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| President Buhari acknowledging cheers from the people at one of the Mega Schools he commissioned in Maiduguri |
…Gov. Zulum tables three fresh requests
From JOE Hemba
Borno State Governor, professor Babagana Umara Zulum has praised the commitment of President Mohammadu Buhari to the people of Borno State through her trying times of the Boko Haram insurgency since his assumption of office as president.
Gov. Zulum at the University of Maiduguri where he made his remarks during the presidential visit of President Buhari to commission developmental projects in the state also spoke glowingly of business mogul and philanthropist Mohammmed Indimi whose multi-billion naira project at the university of Maiduguri was one of the projects inaugurated.
Governor Zulum also used the occasion to table three fresh requests from the President on behalf of the people of Borno State, just as he appreciated the past commitment of the president to the plight of Borno people.
He said;
“Mr. President has relentlessly demonstrated compassion towards Borno and we respectfully request that this is sustained because while other states across the country mostly have opportunities of moving forward, we are doing grappling with the problem of rebuilding destroyed infrastructure and facilities.
“In this regard, I will respectfully table three requests for Mr. President’s consideration:
“1. That Mr. President considers and directs the military, police and paramilitary, to on special consideration, increase the recruitment of our youth volunteers, in order to enhance local involvement that can accelerate the combined restoration efforts of the Federal and State Government.
“2. That Mr. President considers and approve the establishment of a Federal college of education to be sited in southern Borno. Borno is currently one of the very few states without a federal college of education.
“3. That Mr. President kindly considers and direct the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to address a major challenge of internet connectivity, which our host, the University of Maiduguri has been dealing with for many years.
“I am confident that Mr. President will in his usual fairness, empathy and consideration of our huge challenges, look into these realistic requests,” Gov. Zulum said.
Speaking on the commitment of the president to the plight of Borno people during the insurgency, Gov. Zulum mentioned that Borno has made history as the only state since 1999 has hosted a president twice in six months for the commissioning of developmental projects.
Gov. Zulum said his attention was drawn to this historical fact by a respected academic just as he also confirmed the veracity of the his colleague observation as an academic himself.
“Last night, a respectable senior academic told me that since 1999, this is probably the first time that the President of the Federal Republic would undertake invitational state visits to any of Nigeria’s 36 states, twice within six months, to commission developmental projects.
“The academic said that while past Presidents may have paid more than one visit to some states within the same six months, such were not invitational state visits for commissioning of projects. Rather, some of the visits were at the presidency’s instance a for variety of reasons.
“Your Excellencies, as a former academic myself, I do not mind if someone undertakes research to confirm the veracity of what this senior academic said. Still, for us in Borno, this is the first time since 1999 that we are honored to host an invited President two times in the same year, for commissioning purposes,” Gov. Zulu said.
The governor expressed his happiness with the management, staff and Students of University of Maiduguri, said he was proud of the resilience demonstrated by the Management of the institution who never closed down the school despite the Boko Haram threats on the institution and the challenges faced in the state.
“Mr. President Sir, the people of Borno State are profoundly grateful to you. As a product of this University myself, I am very glad that Mr. President is honouring my alma mater. I am proud of UNIMAID, I am proud of the management, academic and non-academic staff as well as students. I say so because despite all the challenges Borno State has faced in the past decade, the University of Maiduguri community showed extraordinary courage and resilience by remaining open and working, against all odds,” he said.
Gov. Zulum whon commended the contribution of Dr. Mohammed Idimi to his Alma Mater, the Univerisity of Maiduguri, also shared with Mr. President how Mr. Indimi decided out of humility not to take the glory of his Multi-billion naira project at the university but to make his visit for the state.
He said;
“Your Excellency Mr. President, will like to share a story that I found quite interesting.
“In early November this year, our elder statesman, Alhaji Muhammad Indimi, OFR, revealed to me that he had most respectfully invited His Excellency, Mr. President for the commissioning of this project. To my amazement, Alhaji Indimi suggested that with Mr. President’s overwhelming love and compassion for Borno State, we could for the President’s consideration, send a request for presidential commissioning of some Government projects. “Alhaji Indimi was particular about the multi-billion-naira flyover and the 10 kilometre Maiduguri-Muna dualized road.
“Mr. President, I was pleasantly overwhelmed by that gesture. I was overwhelmed because Indimi was well aware that the flyover is a huge project capable of drawing attention away from his own projects. Some would think that when a man of Indimi’s high standing is privileged to invite the President, he may prefer to limit presidential attention to his activities, more so, with an outstanding donation like this Centre for Distance Learning.
“However, Alhaji Indimi proved without the slightest doubt, that his love for Borno is beyond limit. The elder statesman thought and kindly so, that a second Presidential commissioning of government projects was for him, as important as his donation. Alhaji Indimi ignored the fact that Mr. President was here on June 17, this year, for assessment of the security situation and commissioning of eight government projects. All Indimi wanted was for Borno State to have its first flyover and other projects commissioned by Mr. President.
“Words cannot convey the debt of our respect and gratitude to Alhaji Muhammad Indimi for his statesmanship, for his generous philanthropy especially given today’s intervention to enhance tertiary education for the people of Borno.
“We congratulate Alhaji Muhammad Indimi for being honoured with Mr. President’s special commissioning of his generous donation,” Gov. Zulum said.
Gov. Zulum with School Children
The governor was also particularly happy that Mr. President has always honored his requests and therefore gives him more courage to make new ones.
“Mr. President, although we are honoured to host you for the second time in six months, we recognize that having you on a state visit is a rare privilege and as such, I seek your permission to table some requests on behalf of Borno people.
“Before then, sir, I will like to once again, express our utmost appreciation to Mr. President for granting all the requests we made during the June 17 visit to Maiduguri. Amongst others, Mr. President had during that visit, directed the military to work with the Borno State Government in expanding access to safe farming activities. Mr. President also directed the quick commencement of NNPC’s emergency power plant.
“I am happy to report that Mr. President’s directives were fully complied with. Hundreds of Borno farmers were able to safely access their farmlands and we cultivated more than 30,000 hectares across the state, with a bumper harvest.
“NNPC’s power plant is actively being established with work progressing without challenge.
“We look forward to an intervention by the Federal Ministry of Health, in line with another directive issued by Mr. President, in supporting our State University Teaching Hospital with state of the art medical equipment.
“Mr. President may wish to recall that according to the 2016 Recovery and Peace-Building Assessment report of the World Bank, EU and Nigerian Government, Boko Haram destroyed more than 200 healthcare centres in Borno State. We also lost close to one million private homes, more than 600 municipal offices, more than 700 water installations and more than 5,000 classrooms and other buildings in 512 primary schools, 36 secondary schools and two tertiary institutions.
“I am also happy to inform the people of Borno State, I had privately raised a critical matter of security with Mr. President, and the issue is receiving attention,” he said.
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