Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima had yesterday disclosed that the post insurgency assessment conducted in the northeast indicated that the region has in total lost about $9billion, out which Borno state being the theatre of war accounted for $6.8bn. Shettima stated this in Maiduguri, Borno state capital when he flagged up the palliative distribution for states in the region through the north East Develop Commission, lamenting how some emirates were dislodged from their native lands without anyone to rule.
The initiative by the NEDC was part of its effort to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal as Nigerians are crying of hunger by the day.
The Vice president being a former Governor of the state declared the eight North-east Governor’s forum meeting open at the Borno state Government House, Maiduguri, saying NEDC was fulfilling its mandate of rehabilitating its people of the region whom were displaced by the pogrom matted by the terrorists.
Shettima said, “A lot of our emirs here were emirs without emirate. Ten years ago, the palace that Governor Babagana Zulum calls home was under the control of Boko Haram. 10 years ago, the hometown of the governor of Yobe State was under the grip of Boko Haram. 10 years ago, a chunk of the North-East was under Boko Haram. Maiduguri was effectively encircled apart from Maiduguri/Kano Road that was sporadically attacked by Boko Haram.
He added “Based on the post insurgency, recovery peace building assessment report of the North-East which was validated by the World Bank, European Union and the Presidency, Boko Haram inflicted damages in the North-East to the tune of $9bn, Borno alone has damages worth $6.8bn.”
While lamenting the challenges of the region Shettima added, “If the North-East was to be treated as a nation, we are poorer than Chad and Niger. But I want to commend our governors; the PDP Governors’ of Bauchi and Adamawa states are the closest to the governor of Borno.”
Commenting on the reappointment of the board of the NEDC, Shettima reiterated that the duo earned their reappointment, saying “They left behind N237bn, which is unprecedented in the contemporary history of governance in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Goni, the MD of NEDC said the commission was committed to combating hunger in the 110 Local Government Areas in the region, adding, “Today, we are going to donate food and non-food items which cost about N15bn through the Vice-President to all the state governors, 18 senatorial districts, 48 federal constituencies as well as the six states House of Assembly.”