13th June, 2019
Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno has vowed to send out of the state any International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) undermining the interest of government toward achieving peace in the state after 10 years of Boko Haram insurgency.
The governor made the threat when the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator of UN, Mr Yassine Gaba, heads of UN agencies and the INGO Forum visited him at the council chambers on Thursday in Maiduguri.
Umara-Zulum said that any organisation that was interested in helping Borno shall be given the needs of the state so that the support would be keyed into the demands of government and the people.
He explained that the state government would lead the process and monitor, manage and conduct all the activities of the organisations in the state in their quest to assist in addressing the security challenges.
He said “Borno Government will take charge of any humanitarian activities in the state. The bottom line is the government must take the lead toward coordinating all humanitarian activities.
“Any INGOs that are not ready to heed the advice of the state government should be ready to pack out of the state.”
He said that the government planned to take in close consultation with the UN and other stakeholders, the establishment of one-stop unit to deal with the challenges faced by international agencies and to equally address the nature of collaboration by partners to deliver the required result.
The governor lauded the UN agencies for their commitment and show of solidarity and unflinching support toward bringing back peace and stability to the region.
“Borno recorded colossal loss in terms of houses, livelihoods and even part of our peace during the insurgency such that people were pushed away from their original places of abode to become IDPs in their own land, resulting to the lack of access to farmlands, the mainstay of our economy.”
The governor thanked the organisations for their support, which came in various forms like grants, technical skills, advice and expertise that brought temporary and medium term succour to the state, adding that the gaps filled through the support had strengthened government’s capacity.
Umara-Zulum added that he was fully committed to reforming the civil service and bring back efficiency and reliable service delivery
and to tackle the issue of unemployment in the state.
According to him, his administration intends to focus on education, job creation, investment, social security governance and so on.
Mr Gaba told the governor that the visit was to register the INGOs’ support and cooperation to the government of Borno, the North East and Nigeria as a whole.
Gaba promised to mobilise more support from the UN agencies to key into the security challenges in the region.