THE Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima has said that the state government would give out free houses to those who are willing to adopt 3 or 4 children whom their parents were killed by Boko Haram in the state.
The Governor also said that the government will also place the famines on stipends to help them cater for their needs and that of the adopted children.
He revealed that available record shows that a total of $9.6 billion damages where done in the North-East by Boko Haram since it started its attacks.
Addressing journalists after a Special Town Hall Meeting for the Military and Security Agencies organized by the Ministry of Information and Culture, in Maiduguri, Shettima said the education of those children affected by Boko Haram is also a priority for the state government.
According to him “this is a city of 3 million people, apart from Lagos, Kano and probably Ibadan, this is about the 4th most populous city in this country.
“In all modesty, we have accomplished a lot in all facets, be it education, housing, agriculture, industrialization,” I think we can hold our head high.
“There are some estates that we are building across the state, we are going to allocate those estates for free for anybody who is willing to adopt 3 or 4 of the Boko Haram victims, we will put you on a stipend, we know things are very tough in the country, but we want the kids to grow up, this culture of orphanage is alien to the African set up.”
Furthermore, the Governor said “as for the recovery and peacebuilding movement of the World Bank, conducted in partnership with the European Union, and the Presidency, the destruction inflicted on the Northeast by Boko Haram amounts to about $9.6 billion, out of it, Boron alone accounts for about $6 billion of the destruction.
“A total number of 958, 357 units of houses were destroyed in the state making up to 30 percent of the total number of houses in the state, about 5600 classrooms in 510 primary schools, in 34 secondary schools and 2 tertiary institutions of learning were destroyed, so the statistics are very depressing, but one thing I believe is that where there is a will, there is always a way.”
He, therefore, said, “as terrible as the tragedy that has befallen our land, it also provides us with a bigger opportunity to re-engineer our society to be a better place, and especially for us in the north, most of us are firth generation graduates of our respective families.”
“Most of us if not all of us are products of the public schools’ system, we can send our own wards to the choicest private schools and allow the children of the poor to wallow in poverty and illiteracy, and expect to reap the dividend peace, no.
Shettima said that some of the classrooms constructed in the state will be air-conditioned, digital teaching aids, all the students will get tablets especially the SS3 and SS2 students.
“We are building about 34 mega schools, and our target is principally the orphans of Boko Haram, we want to avoid a scenario where they will start having some entitlement syndrome or a sense of alienation from the General community.
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“So, we want to bring in students from the neighbourhood, mix them with the victims of Boko Haram, give them a sense of belonging”, he added.
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