When the Boko Haram onslaught began few years ago, not many would have thought it would generate into one of the worst humanitarian crisis since Nigeria’s independence. Many of the once peaceful homes in the north-east of the country splintered, forcing a new kind of migration pattern since the end of the civil war. Families were not only forcefully separated but killed in the mayhem. Worst hit were women and children who could not find their husbands and fathers but left with nothing to feed and nowhere to sleep. The last four years since the ill-fated campaign intensified by Boko Haram to seize control of parts of the north, over 3000 lives have been lost and thousand others displaced. Running from threats to their lives and livelihood, these Nigerians from communities such as Gwoza, Bama and Baga in Borno state have found their way, walking long distances and at great threat to their lives, to what is today called Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps scattered in selected cities in the country.

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There are about 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria, making it the largest in sub-Saharan Africa and third largest in the world. According to Nigeria Health Watch, it is estimated that 80% of IDPs in Nigeria are women. This is a parlous situation that has become worrisome if the number is anything to go by. What this means is that women who are supposed to be the nation’s hope are exposed to life-threatening situations within their society that is meant to provide basic necessities for their survival.

Among the many IDPs camp set up in Abuja is the New Kuchingoro camp, just 200 meter away from the popular Games Village in Abuja. Occupied by residents who had fled from Bogoro in Bauchi and states like Nasarawa, Plateau and Kaduna, the camp is not truly conducive to live. Apart from being over populated, sanitation is poor and security is not too tight.

Zainab Ibrahim, one of the residents with two kids had fled alongside her husband from Baga when the military campaign there intensified. Faced with an enormous task of keeping safe her kids, she met landmines on her way when Boko Haram militants waylaid them and killed many. It was through a stroke of luck that she escaped but her husband didn’t make it through. Till date, she is not sure if he was captured or killed. She is today one of the many residents of the Nee Kuchingoro IDPs camp which is overwhelmed by her fellow tribe, many of whom are women and children who had lost a husband, brother, sister or parent from the carnage.

Buoyed by the need to also add his voice to the on-going efforts at the IDPs camp in the country and channel resources that will add value to the lives of people like Zainab and other residents, the founder, Atimoh Odili Foundation (AOF), Dr. Atimoh Odili, kick-started a campaign tagged #TouchingLivesAtKuchingoro. This campaign was driven by Dr. Odili’s philanthropic gesture to fight endemic poverty and make meaningful impacts within a society plagued with monumental socio-economic challenges. Concerned by the plight of the residents in the IDPs, the AOF founder, represented by Miss Chioma Nwigwe, AOF Director disclosed that AOF takes up projects that really impacts on the lives of people and standard of living. This, to a large extent, is to extricate poverty from Nigeria.

The IDPs camp in New Kuchingoro formed part of a number of philanthropic campaigns embarked upon by AOF this December and in the past 8 months to address fundamental problems in the society. The New Kuchingoro campaign is vital to our core value which, among others, is committed to providing tools for sustainable development to vulnerable people living in rural communities across the continent. Forgotten, threatened, dejected, humiliated, gagged, pinched, ditched and hopeless, the IDPs camp show the palpable situation residents continue to face in their bid for survival. In order not to feel dejected and have something to smile home with, the New Kuchingoro camp, on the 19^th of December, received items worth over N20 million from AOF. The items received include relief materials, food items and other basic human needs.

According to Miss Nwigwe, “AOF is here to give hope to Nigerians and we believe that Nigeria can get better if we all work together to achieve it.”

The #TouchingLivesAtKuchingoro campaign was not only meant to distribute relief items but also aimed at intimating camp residents of the Foundations plans to kick-start a skill acquisition programme to help women and youths start a new an independent life. The New Kuchingoro camp will serve as the pilot for this programme and will last for about a year. In 2016, said Miss Nwigwe, “we will start a skill acquisition programme that will not only help empower residents but get them reintegrated into the society.

“We don’t intend to dash anybody money but teach them skills after which soft loans will be given through the mortgage bank to help participants start a business and make them accountable,’’ she noted.

While showing appreciation to AOF, the Chairman, IDPs camp, New Kuchingoro, Mr Philemon Emmanuel said he could not explain his gratitude for the gesture because “since January 2014 we settled down here as IDPS, we have not received this magnitude of support we are seeing today.

“We thank AOF” and promise to share according to the names of person on our lists and nobody will be left out,” he said.

Meanwhile, Miss Nwigwe disclosed at the close of the distribution that the #TouchingLivesAtKuchingoro campaign was privately funded by Dr. Atimoh Odili, founder of AOF and in essence show readiness to partner with other relevant government agencies or donor organisations who share in the idea of this project.

For Zainab Ibrahim and the 936 IDPs residents in New Kuchingoro, they may not have the opportunity to return to their homes in Borno at the moment, but with AOF’s philanthropic campaign, they can feel at home, knowing full well that life can have a meaning once again after so much hardship.

Raheem Oluwafuniniyi