Recently, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum went on a visit to Damasak after rehabilitation.
Damasak is the headquarters of Mobbar Local Government Area in Northern Borno and known as a former stronghold of Boko Haram insurgents before it was liberated. Residents of Damasak are now resettled while Governor tries to support them via the means he could.
The Governor on his visit supervised the distribution of food combination to 10,000 internally displaced families in dire need of support. Each of the 10,000 families received 25kg of rice, 25kg of beans, 25kg of maize and 5 litres of cooking oil foodstuffs combination to assist them in generating livelihood for themselves.
Before now, the farmers in the state had been largely dependent on donor partners. The Governor in this visit launched the distribution of water pumps, fertilizer, seeds, chemicals and five thousand naira cash to each of 1,200 irrigation farmers embarking on food cultivation this dry season. In his words, “Like other farmers in other states, this should greatly reduce their level of dependence on other states for food aids and cultivation.”
On behalf of Borno state, as one of the states largely affected by Boko Haram insurgency, the Governor visited the headquarters of the Federal Character Commission in Abuja with a germane request that Borno is given special consideration on the allocation of employment slots while backing up his plea with relevant setbacks the state had the experience to warrant such request.
Gracefully, the Governor found favour before the Federal Character Commission’s Chairman, Dr Muheeba F. Dankaka as well as Federal Commissioners representing all states, their present who promised to look into Governor’s Zulum’s request, corroborating that the situation in Borno is well known to everyone.
Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum equally paid an appreciation visit to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval for the establishment of a federal polytechnic in Monguno, the most populated town in northern Borno, where it is known that education is backward.
This particular move broke history to make Borno State have a Federal Polytechnic after 45 years of creating the state. Reiterating, there have been several moves to fund and sustain standard polytechnics and college of education in time past but all efforts have been almost futile. The only long and standing tertiary educational institution has been the University of Maiduguri.
Determined to claim Borno’s entitlement, Governor Zulum, a University professor and former Rector, launched an aggressive lobby to the federal government towards the establishment of both a federal polytechnic and a federal college of education in Borno state, with his argument on the basis as of fairness and making intermittent reference to the havoc inflicted by Boko Haram on the state which affected education as well as fostered the backwardness it’s experiencing.
Professor Zulum could not hide his joy when he met the Minister of Education at the federal secretariat in Abuja. The Governor eulogized President Buhari for approving the new Polytechnic while he was full of gratitude to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu for the recommendation and his compassion towards Borno.
The Minister added that this giant move has opened doors and soon various tertiary institution will be founded, financed and inaugurated.
Meanwhile, Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has approved and released N624.3m for payment of scholarship to 23,776 citizens of Borno State in 49 tertiary schools across Nigeria.
Commissioner for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Babagana Mustapha Mallambe who announced this in a statement on Sunday, January 17, 2021, disclosed that payments to students have already begun with N320m paid out to students in 9 institutions, under the first batch while the second batch of the student, from 40 higher institutions to receive payment, will have started getting payment as of Monday, January 18, 2021, when the sum of N304.3m would have been disbursed.
The beneficiaries of the scholarship, generosity and goodwill included students of the University of Maiduguri, Borno State University, Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Sir Kashim Ibrahim College, College of Education Waka – Biu, Mohammed Goni College of Legal and Islamic Studies, College of Business Administration Konduga, Umar Ibn Ibrahim College of Education, Science and Technology-Bama and those in Mohammed Lawan College of Agriculture, Mallambe.
To wrap this up, Dr Babagana Mustapha Mallambe has disclosed that Governor Zulum had approved financial support to resident doctors of Borno State origin located in different parts of the country, to enable them fund capacity development programmes that would be potentially beneficial to Borno people in the long run.
Truly, to Governor Zulum, it’s beyond a wish to desire to make something better, there is the place of taking actions. A Better Borno State is my Dream.
