Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has appealed to the United Nations, UN, to support the state government’s post insurgency reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement programmes for the over two million displaced persons and thousands of structures in over twenty LGAs of the state destroyed by the insurgents.
He also said that unless good governance, quality leadership, transparency, job creations, education and agriculture were prioritized for the common man and woman, the Boko Haram insurgency may not end soon.
The governor who stated this yesterday at the Government House when a 14 man UN Security Council led by, Ambassador Mathew Rycroft paid him a courtesy call said Boko Haram had nothing to do with Islam and it is not Islamic in any form.
He said his government had decided to embark on some people oriented projects that will create job for the people, boost girl child education and women empowerment to encourage Parents to send their wards to school.
According to him, Borno state had lost property worth over 7.6 billion US dollars to insurgency with 956,456 houses destroyed which is 30% of the total houses in the north east.
He commended the UN for their support and assistance in the state through the international community and donor agencies.
Earlier, the Minister if Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Jeffrey Onyema thanked the UN Security Council members for their visit and commended them for their support and assistance to Nigeria.
Onyema also condoled the members over the a demise of their Russian Ambassador on behalf of government of Nigeria while thanking the military for their role in tackling the Boko Haram crisis and engaging in post conflict humanitarian activities to resettle the displaced and affected persons.
During the visit, Ambassador Mathew Rycroft said they were in the state for on the spot assessment of security situation, to see for themselves, talk to the affected people, victims who are traumatized and in need of support, look at areas of needs and discuss with the relevant authorities or government agencies including security agencies on the operations and areas of support.
He said after getting all the necessary data, the council members will then return to the headquarters and determine areas of support and frame out how such support could be implemented effectively and transparently for the people.
Rycroft added that the UN was not happy with the development in Nigeria and observed that in the past, greater attention was not given to the Boko Haram crisis which informed the UN this year to proposed about 1.15 billion US dollars for the humanitarian activities in Nigeria.
He commended the governor for his foresight and commitment to his people as well as his leadership style, urging him to give priority to human right issues.
