Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State in northeast Nigeria has reassured residents of Monguno LGA during a two-day visit that his administration remains dedicated to providing unwavering assistance throughout his tenure.
Governor Zulum supervised the distribution of food and non-food items to at least 95,000 beneficiaries in Monguno. He noted that Monguno was one of the local governments in the state that was heavily devastated by the insurgency.
He said the population here is huge; within the last 7 years, their access to agricultural land was limited, and that has informed our decision to provide palliatives to all those living inside Monguno, though Monguno is hosting many people from different local governments, especially those that flee from their ancestral land as a result of the insurgency.
“So far, 55,000 women have gotten a wrapper and 5000 naira each, while not less than 40,000 men in households have received 25kg of rice and 10kg of beans.
Zulum stated that the Federal government of Nigeria, through the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), procured the rice, while the beans, wrappers and 275 million naira distributed to the women were directly from the state government.
Zulum said: “The government is working towards providing a medium- and long-term plan on a sustainable means of livelihood because the continued dependency of foods from government and non-government organisation is never sustainable; therefore, the Borno State Government is calling on indigenes to engage in agriculture for a more sustainable livelihood. We will ensure, as a government, to provide opportunities for irrigation farming.“
He pointed out that Borno State is different from other states; the insurgency has greatly impacted the people negatively. He recalled that the insecurity started in 2009 and about 4 million people were displaced, but gradually, with relative peace enjoined in the state, only about 1 million people are yet to be resettled. He reiterated that with such a number, the government will continue to provide palliatives to the people in the state until they are finally returned to their ancestral homes and also have access to their farmlands.
Similarly, Governor Zulum inspected the government science secondary school in Monguno, where about 50,000 IDPs are taking refuge.
He noted that the NEDC has awarded the complete rehabilitation of the school, but because of the IDP’s presence, the contractors couldn’t embark on the exercise.
The governor also inspected the ongoing construction of the Monguno Federal Polytechnic permanent side at the outskirts of Monguno, where he pledged the support of the state government by constructing a 4-kilometre road within the premises, providing temporary hostels, constructing housing for principal staff, and receiving a takeoff grant of 50 million naira from the state kit.
He further inspected the Monguno General Hospital and applauded the management for a job well done.
He said that the last time he visited, “it wasn’t like this, but today I have seen remarkable improvement in terms of service delivery and want to comment on the CMD, principal officers, and other medical staff.”
The governor gave the hospital management 20 million naira to care for their immediate needs at the hospital. He also visited the proposed side of the hospital, which was earmarked for the upgrade of the hospital to a specialist hospital.
