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Rebuilding the North-East: Inside Nigeria’s Largest Post-Conflict Recovery Experiment

Published

5 months ago

April 22, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Rebuilding the North-East: Inside Nigeria’s Largest Post-Conflict Recovery Experiment

How the NEDC is attempting to turn years of devastation into a pathway for long-term development

By Michael Olukayode

For more than a decade, Nigeria’s North-East has remained a symbol of prolonged conflict and humanitarian collapse. The insurgency led by Boko Haram and its breakaway factions did far more than disrupt security—it dismantled entire communities, shattered economic systems, and altered the social and cultural foundations of a region once anchored by farming and cross-border trade.

The human cost has been staggering. More than 350,000 people are estimated to have died directly and indirectly from the conflict. Over 2.5 million individuals were forced from their homes, while at the height of the crisis, about 8.4 million people required urgent humanitarian support. Entire settlements across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe were destroyed, leaving behind a region marked by displacement and ruin.

A System Built from Collapse

The scale of destruction prompted the establishment of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) in 2017 under former President Muhammadu Buhari. It was created not simply as a relief agency, but as a long-term institutional response to structural breakdown across an entire region.

Early post-conflict assessments placed the cost of destruction at over $9 billion. Infrastructure losses were extensive: thousands of homes were destroyed, more than 1,400 schools were damaged or completely wiped out, and in some areas over 70 percent of health facilities became unusable. The agricultural sector—long the backbone of the regional economy—collapsed almost entirely, deepening poverty and food insecurity.

To coordinate recovery, the Commission was tasked with implementing the North-East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan (NESDMP), a blueprint designed to move the region from emergency humanitarian response into structured reconstruction and sustainable development.

From Emergency Response to Large-Scale Reconstruction

Since beginning operations, the NEDC has implemented interventions worth hundreds of billions of naira, funded through federal allocations and supported by development partners.

Its activities span all six states of the region—Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba—where thousands of projects have either been completed or are ongoing.

Across its portfolio, the Commission has:
• Built and rehabilitated thousands of housing units for displaced families
• Executed more than 1,000 infrastructure projects, including roads, schools, and healthcare centres
• Distributed millions of relief items during peak humanitarian emergencies
• Supported agricultural programmes reaching hundreds of thousands of farmers

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mohammed Goni Alkali, explained that the institution is now deliberately evolving its focus.

“We are transitioning from humanitarian interventions to sustainable development,” he said. “The priority is building systems that can endure beyond immediate recovery.”

He added that reconstruction must be understood beyond physical structures.

“It is not only about rebuilding infrastructure. It is about restoring livelihoods, rebuilding institutions, and restoring hope to communities,” Alkali said.

Gradual Return to Normalcy Across Communities

On the ground, signs of recovery are beginning to emerge across the region, though unevenly.

Large numbers of internally displaced persons have started returning to reconstructed communities, easing long-standing pressure on overcrowded camps. Schools that were destroyed or abandoned during the peak of the insurgency are being rehabilitated and reopened, restoring access to education for thousands of children.

Healthcare delivery has also improved, with rebuilt and newly equipped facilities expanding access, particularly in rural areas that were previously cut off. Road reconstruction projects are reconnecting isolated communities, improving movement, trade, and access to services.

The Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, acknowledged the role of the Commission in supporting recovery efforts.

“The NEDC has played a critical role in supporting the rebuilding of communities and restoring hope to our people,” he said.

Restoring the Economic Lifeline

Before the insurgency, agriculture was the dominant economic activity in the North-East, employing a large portion of the population. The conflict disrupted farming cycles, displaced rural communities, and left vast tracts of farmland abandoned.

Recovery efforts are now focusing on reversing that collapse. Through the distribution of seeds, fertilisers, and farming equipment, as well as investments in irrigation and dry-season farming, agricultural production is gradually resuming. Small businesses and cooperatives are also receiving support to stimulate local economies.

According to Alkali, economic recovery remains central to the Commission’s strategy.

“Without livelihoods, recovery cannot be sustained,” he said. “Economic empowerment is therefore at the core of our interventions.”

Moving Away from Long-Term Aid Dependence

One of the most significant shifts emerging in the region is the gradual transition from humanitarian dependency to self-reliance.

Although millions of people still require assistance, returning communities are increasingly rebuilding their own economic and social systems as stability improves.

Former United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, noted that recovery efforts are beginning to produce measurable improvements.

“There is clear evidence that living conditions are improving and that basic services are being restored,” he said.

Security Gains and Lingering Vulnerability

Despite notable progress in stabilisation, the North-East remains fragile. Military operations have significantly degraded insurgent capabilities, but sporadic attacks continue in some areas.

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the NEDC, Major General Paul Tarfa (rtd.), stressed that development must consolidate security achievements.

“Security gains must be reinforced with development initiatives. Only then can we achieve lasting peace,” he said.

Persistent Gaps in the Recovery Process

Even with extensive interventions, major challenges remain. Millions of residents are still dependent on humanitarian assistance, unemployment among young people remains high, and environmental pressures—including climate-related shocks—continue to threaten agricultural recovery.

In addition, funding limitations remain a key constraint, with the scale of needs far exceeding available resources.

The Managing Director acknowledged these gaps but reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment.

“The level of devastation is enormous, but we are committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver sustainable recovery,” Alkali said.

A Region Still in Transition

The North-East today exists in a complex state between crisis and recovery. It remains one of Nigeria’s most vulnerable regions, but also one of its most ambitious reconstruction theatres.

What is unfolding is a slow transformation: from destruction to rebuilding, from dependency to resilience, and from emergency survival to structured development.

Former United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, noted that recovery efforts are beginning to produce measurable improvements.

“There is clear evidence that living conditions are improving and that basic services are being restored,” he said.

Observing during his tenure in the country that: “The transition is visible, but sustaining it will require long-term investment and strong collaboration.”

Conclusion: Beyond Reconstruction

The work of the North-East Development Commission goes beyond rebuilding damaged infrastructure. It represents an attempt to reimagine post-conflict recovery at scale—linking humanitarian relief with long-term development planning.

From housing and healthcare to education and livelihoods, the foundations of a new regional reality are gradually taking shape.

Yet, as stakeholders consistently emphasise, the true measure of success will not be the number of projects completed, but whether the region can sustain stability, dignity, and opportunity over time.

In the North-East, the story of recovery is no longer only about survival.

It is about building a future that once seemed impossible—and ensuring it endures.

Rebuilding the North-East: Inside Nigeria’s Largest Post-Conflict Recovery Experiment

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National News

AT 3RD AFRICA MINERALS STRATEGY GROUP HIGH-LEVEL ROUNDTABLE

Published

1 week ago

September 22, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

AT 3RD AFRICA MINERALS STRATEGY GROUP HIGH-LEVEL ROUNDTABLE

President Tinubu Rallies Aggressive Alliance To Guard Africa’s Mineral Wealth

** *Charges continent to stop exporting wealth, start profiting from its own resources

** *Says Africa’s future being fashioned from minerals must have room for continent’s ambition

By: Our Reporter

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for a fresh continental push to end the historical exploitation of Africa’s critical mineral resources, urging African nations to unite and halt the export of raw materials.

Accordingly, he demanded an aggressive alliance among African countries to ensure the continent transitions from a mere supplier of raw minerals to a hub for local processing, manufacturing, and value addition.

The Nigerian leader made the call on Monday in New York, United States, during the AMSG High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa held on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Convened and chaired by President Tinubu, his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, alongside AMSG Chairman and Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Dele Alake, the high-level dialogue, themed, “From Resources to Wealth: Continental Cooperation for Mineral Value Addition, Data Sovereignty, Innovative Financing and Critical Minerals Security,” focuses on transforming the continent’s mineral wealth into sustainable economic growth.

In his address delivered by Senator Shettima at the Roundtable, the President told African leaders and other stakeholders that the continent cannot claim to be wealthy while its children wallow in poverty amid mines that enrich the world.

“For generations, Africa has furnished the materials of prosperity elsewhere. Our duty is to ensure that the future being fashioned from African minerals has room for African ambition,” he declared.

President Tinubu regretted that mineral-rich communities lack infrastructure, jobs, and a stake in their own wealth at a time when global demand for clean energy, AI, and advanced manufacturing has made Africa’s critical minerals—like cobalt, copper, lithium, and rare earth elements—indispensable to global supply chains and economic security.

The answer to such deprivation, he observed, “must be processing, refining, batteries, components, African technologies and competitive skills,” noting that “the worth of a mine must be counted in the lives it improves.

“Jobs, industries, infrastructure, technology transfer, African enterprise participation and prosperity retained across generations must measure our progress from resources to wealth,” he maintained.

The Nigerian leader warned, however, that no African country can achieve this alone, adding that competing through lower royalties, weaker local content, and excessive concessions will only weaken the continent’s negotiating power.

“Fragmentation leaves us exporting raw materials and buying finished goods at a premium. Cooperation gives our markets scale, our industries integration, our financing reach and our negotiations authority,” he said.

Back home, the President noted that Nigeria must require local value addition for new mining licenses, strengthen geological data and investor access, organize artisanal miners into cooperatives, combat illegal mining, and improve regulatory accountability

“Revenue rose from approximately ₦6 billion in 2023 to over ₦38 billion in 2024 and between ₦68.1 billion and ₦70 billion in 2025. Major foreign investment commitments and large-scale lithium processing capacity developed and commissioned in Nasarawa State demonstrate the possibilities,” he added.

He drew attention to his administration’s mining policy direction, which stipulates that minerals extracted in Nigeria must sustain Nigerian industries, workers, skills, and communities, saying ongoing reforms indicate that “firm terms can attract serious capital.”

Offering other African nations the Nigerian experience for adaptation across the continent, President Tinubu called for “reliable partnerships grounded in mutual benefit, shared responsibility, sovereign equality and respect for our priorities, with fair market access, industrial investment and technology partnerships that build African capabilities.”

He implored member countries of the AMSG to speak with one voice to promote Africa’s collective interest, insisting that reliability must never mean dependency, and partnership must never demand inequality.

On the Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration adopted and signed at the Roundtable, the President said it must establish a predictable, investment-ready environment for Africa’s Strategic Mineral Corridors, harmonised policies, responsible investment and shared infrastructure.

He stated that the Declaration’s authority must survive the signing ceremony through a binding programme with timelines, financing, implementation and public accountability, even as he urged African nations to specify national and regional contributions; development finance institutions and sovereign investors to propose financing platforms.

Declaring the Roundtable open, the Nigerian leader spearheaded an aggressive alliance to retain the continent’s mineral wealth, saying, “Africa’s power resides in its people, markets and ingenuity. No outsider will organise our continent or place our industrial interests above their own. We must integrate our markets, mobilise African capital and negotiate with one voice wherever our interests converge.

“Our industrial growth can strengthen global prosperity, the energy transition and secure supply chains. Minerals confer no automatic prosperity; vision, investment and industry must earn it. Political will must turn mineral promise into enduring African wealth.”

Earlier, Chairman of the AMSG and Nigeria’s Minister of Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake, said the group is proposing a Continental Integration and Economic Assurance Declaration (CIEAD) as a landmark continental framework designed to establish a unified architecture for Africa’s critical and solid minerals value chains.

He said the strength of the gathering reflected the journey and progress made in Africa’s solid minerals sector as manifested in the growth of the Africa Minerals Stategy Group (AMSG).

Alake urged African countries that have yet to join the group to do so in the bid to ensure synergy of efforts, ideas and resources needed for Africa’s natural resources.

He observed that Africa’s minerals ambitions cannot be realised by policy implementation alone as fully integrated partnership designed across financial transactions and infrastructure development as the way forward.

On his part, Kenya’s Minister of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, Mr. Hassan Ali Joho, underscored the importance of domestic resource mobilisation as a catalyst for solid mineral development in Africa and beyond.

He added that for members of the AMSG to achieve holistic transformation, members must stay transparent, competitive and work towards greater alignment of licensing procedure while respecting the sovereignty of member states of the group.

There were also contributions from representatives of the governments of Liberia, Chad and Tanzania, among other stakeholders.

AT 3RD AFRICA MINERALS STRATEGY GROUP HIGH-LEVEL ROUNDTABLE

National News

ECOWAS Court Turns to Media as Enforcement Gap Threatens Impact of Regional Justice

Published

1 week ago

September 22, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

ECOWAS Court Turns to Media as Enforcement Gap Threatens Impact of Regional Justice

…Abuja workshop seeks to strengthen judicial reporting and public accountability over Member States’ compliance with court decisions

By: Michael Mike

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is seeking to strengthen the role of journalists in holding Member States accountable for implementing its judgments, as concerns persist over the enforcement of decisions issued by the regional judicial institution.

The President of the Court, Hon. Justice Ricardo Claudio Monteiro Gonçalves, made the call at the opening of a three-day training workshop for journalists from ECOWAS Member States, urging participants to use their media platforms to draw attention to governments’ obligations under regional treaties.

He said the Court’s existing enforcement mechanism places responsibility for executing its judgments on Member States, but described the level of compliance as below expectation.

“Let me also urge you to use your media platforms to engage Member States on the need to faithfully implement the decisions of the Court in accordance with their treaty obligations,” Gonçalves said.

His remarks placed the spotlight on a central challenge facing regional justice: ensuring that judicial decisions translate into practical outcomes for individuals and communities.

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice serves as a regional judicial institution within the Economic Community of West African States, with jurisdiction that includes human rights cases involving Member States.

Its judgments can address allegations of human rights violations and provide remedies to applicants. However, enforcement depends on mechanisms involving national authorities rather than the Court independently executing its own decisions.

Under Article 24 of the Court’s Supplementary Protocol, judgments are enforced through a writ of execution submitted by the Chief Registrar to the relevant Member State, where execution proceeds according to domestic civil procedure rules.

The Court has also explained in its jurisprudence that Member States have obligations to comply with its judgments, while its own authority to directly enforce those decisions is limited.

This arrangement makes cooperation between the regional institution and national authorities an important part of the enforcement process. Differences in domestic procedures, institutional capacity and the implementation of regional legal instruments can affect how judgments are carried out.

The Court has identified enforcement as an area requiring stronger coordination with national institutions. In 2026, it held bilateral engagements with national authorities in countries including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to discuss compliance, institutional cooperation and practical enforcement challenges.

These engagements form part of broader efforts to improve the implementation of decisions across the region.

Gonçalves said limited public understanding of the Court’s mandate, procedures, jurisdiction and judgments was partly linked to gaps in media coverage.

He stressed that journalists need a sound understanding of the institution’s composition, structure and legal responsibilities to communicate its work accurately.

The president said the workshop was designed to improve judicial reporting and establish a network of journalists across the ECOWAS region who would report regularly on the Court’s activities.

“This training is, therefore, very important for the Community Court of Justice,” he said.

He expressed confidence that contributions from the Court’s Registry and Research Departments, alongside technical experts in journalism and judicial reporting, would help achieve the initiative’s objectives.

The workshop is expected to strengthen participants’ ability to explain court proceedings, interpret judgments and communicate the implications of regional judicial decisions to the public.

The media training comes amid continuing institutional efforts to improve compliance with ECOWAS Court judgments through closer engagement with national enforcement authorities.

In February 2026, the Court convened a meeting with Nigerian authorities on the status of enforcement of its decisions. Similar engagements in Sierra Leone and Guinea focused on cooperation, identifying implementation challenges and strengthening coordination between the Court and national institutions.

A further regional meeting of Competent National Authorities was scheduled in Cotonou, Benin, in June 2026, as part of efforts to develop a collaborative framework for enforcement.

The initiatives reflect the importance of national institutions in carrying out regional judgments and the need for more consistent procedures across jurisdictions.

Against this background, the Court’s engagement with journalists introduces a public communication dimension to its compliance efforts, encouraging media professionals to explain the obligations arising from judgments and report on implementation.

The training brought together journalists drawn primarily from national broadcast media organisations across 12 ECOWAS Member States.

The participating countries are Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Togo and Nigeria.

The initiative forms part of the Court’s Annual Cascade Workplan and is aligned with its Strategic Plan 2026–2030.

In particular, it supports Strategic Goal 4, which focuses on transparency, stakeholder engagement and strategic accountability, as well as Strategic Objective 4.2, which seeks to strengthen platforms for regular engagement with stakeholders.

Through the training, the Court aims to expand public awareness of its work and encourage sustained reporting on its judgments and activities.

For the participating journalists, the task extends beyond covering courtroom proceedings to explaining what decisions mean, which institutions are responsible for implementation and what progress is being made in giving effect to the Court’s rulings.