The North East Children’s Trust (NECT), in partnership with Design Union, has marked the fifth anniversary of a resettlement model for displaced children in the Northeast, tagged ‘The Sanctuary.’

Poor living conditions are among the myriad challenges that confront most persons displaced by war or conflict. They combat problems of overcrowding, shortage of accommodation, poor sanitation, lack of access to medical facilities, potable water and nutritious food in resettlement camps provided by government as temporary shelter.  

The Sanctuary targets 3,500 displaced children. It is a novel solution to solving accommodation needs of displaced children. The project is a model resettlement solution aligned with International Union of Architects and Rehabilitation International’s call for a 21st century symbol of accessibility to represent the core values of rights and inclusion, independence, physical and virtual accessibility for all, including people with disabilities.

Speaking on the project, yesterday, Managing Director/CEO, Design Union, Anthony Aihie, said the company designed a model housing project for the resettlement of 3,500 displaced children in the Northeast.

The facility, designed for the NECT (an initiative of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo) in 2017, was formally handed over on March 21, 2022.

“This facility resolves the problem of educating, housing and nurturing displaced children of primary and secondary school age. Building a befitting resettlement accommodation for the children was paramount to healing the trauma occasioned by the mindless attacks and destruction of their ancestral homes, killing and abduction of their parents and siblings by terrorists.  

“As the children arrived, we were confronted with some daunting questions: do we have what it takes to do this? How do we restore what was lost – hope, dreams and transform the lives of many children made vulnerable by the conflict? How do we nurture, empower and renew?

“We had no prior model; all we had was a burning desire to reignite the flame of hope in the hearts and minds of the children we had been entrusted with,” he said. 

Osinbajo, while speaking at the commemoration event in Abuja, went down memory lane on how Design Union came to the rescue at the nick of time, amid frantic search for solutions to resettling children at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Dalori, Borno State.

Osinbajo said The Sanctuary, which incorporates The Learning Centre (TLC), has transformed the lives of hundreds of children today.

He cited Abba Alhaji, an escapee from Bama, who had never been to school but is now a JSS 3 student at Government College, Maiduguri, as a living testimonial of the impact of the project. He was one of the first set of children received at the facility on April 10, 2018.