Review of National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria

Abstract

 In 2012, after the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of guiding principles for the prevention and management of internally displaced persons all over the world in 1998, and its adoption by the West African States in 2006, and by the African Union in October 2009, the question of the need for a national policy on internally displaced persons in Nigeria became louder than ever. The need became even clearer the number of IDPs in different parts of the nation was on the increase, daily exploited, abused and neglected. More so, the impact of internal displacement on IDPs and host communities, which include lack of access to the basic necessities of life such as food, water, shelter, etc., and the overstretching of social basic amenities which begins to breed tension between the IDPs and the host communities. In the absence of a policy of this kind, the response to the root causes and plight of IPDs was fragmented, uncoordinated, very poor and ineffective. Based on these considerations, the federal government adopted the national policy on internal displaced persons in Nigeria in October 2012. This paper is written to review on policy document in relation to its commitment and effectiveness in regard to the course of the internally displaced persons in Nigeria. Thus, the critical method of inquiry would be adopted for the purpose of this research.