Roots of conflict are in the past, says Norwegian NGO

Nigeria's recent spate of internal conflicts, which have displaced some 400,000 people, takes its roots from numerous socio-political factors and also from years of underlying tensions between various communities, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Wednesday. Decades of military rule, during which freedom of speech and expression were virtually non-existent contributed to the current conflicts. However, "with the coming into power of Olusegun Obasanjo as president in May 1999 and the introduction of democracy, the Nigeria people were given an opportunity to express their anger and frustration. It is therefore not surprising to see a rise in conflicts", the NRC said. According to the NRC, Nigeria's conflict-induced displacement emanates from five sources: ethnic rivalries, religion, agricultural policies, new administration boundaries, and oil-related issues. Children, women (pregnant and nursing) and the elderly are the most vulnerable, while food, water/sanitation, drugs constitute their most common needs. Like in most conflict areas, assistance has come jointly from the national government, UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs, NRC said. NRC, which runs a project known as The Global IDP Database, has added Nigeria to its database. For more information on the NRC's IDP database, see www.db.idpproject.org