As part of efforts to rebuild a crisis ravaged state due to the over a decade of Boko Haram insurgency, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on Saturday unveiled a 25-year-old development plan that will launch the state into a successful recovery.
Zulum who announced this at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Government House Maiduguri during the launch of the plan said it is embellished with strategic immediate, medium and long implementation phases, stressing that, “all activities of Government will henceforth be executed according to the development plan.”
The governor warned any individual or group that would want to sabotage the plan just as he called on all Development Partners, International, and Local Non-Governmental Organization to key into the program for their good and the good of Borno State.
He added that his administration as part of the recovery plan will ensure relocation and resettlement of all IDPs back to their ancestral communities and all IDP Camps in Maiduguri will be shut down completely at the latest May 2021.
His words: “We need our partners to support the MDAs that they would work closely with our civil servants. There will be a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism to track the level of implementation; this administration under my leadership will not allow any individual to sabotage this very good initiative.
“I wish to call development partners and good people of Borno state to rally round this good initiative in respective of political operation because this is a development, not politics -this plan represents our future not our fact, Borno state is a state in Nigeria, therefore, our independence is key to all member nations.
“Therefore the 25 years development plan is presented not only to the people of Borno state but to the partners, anybody or organizations who is willing to invest in Borno state must follow these plans that is something that is important to all of us.
“We are currently having 192 NGOs in Borno State, we welcome all their development, they have been with us through tough and thick, we are grateful unto them, what the Borno government is wishing from them is that they should buy into our development plans, we want to identify who is working in Borno State, we want to know where you are working and what you are doing in Borno State? This is fundamental to us.
“The most critical element for us to achieve this is security, we shall strengthen the resilience of our people by empowering them especially the Civilians JTF, Vigilantes and local hunters, to open more communities to ensure their security on our farmers.
We will ensure that all IDPs return to their homes and all IDP Camps in Maiduguri will be closed at the latest May 2021.
“We shall ensure the movement of people and goods without escort to Banki and Gomboru in December, we resume fishing activities, like rearing and farming in the shore of Lake Chad especially Ngrow, Marte, Monguno, Baga, Damasak, Mallam Fantori, Damboa among others will take place next year. We shall ensure the reopening of Damboa road, all key towns have to reopen on or before 31th of this month,” Gov. Zulum said.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed who joined the event via zoom was however physically represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Aliyu Shinkafi said Borno State is on course with her development plan while calling on the state government to partner with the Federal Government.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, former Governors of Borno State, Kashim Shettima and Ali Modu Sheriff, serving and former National Assembly members, traditional rulers led by the Shehu of Borno, representatives from the international community, members of Borno Assembly and executives, party leaders and diverse stakeholders were physically present at the event.
The Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and NNPC’s GMD Mele Kyari were among high profile persons that joined via a zoom link.
Before a documentary on the comparative advantage of the Borno State Government was presented at the event, the Adviser on Sustainable Development, Partnerships, and Humanitarian Responses, Dr. Mairo Mandara gave a presentation that laid the background for the Development Plan.
The team she explained was directed by Governor Zulum to interact with all stakeholders including the grassroots, Ministries, and Agencies of Government to collate views on immediate, medium, and long term needs of communities in all the 27 Local Government Areas of Borno State, as well as how the State can speed up its recovery from destructions caused by Boko Haram, and explore its full potentials to become world-class in years to come.
The team, using an inclusive and participatory approach that included a consultative workshop to define the objectives and priorities, came up with a strategic development plan.
Dr. Mandara in her remarks gave an overview of the plan which has the slogan: ‘our Borno, our Success’, a document preceded by thorough planning and analysis, with a vision to ensure that in the next ten years, that is by 2030, Borno transforms the insurgency ravaged society into a peaceful, stable and self-reliant society with over 70% productive population, while by 2045, the State hopes to deliver a prosperous society that is a leading regional agri-business & commercial hub that connects & supplies the markets of Central Africa and Northern Africa, reclaiming the glory of old Borno Empire as the stabilizing power in tropical Africa.
The plan she said is anchored on five critical pillars of Human Capital Development, Leadership in Agriculture, Healthy Citizenry, Sustainable Environment, and Regional Trade Hub for Commerce that will provide jobs and prosperity to the citizens.
Other speakers who spoke at the launch are – Ministers of Communication – Pantami, Finance – Zainab, and former Governor Kashim Shettima.
Both speakers lauded the vision of and courage of governor Zulum for the leadership he is providing for Borno State.
The Secretary to Borno Government, Usman Jidda Shuwa, and Chief of Staff, Prof. Isa Hussaini Marte, in their separate remarks welcome and thanked guests for gracing the occasion.
They both affirmed the commitment of stakeholders at the executive level, to actualizing Zulum’s lofty goals for Borno.
The highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of a documentary on the comparative development advantage of Borno State, the unveiling and display of copies of the development plan by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, who represented the Finance Minister in Maiduguri while she joined via zoom.
