The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar has commended Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum for his efforts in securing Borno State as the Chief Security Officer.

The Minister spoke on Tuesday at the council chamber of the Government House in Maiduguri.

“My brother (addressing Governor Zulum), the troops here in Borno and indeed the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) asked me to send their appreciation to you for all the support that you have been rendering to the military. You have been supporting us in all our operations, thank you most sincerely. Sometimes you even risk your life supporting and encouraging our personnel, we appreciate you,” the Minister said.

The Minister noted that their visit was at the instance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assess the security situation in the theatre of operations in Borno State in order to see the end of the over one decade of insurgency.

The Minister spoke in the presence of his colleague, the minister of state for Defence, Dr Bello Mohammed Mutawalle, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogala and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, all of whom were on the trip to Borno State.

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum in response to the minister and his delegation, reiterated commitment to his continued support for the Nigerian military in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency across the northeast.

“As Governor of Borno State, In Sha Allah, I will continue to support the Nigerian military with a view to achieving our objective of bringing lasting peace and stability to Borno and by extension, Nigeria. I will continue to provide the political will needed to achieve this objective,” Zulum said.

The Governor noted that the security situation in Borno has tremendously improved.

Zulum however charged the military to root out the remnants of the insurgents from Sambisa forest, Mandara Mountains and the enclaves in the Lake Chad Basin in order to completely end the insecurity.

The Governor added that stability in the Lake Chad Basin will allow Governments from all levels to harness the agricultural potential of the Lake towards achieving President Tinubu’s food security initiative.

Zulum expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the leadership he has been providing to address the problem of insurgency in Borno and other security challenges across the country.

Vitafoam Nigeria PLC has donated a block of four classrooms and 40 sets of furniture to Budum Primary School, Maiduguri Metropolitan Area Council.

The recent corporate gesture is consistent with Vitafoam’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy which places a premium on Education and Healthcare among others.

“We recognise the effort of state Governor, Babagana Zulum in trying to bring back education because everybody has realised that basic education is very important to the development of any child. And that’s why the investment around education is vital to growth and development.

“You will be sure that the harm on children on the streets or joining terrorists to cause mayhem all over the place will be drastically reduced if we are able to get these little ones out of the streets and those ones (terrorists) would not be able to have them for nefarious activities. 

“We have built four befitting blocks of classrooms, with desks and learning materials for pupils in Budum Primary School and we are trying to support the efforts of the state government,” said Vitafoam’s  Group Managing Director, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi.

Adeniyi, who applauded the efforts of the administration of Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State to revamp education, explained that the school project was also in honour of an illustrious son of the state, the late Abbagana Abatca, who until his death, served Vitafoam meritoriously as the Technical Development Director.

The Borno State Deputy Governor, Usman Kadafur, commended the Company for its CSR initiatives that led to the successful construction and handing-over of the four befitting blocks of classrooms at Budum Primary School in Maiduguri.

Kadafur, who represented the State Governor, appealed to other companies to emulate Vitafoam’s  good gesture towards the development of education in the state, especially at this trying time of the recovery process.

He also appealed to the Company to expand its base in the state to provide job opportunities for the indigenes

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has announced the closure of Government Senior Science Secondary School, Monguno IDPs camp, to pave way for the rehabilitation of the school and allow the resumption of academic activities.

Zulum made the announcement on Tuesday during an inspection visit at the camp to assess the extent of destruction resulting from Boko Haram attack and the prolonged use by internally displaced persons (IDPs).

GSSSS Monguno houses IDPs from parts of Kukawa, Nganzai, Marte and Guzamala displaced by Boko Haram insurgents.

Zulum stated that the IDPs will be relocated to occupy 1,000 resettlement houses built for citizens affected by the over one decade old Boko Haram insurgency.

Monguno’s 1,000 houses is part of the housing intervention that forms over 10,000 resettlement houses constructed by Zulum’s administration since 2019.

The Governor also noted that IDPs who are from communities and villages that attain relative peace will be returned, particularly those from Kekeno, Mile 90 and Yoyo among others.

The Governor said Borno State Government will provide a resettlement package to those that are willing to return to their ancestral lands.

“We will return those of you from communities which have attained relative peace, everyone that is willing to return will be provided with a resettlement package to pick up the pieces of their lives,” Zulum said.