How our Emirs were without emirates 10 years ago – VP Shettima
….. Boko Haram inflicted $9b damages on the N/E
……. NEDC spends N15b on palliatives
Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Saturday recalled with nostalgia the grave impact of insurgency on the North-East especially Maiduguri, in Borno State.
Shettima who was a former Governor, lamented how many of the Emirs were displaced without their Emirates to superintend.
The VP had the reminiscence during the commencement of palliatives by the North-East Development Commission as a part of its efforts to cushion the region from the current hardship of the fuel subsidy removal.
He also declared the eighth North-East Governors’ Forum meeting open at the Borno State Government House, Maiduguri.
According to him, the NEDC as a commission is fulfilling its mandate of rehabilitating, resettling of victims of the insurgency which he noted was on the right path.
Shettima said, “Alot of our emirs here, were emirs without emirate. 10 years ago the place that governor Zulum calls home, was under the control of the Boko Haram. 10 years ago the home town of the governor of Yobe State was under the grips of Boko Haram. 10 years ago a chunk of the North-East were under the Boko Haram. Maiduguri was effectively encycled apart from Maiduguri/Kano road that was sporadically attacked by the Boko Haram.
“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 the Boko Haram inflicted damages in the North-East to the tune of $9billion, Borno alone has damages worth $6.8billion.”
While lamenting the challenges of the region Shettima added that, “If the North-East was to be treated as a nation, we are poorer than chad, We are poorer than Niger. But I want to commend our Governors, the PDP Governors’ of Bauchi and Adamawa are the closest to the governor of Borno.”
Dispelling rumour about the NEDC power play that ushered in the new board, where both the Managing Director Mohammed Goni and the Chairman Paul Tarfa were reappointed, Shettima noted that the two men earned their reappointments, adding “They left behind in their N237 billion naira, which is unprecedented in the contemporary history of governance in Nigeria.”
On his part, the MD of the NEDC Goni said, the commission was committed to annihilating hunger, adding, “110 local government areas of the North-East region, through the governors’, state and national assembly legislators to annihilate hunger and food security faced by citizens both are apolitical.”
Speaking further, Goni added, “Today, we are going to donate food and non-food items which cost about N15billion through the Vice President to all the State Governors of the region, 18 Senatorial district of the region, 48 federal constituencies as well as the six state House of Assemblies.”