VSF To Reconstruct All Public Schools In Dikwa—Executive Secretary

The Victims Support Fund, (VSF) has said that it will reconstruct all public schools and other public buildings destroyed by Boko Haram Insurgents in Dikwa local Government area of Borno state, in the first phase of its reconstruction programme.

The Executive Secretary of the VSF, Professor Sunday Ochoche disclosed this while flaging off the distribution of books and other educational materials to the pupils of Maimusari Primary schools Maiduguri.

He said “20,000 children of school age will benefit in the first phase of the VSF gesture among which 10,000 of them are from Borno state, as the state is the most affected by the insurgency in the North-east”.

He said VSF has been intervening in various sectors such as health, widows and orphans empowerment and now they are investing in the education sector, as according to him education is critical to any meaningful development.

While flagging off the occasion, Governor Kashim Shettima who was represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Usman Mamaman Durkwa said for the last six years Borno state has been ravage by the insurgents in the name of Boko Haram and virtually 70 percent of schools have been destroyed and children are out of school.

The Deputy Governor stated that the launching of these educational materials will be targeted at the worse affected areas of Bama, Gwoza, Kukawa among others by the VSF, adding that the materials will greatly assist children in their learning process, while teachers will also enhance their capacity building and knowledge in discharge of their duties.

“I enjoined the beneficiary schools and children to make judicious use of the materials and to ensure that the materials are not diverted to any other place for any selfish motive, as it will not be tolerated. I also appeal to other philanthropic organizations and individuals to follow the good example of the Nigerian Foundation for the Support of Victims of terrorism,” the governor stated.

In his welcome address, the permanent secretary Borno state ministry for Education, Alhaji Mustapha Aminami said the intervention by the VSF is timely, as education sector is the most hit by the activities of insurgents in the state, as education sector is the first target of Boko Haram terrorists, as the name Boko Haram means “western education is forbidden”.