What compensation or support will displaced families receive upon returning home?

Q26: We have lived in IDP camps for years and want to return home. How will you make our communities safe enough for us to return and rebuild our homes and lives? Answer: Security forces will clear and secure affected regions, establishing permanent Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) and civil protection posts before organized civilian resettlement begins. Q27: Displaced families have lost farms, livelihoods and children's education. What support will you provide to help them restart their lives? Answer: Returning families will receive rebuilding grants, basic household assets, starter seeds and tools, micro-loans, and immediate restoration of basic health centers and schools. Q28: How will you ensure that money, food and assistance intended for IDPs actually reach displaced people rather than being diverted?

It is with great adulation to God and a heart full of gratitude that I join other patriots to welcome Nigerians to the New Year 2024. The past year was definitely a challenging year, but the lessons that we took away from it are what should prepare us for the future that the New Year holds. It is my belief that one of the reasons the Almighty created time and season is for us to take stock of our realities and effect necessary amends. Certainly, many families and businesses already know the intensity of the trying times that we are currently going through - though we could have taken a completely different pathway, had the government been smarter with their policy prescriptions. The rising cost of food items, goods and services, the malfunction in our national economy and the degenerating state of our national and community security are all existential challenges that we have to face squarely in the New Year.

Nigeria is not working: One year of Tinubu is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. On May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu raised the hopes of Nigerians with his pledge to “remodel our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and an end of extreme poverty.” Since then, Tinubu has also spoken about growing the economy at double-digit rates to US$1 trillion in six years, ending misery, and bringing immediate relief to Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis. On listening to this, Nigerians must have breathed a sigh of relief after their experience with ex-President Buhari’s 8 years of economic misadventure. Tinubu laid out no plans for the ‘remodeling’ of the economy but soon embarked on a cocktail of policies to achieve it. In May 2023, he eliminated PMS subsidies, and a month later, the CBN implemented a new foreign exchange policy that unified the multiple official FX windows into a single official market. More policies followed in rapid succession: the tightening of monetary policy to reduce Naira liquidity, a hike in monetary policy rates, the introduction of cost-reflective electricity tariff, and a cybersecurity tax.

As someone from Adamawa, this incident feels deeply personal. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones, to those who were injured, and to the entire community forced to seek refuge in the bushes for safety. The government must move beyond mere rhetorics and propaganda and take decisive, sustained action to protect lives and property. Nigerians deserve more than promises; they deserve peace, security, and the freedom to live in any place of their choice without fear. May Almighty Allah grant eternal rest to the departed, healing to the injured, and comfort to all who mourn. -AA

I am deeply disturbed by a report from @dwnews highlighting the humanitarian tragedy in Kankara, Katsina State, where over 10,000 people have been displaced, and more than 40 villages abandoned following renewed attacks by armed groups. This grim reality is a reminder that piecemeal peace arrangements are not enough. What we need is a holistic, intelligence-driven, and sustained security strategy that protects every Nigerian community and restores dignity to those who have lost everything. My heart goes out to the displaced families who now face unimaginable hardship. I call on both the Federal and State Governments to provide urgent relief, ensure accountability, and take decisive steps to guarantee lasting peace. Nigerians cannot continue to live as refugees within their own homeland. The time for real, coordinated action is now. -AA

And what has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat. While Nigerians are lectured about hardship, those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. The people are told there is no money to ease their pain, yet government always seems to find money for its own appetites. Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection in place for the families who would bear the shock. Petrol, transport and the cost of moving food rose. He promised that the savings would benefit Nigerians. Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit? And beyond the market, our nation is bleeding. Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms. Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love. A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people.