Nation
Borno 90% Safe For 2023 Elections -Zulum
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has stated that there will be no cause for alarm in conducting the 2023 general elections in the state as the security situation had stabilised at 90 percent.
Governor Zulum, who disclosed this to newsmen shortly after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, also gave a progress report on the rehabilitation and resettlement process for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the state.
Commenting on the security situation in his state, Zulum said, though there was no place without some level of security challenge, the State Government had received support from the Federal Government and the military.
According to him, much progress had been made at restoring the state to its former peaceful state as it is prepared for the upcoming elections.
”People of Borno State voted during the 2015 elections. They also voted during the 2019 elections. Can you compare the security situation in 2019, 2011 and now? The security in Borno has improved tremendously by over 90%. So we don’t have any problem.
“Eligible voters can go and cast their votes on election day, Insha Allah, in Borno State, we don’t have any problem”, he stated.
Zulum further said the plan of his government in the new year would entail seeing “how we can sustain what we are doing. So far, so good in terms of security, the federal government has done well, the military has also done very well. We are now looking into the possibility of rehabilitating the victims of the insurgency.
“Quite a number of them have surrendered and then the Federal Government is supporting our mission of rehabilitating them.
But, most importantly, we are yet to complete our resettlement project, of which very soon we shall resettle communities of Gudumbali Local Government Area of Borno State and then we shall also resettle all our refugees that are living in the Republics of Niger, Chad and Cameroun. The President has given approval to this effect and very soon we shall start.”
Speaking on the progress made made on returning displaced persons back home, Zulum said all the official IDP camps within the Maiduguri metropolis had been dismantled, adding that all unofficial ones will be dismantled a few months from now.
“The settlement is not something easy, it will take a very long time, but the most important thing is that those that are very much in need to be resettled will be resettled.
“We have closed down all official IDP camps within the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere Local Government Area, as I said last year.
“For now, we don’t have any official IDP camp within Maiduguri Metropolitan Council. The unofficial camps will also be closed in the next few months”.
On claims that some parts of the state are still under the control of insurgents, he said, “Even in the developed world we still have some pockets of insecurity, but by and large, we have succeeded a lot. Over 90% of our security station has been improved.
“We’ve noticed improvement in terms of security in Borno State and we are doing very well now.
“Our rehabilitation and resettlement is also going very well. We are looking forward to seeing how we can rehabilitate Maiduguri-Gomboru/Ngala Road and then Maiduguri-Banki Road, with a view to opening up opportunities for the people to earn their means of livelihood”, Zulum stated.
Rivers state Deputy Governor Professor Ngozi Nma Odu has commended “The Port Harcourt City One Love,”a Port Harcourt based humanitarian orgnisation For it’s commitment towards alleviating the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable in the society.
Professor Ngozi Nma Odu said this while speaking at this year’s edition of “operation feed the needy” a yearly outreach program of “The Port Harcourt City One Love ” in Port Harcourt.
The Deputy Governor said by feeding more than sixty thousands hungry people within the past six years, the Port Harcourt City One Love Movement has distinguished itself as a club that cares for the less privilege in the society.
She commended the , organization for listing eleven thousand persons to be fed in the current exercise.
Meanwhile The Port Harcourt City One Love has planned a permanent solution to the problem of feeding the poor in the state.
The leader of the group Mr Idaere Gogo Ogan who said this in an interview with newsmen during the distribution of food items to the poor and vulnerables in Port Harcourt said the organization is planning a permanent food kitchen where poor and vulnerable persons can work in anytime and get fed.
Idaere Gogo Ogan said more than sixty thousands poor and vulnerable persons across Port Harcourt City and environs have been fed since the inception of “The operation feed the needy” program six years ago,adding that so far sixty thousands poor and vulnerable persons have beneffited.
He described the group as a platform to promote friendship, brotherhood, community development empathy and feeding the less privilege and hungry people
“That’s what we are doing today here,so we started the exercise six years ago”.he said.
Ogan said the effort was a private sector driven initiative but added “it also involves people in Government because the platform does not recognize any division,we bring everybody together in unity , friendship and brotherhood”he said.
He said the effort will go along way in alleviating hunger especially following the prevailing hunger in the country.
According to him “you know the country is very tough, people are hungry people are starving, there is a whole lot of economic hardship,so for us, this is just our own way of reaching out, our own social contribution to what is very difficult”he said.
Over eleven thousand persons were fed in the just concluded exercise.
Areas of coverage include, Isaac Boro park, Port Harcourt prison/Macoba, Borokiri/Enugu waterside Bundu areas Waterlines and others.
Some of the beneficiaries including an 80 years old widow commended the movement for the annual programm and urged other organizations to emulate them
John Bibor,/Esuuk Oyet/Suotor Memoye /Jeremiah Hannah
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