From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has urged the Federal Government to do all it can to stop the growth of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The governor advised the government to request external help in fighting insurgency, saying there is nothing wrong because big countries including the United States and the United Kingdom ask for external help.
Governor Zulum also took a swipe at the recruitment process into the armed forces and other security agencies, saying unless it is addressed the situation will continue to get worse.
The Borno governor also stressed that while early preparation is key towards the 2023 elections, that should not be done at the expense of losing focus on insecurity.
Governor Zulum said all these at the 28th briefing by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, attributing the successes record against insurgents in the state to free access he has to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor who listed various successes recorded by his administration said before now the advent of the All Progressive Congress (APC), the insurgency has triggered the acute humanitarian and post-displacement crisis with a devastating social and economic impact on the population, further deepening fragility and poverty in the Northeast region.
According to him, the outcome of the recovery and peacebuilding assessment by the World Bank, European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) revealed that the total sum of $6.9 billion was lost as a result of the insurgency in the entire northeastern states, out of this Borno State accounts for over two-third per cent.
He said the insurgents have destroyed about 5,000 classes in Borno State, about 800 municipal buildings comprising local government Secretariats, prisons, traditional rulers buildings, among others.
He said the insurgents also destroyed about 713 energy distribution lines and about 1,600 water sources, adding that a total number of 49,311 widows and about 49,974 orphans have been recorded as a result of insurgency in the region.
According to him, ‘these are official figures, the unofficial figures are more than this.’
He added that before now out of 27 local governments in Borno State, at a time, about 22 of them were under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.
Governor Zulum recalled that there was a time the state had only one access to the road to Maiduguri which is from Kano to Maiduguri. In his words, ‘the magnitude of the destruction was so scary,’ but added that today, the gradual return of peace has marked reduction of cases of insecurity in the state, and major parts of the northeastern region have been attributed to the commitment and collaboration from the part of the state and federal government.
He attributed the successes record against insurgents in the state to the free access he has to President Buhari.
In his words: ‘I want to say something categorically clear for that. One of the major reasons why we have been succeeding in the northeast in particular in Borno State is because of one major fundamental thing. There was never a time I requested to see Mr President and I was denied access.’
Speaking on the challenges he said: ‘All that I have said now would never have been feasible without the support of the government. But notwithstanding all the contributions of the federal government, we still have some challenges. One, I said it before, a growing number of ISWAP in some parts of the state is a matter of great concern to everybody. Why? They are on the shores of Lake Chad, again in southern Borno State. Luckily enough, I was told there was military deployment yesterday (Wednesday) to southern Borno State to fight the insurgents in the Tudun Katarangwa.
‘But I think this is the early warning system. We shouldn’t allow ISWAP to grow. ISWAP are more sophisticated, more funded and they’re more educated. And we shall do everything possible to defeat ISWAP. Otherwise, what Boko Haram did will be a child’s play.
‘This is an early warning system Nigerian Army has to restrategise and defeat ISWAP. ISWAP will be a threat to the entire nation. Because of the proximity of Sub-Saharan Africa, they are coming from Libya and others resettling here.
‘And then whether we like it or not a few days ago, I’ve said something about two local governments are still not occupied by the human population. I think that there some certain misunderstand. Some say that two local governments are under the control of Boko Haram, no. Two to local governments are not occupied by the human population. But whether we like it or not, is right because if two local governments are not occupied, what does it mean? It means the capacity is not there to protect this human population to go to these local government areas. But we’re working with the Nigerian Army to ensure immediate resettlement of people to Malam Fatori, which is the headquarters of Abadam local… We are not saying that these two local governments are under their control, but these two local governments are not under human occupation. We need support from the Federal Government to support the relocation of these people to these local government areas. This committee that has been constituted by the federal government, will look into these matters among others.’
The governor said the second challenge was Lake Chad. He said: ‘We want clearance of the shores of the Lake Chad. Again, in conclusion, while the challenge of insecurity is being solved gradually, it is not yet over. I have said it time without numbers that in addition to what we are doing, there is a need for government to rethink and look into the possibility of hiring mercenaries. I have said it time times without numbers, there’s nothing wrong. America, Britain many more countries that are stronger than Nigeria, who used to seek support outside, there’s nothing wrong because this problem has been compounded. And it’s not easy for us to solve the security challenges that we’re having now. While Nigeria is providing a lot of things, the Federal Government is buying equipment, there is the need for us to seek support from external agencies to defeat these insurgents once and for all before the matter will reach other parts of the nation. This is very important, whether we like it or not, we have existing gaps that we need to fill in and this gap by now cannot be filled without external support. While we continue to build our own institutions, training and retraining.
‘One very serious challenge that we have, our recruitment process has to look into. Yes, you can just say recruitment for the army, collecting notes from governors, ministers and others and the people are queuing in. As long as we are not willing to sanitize our recruitment procedures to the armed forces, police, SSS and others, we will not get the right people. These are something that needs to be done. The bitter truth is better.
‘And then funding is critical. Yes funding to our military, let us investigate how much have been trickled down. The commanding officers are important, procurement processes are also very important. Then stronger solidarity among the security forces and sustained campaigns are needed to finish up the remnants of the insurgents in the fringes of the North East is very important.
‘The resettlement needs to go hand in hand with livelihood support, more resources are needed to do more for the people. Greater understanding is required of the security forces to support protection, action in places of resettlement and all over Borno. Last but not least, we must not allow the 2023 general elections to shift our attention completely away from the focus and restoration of peace in North East and indeed other parts of the nation.’