UN Official Reveals Root Cause of Bloody Conflicts in Nigeria

A United Nations (UN) official has blamed land degradation and competition over access to land and water for bloody conflicts in Nigeria than Boko Haram.

The Executive Secretary of UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, who stated this in an interview in Ankara, Turkey noted that more lives have been claimed in conflicts over access to land and water than Boko Haram and more conflicts between people that are competing for access to land and water occur every day.

Speaking on the sidelines of 2019 World Day to Combat Desertification in the Turkish capital jointly hosted at Ankara Congresium by Government of Turkey and UNCCD, with ministers from 10 countries in attendance, Thiaw said the root cause of the competition is access to natural resources.

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World Day to Combat Desertification is celebrated every year globally on 17 June to promote good land stewardship for the benefit of present and future generations.

According to the UNCCD head, U growing population with growing demand on resources, coupled with Climate Change and reduction of available land resources, were root causes of most of the bloody conflicts.

“So, the tipping point was reached long time ago; and most of the time this is also combined with bad governance at national levels,” Thiaw added.

While noting that land restoration could not be left in the hands of governments alone, the UN official called for a review of the land tenure system in order to mobilise private business investment into the programme.

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“This means there should be some concession for the business sector to participate in land restoration. It means that if a business restores a land, it gets a concession on the land for 50 years or more so that the land remains restored rather than leave it barren.

“Otherwise, why would I invest in land restoration if I had no right on that land; if the land continues to belong to someone else, I won’t invest in it,” said the UNCCD boss.