as well as implementation of digital template towards digital age.
In line with the new project skill up, innoson motors ,one of the indigenous companies is expected to train persons of concern POCs on Engineering and. manufacturing in auto Mechanic, Electric and Electronics, spraying and painting , fabrication, welding and general introduction to information technology/general auto diagnostic, creative arts, auto engineering and repairs.
Another cardinal project ‘Education for All’ was geared towards giving POCs in IDPs seamless education with private sector involvement in all areas.
Under the new project, library information center was renovated in Waru, along Apo Kabusa in Abuja, FCT IDP camp, and subsequently relaunched.
The new library was a template convened and expected to be replicated in all the camps across the country, as a hub of education is Libraries.
Aside project zero hunger, skill up and Education for all , the need to address the lingering Health challenges became germane,hence the introduction of ‘Project Health for All.’
Therefore, medical outreaches was organised across IDPs in FCT to be replicated all over the country, in partnerships with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA to administer COVID-19 vaccines among many other medications and health agencies within and across the country.
Because of unforseen circumstances and emergencies both at the local ,state and federal level, the need for concerted collaboration cannot be over emphasised, along with agencies of government, private conglomerates to generate funds and relief materials for the IDPs in Nigeria.
This positive development had opened up another chapter to re-address natural disasters like the yearly floodings, fire outbreaks and other natural phenomenon, as well as humanitarian crises in Nigeria.
To give more commitment and welfare to the POCs , just one year down the line, the new leadership embarked on construction of 400 housing units each in some states of Nigeria consisting of first and second phase.
The first phase of accomodation of resettlement, rehabilitation and reintegration centre is to enable the POC’s have a permanent transit abode across the country.
The first and pilot phase located in four states of Borno, Katsina, Edo and Zamfara states consisted of a primary health care centre, PHC, Education learning center, skill acquisition centre, recreational area and a solar powered borehole.
The second phase also located in Edo and Nassarawa states is geared towards becoming a world class humanitarian organization with effective and sustainable solutions for all POCs.
This is inline with the strategic vision of the current leadership to achieve it’s mandate in the shortest possible time, to the POCs in IDPs across the country.
In accordance with the five working strategies of Imaan Suleiman-ibrahim’s leadership in NCFRMI is strengthening it’s internal framework, streamlining the existing data with a view to improving on it .
Others are standard digitization program inline with the current realities, providing sustainable and durable solutions to the plight of POCs among others , and strategic partnerships for resource mobilisation both from the public and private sectors across the country, with the strategic vision and project drivers of the commission at pilot stages and varying stages of implementations.
With the zeal of the current leadership to take NCFRMI to greater heights and reduced to the barest minimum the plight of the POCs in IDPs, the swift implementation of these laudable programs outlined just a year in office, no doubt, alot will be achieved in the life of present administration to exterminate recurring humanitarian crises in Nigeria.
Written by Abubakar Yusuf ,all inquiries to [email protected].
