borno state: from war theatre to development site

It is no longer news today that Boko Haram, the extremist terrorist group has over the years, wrecked devastating havoc in Nigeria and its neighboring countries through a wave of unpopular bombings, assassinations and abductions, with the North- Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe mostly and deeply affected.

The level of socio-economic and infrastructural damages and ruins the activities of Boko Haram engendered in the country is quite huge. A recent report from the World Bank puts the cost of destruction at $5.9 billion. Some other corresponding statistics reveal that Borno State was home to majority of the more than the 2million internally displaced persons in the country- with over one million houses, a good number of classrooms and school buildings, local government and ministry buildings, as well as power sub-stations and distribution lines severely destroyed.

The counter-activities and responses of the Federal Government of Nigeria especially in recent times towards defeating the sect, such as its efforts to strengthen and intensify the military and its campaign through coalition with its neighbours, has sustainably and overwhelmingly weakened and suppressed the terror group, degrading its capacity to launch spectacular attacks.
Additionally, it is impressively commendable that the federal government is also making efforts- honest significant efforts, to rebuild the region and address the socio-economic challenges and developmental destructions in state precipitated by Boko Haram.

However, in projecting the recent remarkable successes of the country in addressing the menace, returning and restoring peace, as well as addressing the socio-economic and developmental challenges in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria, it is of importance to note the contributions of the Kashim- Shettima-led Borno State as it could easily be said that without the remarkable financial, material, logistics and intelligence support from Borno State, Nigeria would not have achieved the level of success it has achieved against Boko Haram.

In working with the Federal Government, the military, and other public and security agencies as stakeholders, the state had spent over N10 billion to boost the military campaign against insurgency- according to the media sources .This is contrary to the wide believe or opinions of many Nigerians that the Government of Borno State has made little or no contributions in the war against Boko Haram.

In spite of the fact that funding for security is exclusively the responsibility of the Federal Government- which should have obviously been the more reason for the state government to wear a laissez-faire attitude- the state government notwithstanding had laudably spent such a substantial amount of money for the procurement of armoured personnel carriers, patrol vehicles, hundreds of trailers of petroleum products, provision of material logistics and intervention in the area of accommodation to support security agencies.

With these, the Government of Borno State has demonstrated its commitment towards ensuring and fostering peace and security in the state as lack of security of lives and property of the citizenry is a severe hindrance to meaningful socio-economic development.

Even as the battle against this violent extremist have been won has been won significant plans and programmes to rehabilitate and reconstruct the people and the state across the sectors is been engendered by the state government.
In the health sector, for instance, it is on records that before the peak of the insurgency, all the hospitals in the state were functional with the medical equipment in them intact. Of about 38 secondary health facilities in the state, 18 among them were completely destroyed by the sect.
In this light, the state has dedicated 70 percent of the 2016 budget for capital expenditure, tailoring the budget to meet the basic necessities of people. The Ministry of Education got the highest allocation with a number of schools expected to be reconstructed. The Ministry for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement is next on the priority list with huge allocation as it is significant to rebuilding the state.

The government is also focusing on the agriculture and transport and others key sectors as it seeks to enhance food security and improve logistics in the country, foster trade and investment, access to healthcare, alleviate poverty, and empower women in the state- thus, ultimately healing the state of its wounds.

In a maiden media chat with his excellency, critical issues were espoused and mind blowing revelations were made by his excellency on the rebuilding of a new and transformed land of peace.

INTERVIEW excellency borno state.
Q. What is the Golden Secret to the Restoration of peace that has come to play in Borno State.
A. Thank you so much, we give credit to the Nigeria Armed Forces of which the Nigeria Police Force is a Major component for the restoration of Peace in Borno state and the North East as a whole, a year and half ago nobody could dare to go Maiduguri beyond 15-20 maximum kilometers, along maidugiri -Biu Road you can’t go beyond Daluwa, along Maiduguri- mongonu road the end point was just around 5 kilometers from Maiduguri along Maidurugi Bama Road. Our territory ended at Kunduga and from Kunduga Maiduguri upwards it was the so-called caliphate, along Maiduguri Mafa - Dikwa road, you could hardly move beyond Mafa, Just a few kilometers from the city gate was Boko Haram Territory. For us in the North East, we remain eternally indepted to President Buhari and the Nigeria Armed Forces of which they the Nigerian Police is a critical stakeholder For the restoration of peace not only in Borno but the North East as a whole.

We are making our modest efforts to partner with the security agencies of which the Nigeria Police is the first responder and they have done marvelously well, we have to commend the Nigeria Police Force for doing a wonderful job in complementing the efforts of the Nigeria Army, the Nigerian Air force, the Nigerian Navy which is playing a very minimal role in this terrain , and of course the Civilian JTF.

However, the Nigerian Army has succeeded in liberating the besieged areas it is the Nigeria Police that will fall back to maintain civil authority within the liberated communities, and I must confess they are doing a fantastic job.fall we have to commend them.

Q. what are you doing to rehabilitate your people and their ravaged communities?

A. Well, you have hit the nail of the head, we have won the battle, we have crossed the rubicon, but for us to win the war, there has to be concerted efforts from all and sundry towards addressing the twin devils that is the root of this madness, youth restiveness ,which is under-employment and of course extreme poverty and for us to make successful had way, we have to aggressively pursue the issue of reconstruction and rehabilitation of destroyed homes, social infrastructure like educational facilities, health care, and of course the symbol of civil authority of which included the police stations, Police Barracks, Prisons and so on, it might interest you to know that I am relocating to Bama, I will criss-cross between the Goza, Bama axis for about a week or two to ensure that we have began the rehabilitation of destroyed homes and Infrastructure, so that we can restore the dignity of our people, so that they can go back to their land and pick up the pieces of their lives, I am a Brono man, I know the psyche of an average Borno Man which, We are a poor but proud people, we carry our poverty with dignity, our people not matter how comfortable they might are not happy to live as IDP’s instead of you to feed them with rice and chicken in Maiduguri, they will rather eat Guinea corn in their villages, we are therefore determined to change the tide and narrative and how do we do it by being the drivers of the change we are craving for, by being in the vanguard, by actively supervising and prosecuting the post insurgency reconstruction, rehabilitation and resttlemnt agenda of the government and believe me we are crossed the rubicon, we are on the part to sustain peace and development in Borno State, when you were coming from Damaturu, you must have past through some communities, that we are busy re-constructuring and remodelling, as terrible as this crisis we are involved in is, it also affords us the opportunity to re-engineer our society, we are building over 3,000 Housing Units in various communities Health Clinics, Schools, we are also investing massively in Agriculture, all in an effort to make life better for my people. Meanwhile those houses , communities, schools health care center will be launched very soon, which we will invite mr President to come and Launch those projects for the good of our people.

Q. ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN THE ABILITY OF THE NIGERIA POLICE TO MAINTAIN CIVIL ORDER IN THE LIBERATED AREAS?
A. Well, Anybody who knows the dynamics of the security Architecture of this country will attest to the fact that as the first respondeners and people who live within the Local Community, there can be no better guarantor of peace and security in the country, the Nigeria Police Force Go to the interior of the slums, even in the nooks and corners of this country, you will see the Nigeria Policemen active on duty. If you could recollect, from the right of Sunday 26th July 2009 when the Boko Haram stuck, their first point of attack was the police Headquarters ordinarily on weekends the number of Policemen on duty tends to be few inspite of the fact that they were taking unawares, the Nigeria Police fought gallantly and repelled the attacks of those insurgents apart from the Nigerian Army, we don’t know of any other security agency that has sacrificed as much as the Nigeria Police Force in the restoration of peace and stability in this country. In the north East and in Borno State in particular, they have paid the supreme price and they are best to maintain civil order and authority in all the librated communities.

The policeman lives in the community, he gets first hand information and most importantly they have won the confidencelives and trust of the trust civil populace, I won’t feel relieved, when my people are been relocated any where if Policemen are not with them, I can attest to their bravery, to the sacrifice  made by the Nigeria Police Force in Borno State.When Boko-Haram struck in 2004 February their major targets was the Police formation in Goza, Bama, in Gujuba and the Policemen fought gallantly and repulsed those attacks.2004 the future of this country especially on security rests on the Nigeria police and the Nigeria army.

Q. TO A CRITICAL QUESTION ON STATE GOVERNMENTS FUNDING LOGISTICS OF SECURITY AGENCIES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE STATES , WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON POLICE?

A. Technically I am not adverse to the issue of state police my only fundamental observation has to do with the fact that statePolice might end up been the personal militia of state governments, we have had history of the native police in the northern Nigeria, they were abused by the court system and I am afraid that history might repeat itself, if we allow the formation of State Police, as the saying goes if security is expensive try insecurity, we have to support the Nigeria Police for them to perform optimally

We are not paying the salaries of Nigeria Policemen, mind you we are just complementing the efforts of the federal government towards the Nigeria Police in providing human services to the populates, and I think without anobody apology towards  the Nigeria Police, any state that is serious in providing security in their localities must have the courage to support not only the Nigeria Police, but all security agencies, this is a big Country, with enormous strength of resources, with very poor response rate, so the state governors are in a better position to meet their security needs and come up with a roadmap on how to address them. better as i speak to you we are heading for Bama for the mobilization of 65 mobile policemen to Bama, when will the Commissioner of Police get the financial logistics from the IG since it is not included in the budget, so we have to be very fair to the NPF, they are doing their best in spite of all the challenges and that of the Nigerian economy, so I don’t think that any Governor with cellcom of self respect for his people will utter a word of protest of inconveniences for the support they grant to the Nigeria Police. That my perception and take on the issue . And sincerely am speaking to you from the bottom of my heart.

Q. WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE EXPECT FROM GOVERNMENTIN THE UPCOMING MOUNTHS IN BORNO STATE?

A. In the coming months I can assure you that, there will be a frantic change in the fortunes of the people of Borno, I believe that where there is a will there is always a way, but as sitting government, we have a moral obligation to our people in public engagement in transforming our society, so that the international organization, the government at the centre, as well as other partners can key in .As I have repeatedly said we have to be the drivers of the change we are clamouring for, we have to be at the Vanguard of the social and economic transformation of our society, this the fundamental reason why am relocating to Bama-Goza axis to champion the course of re-construction and the buttom line, the root cause of the problem is education, as one paramount colomunist Dele Momodu, rightly said, "Education is the greatest game changer, within a generation, the son a farmer can be a celebrated icon"  I am the son of a koranic Teacher. I am a first generation graduate in my family. koranicSo we have to invest first of all in education , thats why We are building nine mega schools, we are building additional three super mega schools to take care of the orphans, we have in Maiduguri alone, Forty Nine Thousand Orphans, in Mongunu we have Thrity Eight Thousand ,infact no one can give you the exact number of orphans and widows in that state because as communities are liberated by Nigeria Army, you will see a sea of humanity cascading down to the IDP’s that were hitherto held by Boko-Haram, just recently the Nigeria Army released to us Five Hundred and Sixty Six women and Children of the insurgents, while their husbands  and fathers have been killed in the battle with the Army, so what we are saying is that as a state government we are building homes, schools, hospitals and investing in Agriculture because we might win the battle, but to win the war we have to fight to twin devils of unemployment and extreme poverty and once we create jobs, believe me once we engage the youths, this madness will evaporate and I can assure you that we are determined to leave foot prints in the sands of time. we are determined to change the Boko-Haram narrative from negativity to positivity and I will give you nine-months I challenge you come back to Maiduguri in nine months time and witness the tremendous change that my people will have witnessed. My target is that all our IDP’s will go back to their homes by latest 29th May 2017.