The Yobe government says it is ready to domesticate the Kampala Convention, which aims to protect and assist displaced persons in the country.
Information commissioner Abdullahi Bego stated this when development partners, led by Mohammed Jalo, the director of Rescue, State Emergency Management Agency, paid him a courtesy visit in Damaturu on Friday.
The Kampala Convention is an African Union treaty signed by Nigeria in 2009 and ratified in 2012 to prevent displacement, provide assistance to IDPs, and find durable solutions for them (return, reintegration, or resettlement).
In July 2025, both chambers of the National Assembly passed the Kampala Convention Bill, which now awaits the assent of President Bola Tinubu.
Signing the bill will provide government agencies, civil society, and international partners with the needed legal backing to implement coordinated strategies to address the plight of IDPs.
Mr Bego said the Governor Mai Mala Buni administration had demonstrated a strong commitment to addressing internal displacement by domesticating the National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons and developing an Action Plan on Durable Solutions.
He said, “Such milestones have positioned Yobe state among leading sub-national governments proactively responding to displacement, recovery, and reintegration challenges, while aligning state interventions with national and international best practices.”
Mr Jalo said that since 2009, at least 30 out of the 55 AU member countries had ratified the convention to safeguard the rights and dignity of IDPs.
He said that SEMA, in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association, UNHCR, UN-Habitat, and the International Organisation for Migration, was at the ministry for advocacy ahead of its planned one-day sensitisation on the convention.
The lead consultant of the group, Lukman Mohammed of Yobe State University, explained that Nigeria operates a dualist legal system, requiring international conventions to be domesticated by the National Assembly before states can enact corresponding laws.
He revealed that the domestication bill required advocacy, noting that the ministry was a critical partner in the campaign.
(NAN)
