Generation X: Boko Haram crisis: Nigerian tycoon Dangote donates $10m in aid

Young girls fleeing from Boko Haram Islamists walk past burnt house and carries belongings at Mairi village outskirts of Maiduguri capital of north-east Borno state, on 6 February 2016 — Image captionWhole towns and villages have been destroyed in the conflict

Africa's richest man, Nigerian business tycoon Aliko Dangote, has pledged $10m (£7m) to help families affected by Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency.

It is the biggest donation by a businessman towards easing the humanitarian crisis in the north-east.

The conflict has forced more than two million people to flee their homes, with most of them living in camps.

Nigeria's government is urging people to return to areas recaptured from the militant Islamist group.

Mr Dangote, who has an estimated fortune of $17bn, announced the donation while visiting camps in Borno state with its governor Kashim Shettima.

A leaked World Bank report estimates that about 30% of 3.2 million private homes have been destroyed in the state, which has been worst-affected by the insurgency.

Welcoming the donation, Mr Shettima said: "Our people are in dire straits and there is only so much that we can do with our limited resources."

Aliko Dangote in 2014 — Image captionAliko Dangote, who made his money in cement and sugar, promised to keep visiting Borno state

Nigerian civilians who fled from Boko Haram in a camp near Maiduguri, Nigeria — Image captionTwo million people have been left homeless following Boko Haram attacks

Mr Dangote said his main priority was to help curb malnutrition and hunger in the camps, and to then create education and job opportunities for people.

"This is not the first time I am coming here and it will not be the last," Mr Dangote said, adding that he had previously donated about $6m to tackle the humanitarian crisis.

The north-east in extremely under-developed, with Boko Haram exploiting high levels of unemployment to recruit young fighters.

Some 17,000 people have been killed by the insurgency.

In December, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said the militants had been "technically defeated".

However, the group has continued to carry out suicide bombings, and attacks in north-eastern Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Boko Haram is affiliated to the Islamic State group, and says it is fighting to establish a caliphate in the region.

Boko Haram at a glance:

Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, hundreds abducted, including at least 200 schoolgirls
Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS's "West African province"
Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
Regional force retook most territory last year

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