Comments on: New report chronicles Nigeria migration

By: Josiah Olubowale

Josiah Olubowale — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:02:23 +0000

I honestly think the most important dimension to IDP issue is those that result from vertically inititiated policies (government to the people) and not those from horizontal contests (various ethnic or sectarian) — Just as Prof. LeVan pointed out above.
This week, AI released their report on P/Harcourt:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/28/nigeria-building-development-homeless-amnesty
The point, therefore is that the discussion at this stage should not be restricted to Abuja. All the state governments have all fashioned out their reasons for land grabs and the Federal Government is keeping out of the way (never mind Goodluck Jonathan’s wife open confrontation with the Rivers State governor over one of series of demolition in P/Harcourt).
My take on it genrally is that the FG is trying very hard not to follow the path of the court to solve any of the difficult cases (one would think they will be showing a good example for the state governments).
It somehow leads back to the whole idea of Abuja itself: if the idea was initiated as a result of an ill-managed infrastructure, sanitation system and the environment — a move away from LAGOS and continued to be executed as such — that’s what we’ll continue to get.

By: Claudia E. Anyaso

Claudia E. Anyaso — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:26:43 +0000

Carl: My husband’s law office was on Addis Ababa Crescent in Abuja, not far from the Sheraton. His whole block was demolished (all the offices, restaurants, and shops) under the Obasanjo regime. The businesses retained a lawyer who is attempting to get restitution. All the occupants had certificates of occupancy and other documentation to prove ownership. The Federal Capital Terrirory government ignored all that, and the demlolition was seen as a “land grab.” So the Abuja situation has a number of different situations and the claim of returning to the original plan, has no credibility. v/r Claudia

By: Kirin Kalia

Kirin Kalia — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:07:45 +0000

Carl,
Thanks for your thoughtful response to the Nigeria profile. Most discussions of internal displacement focus on those uprooted due to conflict, general violence, and manmade or natural disasters. I would categorize the displacement of people in Abuja you describe under the “violation of human rights” part of the IDP definition (more on that in an this Source article: http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=9). How is what happened in Abuja similar/different from other urban displacement cases in Nigeria? As migrants rather than indigenes, I can imagine that the people who were forced out for Abuja’s “beautification” are more vulnerable than some of the country’s other IDPs.
Best,
Kirin