Recently, the U.N. Assistant Secretary General and lead humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer stated that European countries have made little efforts to address northern Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis, as the crisis continues to be ignored. Lanzer also stated that the situation facing the Lake Chad region is also in the EU’s broader interests, as he stated, “It’s not only that we want Nigeria to be stable for the prosperity of that country and its people,” he said. “Also, it’s in our broader interests at home.” Lanzer continues to state that; “this is a double win if you want. You don’t want the most populous country on the African continent becoming increasingly unstable; at the same time, you want people there prospering and not having to flee violence or seek opportunity elsewhere.”
Currently, it is estimated that in the Lake Chad region, which straddles the borders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, there are more than 10 million people in desperate and urgent need of humanitarian assistance, which Lanzer stated was as bad as any he had seen in 20 years.
Northern Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis occurred after the uprising of the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram. Since conflict and violence broke out in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed and over 2 million people have been displaced, while it is estimated that 1.8 million people remain internally displaced.
A major donor conference will be held in Oslo, in which Nigeria, Germany, and Norway will come together to discuss the current matters regarding Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Borge Brende, stated, “this crisis has been largely overlooked. We are therefore seeking to mobilize greater international involvement and increased funding for humanitarian efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.” This conference will be conducted on the 24th of February.
In December, the UN called on global donors for $1.5 billion, in order to provide the urgent humanitarian assistance needed for the crisis in the Lake Chad region, including $1.05 billion for Nigeria. The 2016 appeal was originally for $531 million and had only received 53% of its funding, as of this month.
“There are about 515,000 children who are at risk of starvation right now, so step up, Netherlands; step up, Denmark. You have got to show some solidarity now and it is in your interests to do so.” Said Lanzer.
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