Zulum visits Chibok School, orders complete rehabilitation
By Duku JOEL, Maiduguri
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has ordered the immediate and complete overhaul of Government Secondary School, Chibok where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014.
The governor gave the directive Tuesday after an inspection tour of the school which is still in ruins despite the fact that the past administrations promised to rebuild the school to a world class standard.
The Nation recalled that the then Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala flew into Chibok and laid the foundation stone for the rebuilding of the school in March 2015 but nothing significant has changed since the attack.
Some of the roofs which was done by the defunct Presidential Committee on Northeast Intervention, (PCNI) have been blown off when Governor Zulum visited.
“I hereby direct the Ministry of Education to deploy a team of experts to assess the entire school and come up with a design and costing so that I can approve the immediate reconstruction and remodeling of this school.
“We will also ensure that the school is allocated adequate teachers, already I have given a directive for recruitment of more teachers both on permanent and ad-hoc basis that will include volunteer teachers. Of course, before allocation of teachers, the reconstruction will involve the provision of all components of learning materials including functional laboratory for sciences. By the time I return here next time, I want to see a completely different scene,” Gov. Zulum said.
The Nation reports that over 200 schoolgirls writing WAEC exams were abducted by Boko Haram. About 219 of them were declared missing, 57 escaped from their abductors days after the abduction. Of the missing 219 girls, one of them, Amina Ali was found in May 2016.
In October 2016, 21 of the girls were released by the insurgents through negotiations, while another 82 were freed through negotiation in May 2017. The Nigerian military at different times rescued two girls, making around 106, the number of the girls freed.
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More than 100 have remained in captivity with their fate still unknown.
In another development, Gov Zulum took out time during the visit to see some of the communities that have suffered recent Boko Haram attack.
He sympathized with 83 families affected by Boko Haram attack in Takulashi, a community in the local government, and directed immediate release of N11m as social protection for them.
“What happened in Takulashi is very unfortunate, we share your pains and we all believe that nothing can equal the value of a single life. However, I will present token to support the 83 families affected,” Zulum said.
A total of 12 family members of those who lost their lives during the attack received N300,000 each, 53 people whose houses were burnt down received N100,000 each while families of 9 persons also affected by the terrorist attack received N100,000 each. Another five persons who sustained various degrees of injuries received N150, 000 each while 4 families also received N150, 000 each.
Apart from the social support, Zulum inspected a community water project in Mboa about 5km away from Chibok town.
Mboa water project is designed with 750,000 liters surface tank with water sources from 10 deep aquifer boreholes each with 500,000 liters overhead tank.
The project which is expected to be completed in 2021 is to solve perennial water scarcity bedeviling Chibok town and other communities around.
The Governor also inspected an ongoing Damboa – Chibok road project.
Governor Zulum engaged the engineers and charged them to ensure quality work.
“The road between Damboa and Chibok has been ongoing for quite some time, I am here to supervise ahead of our target for completion by next year, 2021 insha Allah,” Zulum said.
