17th December, 2023
By Yakubu Uba
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has congratulated, on behalf of the government and people of Borno State, former President Muhammadu Buhari for clocking 81 years, adding that he showed empathy to the state.
Zulum, in the congratulatory message released on Sunday, said Buhari kept his word to the people of North East and Borno in particular, by degrading Boko Haram terrorists and providing humanitarian support to victims.
He added that “throughout his eight years as elected President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, never for a second, shied away from displaying his strong affection, overwhelming compassion and undiluted empathy for Borno State and its people.
“From his inaugural speech in 2015 to his actions till he left office, Buhari gave undivided attention to the fight against Boko Haram in Borno and the rest of the North East.
“Just as he steadily accorded tremendous support towards the rehabilitation of victims, and their resettlement into new homes, sited in different parts of Borno and across the northeast, thousands of which were built and donated by the Federal Government he led.
“Buhari made all his humanitarian policies at the federal level deliberately in favour of our state to strengthen citizens’ resilience against Boko Haram.”
Zulum also said that Buhari’s humanitarian policies, programmes and non-kinetic counter-insurgency measures had seriously undermined Boko Haram’s recruitment efforts and growth in Borno, a development which he said impacted positively to security and stability of the state.
“Interpersonally, I have lost count of the number of times Buhari visited Borno during his eight years, whether the visit was to show empathy and build communal resilience, to support the military, to commission developmental projects, to lay the foundation for new projects or to enhance our socio-economic recovery.
“Muhammadu Buhari has been nothing short of a beloved father to Borno and its good people,” Zulum added.
Born on Dec. 17, 1942, in Daura, Katsina State to Adamu and Zulaiha Buhari, the former president was raised by his mother.
He served as Nigaria’s Head of State in 1984–85, and a democratically-elected president from 2015 to 2023.
(NAN)