Yobe ready to domesticate Kampala Convention, says commissioner
By Ahmed Isah
The Yobe Government says it is prepared to domesticate the Kampala Convention to strengthen protection and welfare of Internally Displaced Persons in the state.
The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, gave the assurance while receiving a delegation from the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in Damaturu.
Bego said the government, under Gov. Mai Mala Buni, would act once the federal legislative process on the Convention is concluded.
He said the Convention provides a strong legal and institutional framework for protecting displaced persons, assisting them and pursuing durable solutions.
The commissioner said the state had earlier demonstrated commitment by domesticating the National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons and developing an Action Plan on Durable Solutions.
According to him, these steps place Yobe among leading sub-national governments responding proactively to displacement, recovery and reintegration challenges.
He added that the initiatives align the state’s interventions with national and international best practices.
Earlier, the Director of Rescue at SEMA, Dr. Mohammed Jalo, said Nigeria signed the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in 2009.
Jalo said the advocacy visit was organised by SEMA in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association Access to Justice Programme and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
He said the engagement was supported under the European Union-funded Support to Displacement in Nigeria Project.
Jalo added that the Nigerian Bar Association, UNHCR, UN-Habitat and the International Organization for Migration planned further advocacy visits and a one-day sensitisation and training session.
Also speaking, the team’s lead consultant, Barr. Lukman of Yobe State University, said Nigeria’s dualist legal system required international conventions to be domesticated by the National Assembly.
He said advocacy was critical to the passage of the domestication bill, adding that the Ministry of Information remained central to the process.
