Honour for the Humanitarian

It was a bright Saturday afternoon in Bama, northeast Nigeria. The unmistakable puff of joy filled the air as a crowd sang and danced inside the palace of the Shehu of Borno, a highly revered traditional ruler. 

One man, however, stood out among the crowd. Dressed in a flowing white robe, green cape and wine hat, he sat on the back of a horse, ready to make a grand entrance into the inner chambers of the palace.

To the community, this is Usman Adamu Umar, soon to be turbaned as the Zanna Karapkama (humanitarian advisor) of Bama. But to the humanitarian community in northeast Nigeria, this is Usman, a child protection professional, UNICEF third-party facilitator and a humanitarian of over two decades.

Usman’s appointment as a traditional chief caps a history of a man given to child rights advocacy, resilience programme coordination and socio-economic reintegration support to children and teenagers affected by armed conflict.

“This recognition makes me feel that my service to humanity through UNICEF-supported interventions to conflict-affected children and women is publicly acknowledged by the community who sees, values, and appreciates my contributions,’’ says Usman.

Indeed, the title, Zanna Karapkama, elevates Usman to the position of an adviser on humanitarian affairs to the Sheu and the Bama Emirate Council. The newly minted traditional chief has equally declared his continued support for children and adolescents affected by conflict.

“The reward for hard work is more work. The title has already indicated more responsibility for me. I am highly motivated to increase my advocacy commitments and work closely with my line managers on child protection-related programmes that will continue to protect Bama children and women, thereby improving their resilience and wellbeing,’’ he adds.

The new Zanna Karapkama’s passion for Bama children is infectious. Yet, his humanitarian pedigree was not honed within Bama’s volatile geolocations. Rather, Usman’s motivations as a child rights advocate were formed as a secondary school student who joined his school unit of the Red Cross in Taraba State. “I was a 15-year-old junior secondary school boy when I developed a passion for being a humanitarian. Since then, I have worked with community-based organisations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and now as a child protection facilitator with UNICEF,’’ he adds.

For all his years supporting child protection services, Usman says his biggest achievement is the successful reintegration support for children and adolescents formerly associated with armed groups in Bama. According to him, the European-Union-funded (SD3R) community-based vocational skills for these adolescents are helping to transform the lives of many young people in the town. 

 “The SD3R intervention is one of the most transformative programmes for children affected by conflict in Bama. I have never seen a single programme with such a huge impact. The European Union is supporting two government-managed vocational schools, and over 3,000 teenagers and young people have been trained on different skills since the beginning of the programme.

“There are different departments, including tailoring, welding, building construction, auto mechanics and many others. We have successfully trained these adolescents to become self-reliant and build new lives for themselves. The majority of them are doing well. Imagine what would have happened without this intervention,’’ he says.

Implemented in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, the EU-funded Support for Disengagement, Review, Reintegration and Reconciliation of Persons Formerly Associated with Armed Groups in Northeast Nigeria is providing children abducted and formerly used by armed groups a lifeline. The project is implemented by a consortium of United Nations sister agencies, including UNICEF, through Government and local implementing partners.