February 27, 2017

RFI: Oslo Conference calls on donors to fight famine, starvation

January 24th, 2017

Radio France Internationale

Clea Broadhurst, journalist with Radio France International, interviewed Yan St-Pierre on the food crisis in Northern Nigeria, caused by Boko Haram.

Yan St Pierre is a counter-terrorism adviser who works for a group called Modern Security in Berlin. He says that because of the Boko Haram militants, people have been forced out of their homes into towns or camps for refugees and cannot farm or fish, which increases pressure in the towns.

“Historically, it’s proven that tossing money isn’t that effective,” St Pierre told RFI. “Real, practical solutions need to be found before this.”

St Pierre explains that the Nigerian government, first and foremost, needs to recognise that their battle against Boko Haram will still last, will last a long time, and to stop pretending that everything is alright and that the areas have been secured.

“This is big problem. So the first bigger step is to recognise that there is a problem, that it is still there, that it is growing, and once that recognition is there, then people can say ‘well, okay, how can we find a solution’. But as long as people are being ostriches and putting their heads under the sand, it is going to be difficult and just tossing money around, with all the graft and corruption in that region, it just makes things more complicated.”

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