Not Just a ‘Grass Cutter’

Contrary to the opinion of the Senate, the Presidential Initiative on North-East (PINE) under the watch of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Babachir, is not just a grass cutter but a worthy predecessor of the Lt. Gen Theophilus Danjuma-led Presidential Committee on North-east Initiative (NCNI).
The Senate would have had a different opinion if it considered the real work done by PINE within the short time it operated under the SGF.

It must be noted that at inception, the Goodluck Jonathan administration domiciled PINE in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). And most of the initial works and attendant expenditure were done under the supervision of ONSA. It was Buhari that reorganized it and placed it under SGF in last year for ease of coordination since most of the agencies working on the North-east are government ministries and departments.

Its mandate was to mobilse targeted resources to provide emergency assistance to people and communities displaced and adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency; jumpstart and stabilize the region’s economy; and strategically position the region for long-term prosperity. It had 24 members, including representatives of government ministries, departments and agencies, Victims Support Fund (VSF), a representative of the North-East Economic Summit Group (NEESG) and the Nigerian Red Cross working with many development partners.

Upon its inauguration, it quickly developed a three-prong implementation strategy for delivering its mandate. First was the short term plan that was designed to provide emergency assistance and economic stabilization to the victims of the insurgency. This programme covered 11% of the projected 150, 000 households targeted by PINE’s Comprehensive Relief Program across the six states in the region. The second was the medium term plan, aimed at restoring lost livelihood and engaging the region’s youth population in productive works. The third was the long term plan that focused on the development of basic infrastructures: Agriculture, Health, Education, Safety and Security, good governance, international trade and regional economic growth.

In fulfillment of its first implementation strategy of providing emergency assistance, PINE intervened massively in the provision of relief assistance, including food and non-food materials to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the peak of the crisis till the Senate intervention. Specifically, the initiative procured relief materials comprising 960 tons of food items, 450 tons of non-food items, including 17,500 bundles of roofing sheets (zinc), 300 tons of cement for IDPs across the region and 360 tons of food items for IDPs in Niger Republic. It also provided 2,005 tents for IDP families in Borno State.

In pursuit of it second implementation strategy of restoring lost livelihood; PINE began the process of rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. It was hoped that this would not only help to begin to resettle the displaced but would also provide some jobs as the rehabilitation works begin. In specific terms, the initiative rehabilitated or renovated 28 schools burnt down by the insurgents. It also face lifted 32 police stations and two police barracks that were burnt down by Boko Haram in Adamawa and Yobe States. It upgraded and equipped the Burn Centers at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Center, Yola. PINE also provided two ambulances to the Federal Medical Center, Yola and the State Specialist Hospital, also in Yola.

As part of its core mandate of restoring economic activity to the ravaged communities, it removed invasive plant species on River Kumadugu and channeled the river in order to provide irrigation for communities along its banks.
Interestingly it was the award of the contract for the removal of the invasive plants and the channelization of the river that created the uproar at Senate. Yet the contact was not only awarded in compliance with the procurement law, but was also duly executed. The people have since started enjoying the fruits of the project as farmers returned to their farms using water from the irrigation scheme of PINE. Fishing had also returned as the invasive plants had been cleared. It is worthy of note that there is already a large scale production of onions along the banks of the river, so much so that an international market has been created with traders coming from far and wide, including Ghana and Niger to trade.

But by far the most important work that PINE did was the development of a Marshall Plan for the resettlement and reintegration of the communities ravaged by the insurgents.
Developed by a 22 member special committee, including representatives of relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, Victims Support Fund, North East Economic Summit Group, Nigerian Red Cross Society, some large companies in the region and several development partners, the plan contained the assessment of needs of the affected part of the region, the specific strategies to address these needs, the framework for monitoring and evaluation and cost estimates for specific interventions.

The plan, which estimated that about 282, 422 IDP households would return to their communities in the next one year, itemized the areas of need as cleaning, clearing and sanitation; restoration of sanitized water and hygiene; provision of food and non-food relief; cash transfers and housing refurbishment materials and support.
Other areas identified are trauma counselling; education and safe schools; healthcare delivery; agriculture and food security; critical infrastructure and productive works; empowering people; community leadership support and post conflict security.
The plan, which has since been submitted to the Danjuma-led PCNEI estimates that a whooping N286billion would be needed to meet these needs.

It is rather disappointing that the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Worsening Conditions of the IDPs in the North-east led by erstwhile human rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, neglected to recognize these monumental works of PINE and decided to scandalize the initiative with an isolated case of a private transaction between Josmon Technologies Limited and Rholavision Nigeria Limited over the funding of a contract won by the former. For the kernel of the Senate findings was the transfers of monies from Josmon to Rholavision, insisting that the transaction was suspicious.

Senate’s suspicion arose from the fact that Babachir had interests in Rholavision and that the transfers were kickbacks for a contact Josmon got from PINE that was then under the watch of the SGF.
Although the SGF has since denied the charge of corruption, which is now the subject of a presidential review, it is important to note that nothing in the Senate findings showed that the said N233million contact awarded to Josmon was done in violation of the procurement law. In any case the impression created by the Senate that the contract was for the clearing of invasive grass in the IDP camp was grossly misleading. Josmon was contracted for the clearing of invasive grass along River Kumadugu and the channeling of the river for irrigation and to enable fishermen in communities on its banks resume their fishing activities. The company also sank 115 boreholes, procured 42 canoes and provided 42 motorized boats, 42 water pump generators and pipes for irrigation. It also bought 1 Toyota Hilux pickup and reclaimed of 115 hectares of land for irrigation.

In any case, Josmon has said that the monies paid to Rholavision were refunds of a loan it took from the latter to execute the contract.

A second issue of interest is the claim by the Senate that the schools and police stations PINE said it rehabilitated or renovated were never built. On this, it relied on the initial testimony of Yobe State Commissioner for Education, Mohammed Alamin, who had claimed on the first day of the investigative hearing that he was not sure that the contracts were actually done. But upon the advice of the ad-hoc committee chairman that he should go back and verify his information, he had come the next day to recant and indeed, confirmed that the schools had been rebuilt.

It is necessary to state, therefore, that the claims by the Senate that PINE was a grass cutter, who actually did not cut any grass is grossly misleading and completely inaccurate. And since the report upon which it based its conclusion is an interim one, it is only fair that it directs its ad-hoc committee to go back and complete its work, taking care to pay more attention to the facts of the concrete evidence on the ground that PINE has delivered meritoriously on its mandate!
-Alkali, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Damaturu