The President Muhammadu Buhari government, may be forced to release another fresh $1 billion to deal with the effects of insecurity in the North, despite ongoing disquiet over the uncounted $1 billion fund meant for the purchase of weapons for the fight against insecurity in the country.
Nigerians were greeted with the news, that funds approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, for the purchase of arms by the Nigerian military, has gone missing.
This was disclosed by National Security Adviser to the President, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), in an interview with BBC Hausa.
He said, "The President approved the release of $1 billion for the purchase of weapons to fight Boko Haram and other security challenges. So far, I have seen nothing on ground and the new service chiefs also said they have not seen new weapons. May be they are still underway, but so far nothing on ground."
“No one knows what happened to the money but by God’s grace, the president will investigate to find out whether the money was spent and where the arms went,” he added.
Although the Presidency came out to defend itself from the allegation, saying the NSA's comments were misrepresented, Nigerians however, are still asking questions and demanding an investigation into the matter.
But while we all await for answers, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is requesting for the approval of yet another $1 billion it said, would be needed to address the Boko Haram-induced humanitarian crisis affecting more than six million people in 2021.
The UN agency stated on Wednesday that a combination of escalating conflict, displacement, and disruption has affected livelihoods coupled with COVID-19 restrictions leading to hunger for at least 5.1 million people.
The UN noted that this tally of displaced persons is the worst outlook in four years.
“Ongoing conflict continues to be the main driver of humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria, where millions of people have been displaced. Longstanding insecurity and violence, compounded by climate change, and the impact of COVID-19 are increasing the vulnerability of close to nine million people.
“Close to two million people are internally displaced, while millions of people depend on humanitarian partners for basic services, and up to 5.1 million people are facing hunger in the lean season – the worst outlook in four years.
“The humanitarian community and the Government of Nigeria officially launched the north-east Nigeria Humanitarian Response Plan for 2021 earlier today. The plan requests US$1 billion to enable partners to provide critical services to the 6.4 million most vulnerable people - amongst a total of 8.7 million people in need of some form of humanitarian assistance in 2021,” UNOCHA said.
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, added, “The year 2021 marks the twelfth year of the conflict and the sixth year of the international community working together with the Government of Nigeria to provide humanitarian support.
“Last year was a challenging year for vulnerable people in north-east Nigeria. It was a year marked by a new reality, the COVID-19 pandemic. The socio-economic impact of the pandemic has already diminished the resilience of millions of people, increasing the fragility of those who were already extremely vulnerable.”