Borno Needs N30 Billion Roughly To Rebuild Bama----Says Commissioner
N30 billion will be needed to complete the ongoing rebuilding of residential houses and public structures destroyed by insurgents in Bama local government area of Borno State, Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RRR), Dr. Babagana Umara Zulum has said.
Dr. Zulum disclosed this on Monday in Bama in an interview with Journalists soon after he inspected ongoing reconstruction work with governor Kashim Shettima who had to relocate his office temporary to the town since last Wednesday to supervise the projects.
He said, apart from reconstructing 10,000 residential houses , more than N3 billion is to be expended on the reconstruction of hostels, classroom blocks, Lecture theatres and staff quarters at the Umar Ibn-Ibrahim College of Education, Science and Technology (UICEST), which was the only higher institution of learning destroyed by the insurgents.
He said, "rebuilding of Bama is beyond the state government due to paucity of funds, I want to assure the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in this town, that with commitment and support the ministry of RRR is receiving from governor Kashim Shettima and our security forces, we will complete substantial parts of the reconstruction for our people to return back home.
"We have about 10 public schools including primary and secondary schools that were completely destroyed in Bama, but I am happy to inform you that the federal government under the Victims Support Fund (VSF) headed by General Theophilus Danjuma has promised to intervene and rebuild all these schools for the comfort of our children's education.
"The VSF team were here in Bama sometime ago, they came and assessed the affected schools, and very soon, these schools will be put back to shape". Dr. Zulum stated.
He called on meaningful individuals and corporate organizations to come to the aid of Borno State Government, as 20 Local Government Areas of the state have suffered devastation during the boko haram crisis.