The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has estimated that Nigeria has lost around $10bn over the past decade as a result of the protracted conflict in the country’s North-East, warning that the insurgency has crippled local livelihoods and undermined national development.
UNICEF’s Country Representative, Wafaa Saeed, disclosed the figure on Wednesday in Maiduguri during the launch of a new socio-economic reintegration programme for children affected by armed conflict.
Represented by UNICEF’s Child Protection Manager, Shah Mohammad Khan, Saeed said the decade-long insurgency had devastated household incomes and stripped young people of opportunities to learn and work.
“According to a 2024 study commissioned by UNICEF, the economic cost of conflict in North-East Nigeria has cost the country a staggering $10bn over the last 10 years,” Saeed said. “Conflict has not only weakened the national economy, but it has also crippled the income and earning potential of families and young people. For too long, many children and adolescents in the region—especially girls—have been denied the opportunity to learn a skill or pursue their dreams.”
She added that the conflict years had been marked by grave violations against children, including abductions and sexual violence, and warned that the erosion of livelihoods was having long-term effects on education, employment, and human capital development.
The new UNICEF-backed initiative aims to support children affected by armed conflict through vocational training and child protection services.
“Currently, 1,033 children—567 boys and 466 girls—are benefitting from vocational skills training in institutions across Maiduguri, Bama, Biu, Damboa, and Konduga,” Saeed said. The training covers a range of practical skills, including tailoring, information and communications technology, automobile repair, shoemaking, and carpentry.
“These vocational training centres restore not just learning, but also hope, dignity, and opportunity for conflict-affected adolescents and their families,” she noted, adding that participants also receive life skills education, psychosocial support, and formal certification.
UNICEF said more than a thousand children are expected to benefit from the programme each year, equipping them with practical skills to secure employment and rebuild their communities. “Graduates will not only build brighter futures for themselves but also contribute to peace, recovery, and resilience in their communities,” Saeed added.
The Borno State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abba Wakilbe, commended UNICEF and its partner agencies—the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)—for their joint support of the initiative.
“Let me particularly thank UNICEF for coming to our aid in many of our difficult situations,” Wakilbe said, pledging continued state collaboration in efforts to rebuild education and restore livelihoods in the region.
