Displacement to the camp vs Displacement to the city: a comparative study of IDP capabilities in Maiduguri, North Eastern Nigeria

Supervised by Dr Tom Goodfellow and Dr Glyn Williams. 

In the past two decades, an alarming number of people worldwide have had to abandon their homes and livelihoods in the face of civil conflict, natural or economic disasters or other threats. Because they do not cross an international border, they are considered ‘Internally Displaced People’ (IDPs) and not refugees. The Boko Haram conflict in Borno State, Nigeria, which began in the early 2000’s has taken the lives of more than 20,000 people and displaced in excess of 2 million people. Many of the displaced have fled their hometowns to other parts of Africa as refugees, but majority fled to neighbouring states and cities within Nigeria as IDPs. IDPs are a unique and understudied vulnerable group who go through a range of different yet interrelated economic and humanitarian crises. The consequence of unresolved IDP crises include a disruption in essential life support systems, worsened underdevelopment and continued decline in fragmented fragile security structures.

My thesis presents an inquiry into the needs and experiences of Internally Displaced People (IDPs). More specifically, it compares the needs and experiences of IDPs who end up in camps to the needs and experiences of IDPs who self-settle in urban areas in Maiduguri, Borno State, North-east Nigeria. This analysis and comparison of the needs and experiences of IDPs helps us to understand why and how the two categories of IDPs differ in terms of how they achieve basic human capabilities and how they can subsequently escape poverty and exclusion.

My first degree is a BSc in Geography and Sociology from Oxford Brookes University. Followed by an MSc in Urban Planning: Developing and Transitional Regions from the same University. I subsequently attained another MSc in Energy and Sustainable Development from De Montfort University.