Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has disclosed that members of the Boko Haram insurgency are now from the various ethnic groups in the country.
He spoke with State House correspondents on Saturday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
To end the insurgency in his state and the entire North East, the governor called for urgent address of the factors boosting insurgency.
Urging for intensified support to the military, he sought for more military presence in exposed communities in the state.
He said โOne peculiar problem we have in Borno is that it shares borders with three countries โ Republic of Niger, Republic of Chad as well as the Republic of Cameroon. You can understand these borders, this proximity to Morocco, Algeria, Sudan and Libya. It is a sub-Saharan region, it is very difficult to man such areas.
Going back to the poverty index, you can recall that climatic situation in the region.
โWe have three major climatic regions in Nigeria โ the humid region, semia region as well as the areal region. Borno State is semia region, is an extreme region in northern Borno. Rainfall is usually less than 200 millimeter, crop can hardly do well without irrigation, you can understand what we mean. No rainfall means there is no employment. But by and large, the situation has been compounded for a long time because of lack of education. Education is also a veritable tool for fighting this insurgents.
โMy predecessor has done well in terms of building more schools, recruiting more teachers but I think you are right that the entire problem about employment covers the entire country but because of the porosity of our borders among others, we have major problems in Borno State. Yes, Boko Haram started in our own place, yes I admit that most of them are from my tribe but I believe their composition now cuts across almost every ethnic group in Nigeria, most importantly including the expatriates.
โWe have people from other countries that have joined them. I think that they are rebellious now and I think it is now a war economy, you can see them looting properties, carrying food items and what have you.
โI want to disabuse the minds of those saying it is religious, when they attacked Gubio they burnt down an Islamic school, they burnt down the house of an Islamic teacher, so that is all I have to tell you in a nutshell.โ he said
On his purpose to the Villa, he said he came to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the attacks in Gubio and Magumeri local government areas, and other issues.
Asked what he was doing to ensure normalcy is restored in his state, he said โWell, the President has assured the government and people of Borno State that he will do everything possible to ensure that properties, lives and citizens of the state are protected.
โOn my own part as the governor, first of all I wish to call on the people of Borno State to be patient while we try to strengthen the civilian JTF as well as supplement the efforts of the Nigerian military as well as the Nigerian police.
โBy and large, we must also address the root causes of the Boko Haram insurgency which is not limited to endemic poverty, pervasive illiteracy, financial and economic hardship, unemployment, environmental degradation, drug abuse among others.
โWe must ensure our youths are employed. We shall support the Nigerian police and the Nigerian military, most importantly the gallant civilian JTF and the hunters to ensure that the remnants of Boko Haram are eliminated.โ
Asked why it was easy for the militants to operate in the latest attacks, he said โWell, the most important thing is that there is ongoing military strategy, according to the military authorities, what they called โEstablishment of super camps.โ That entails that all other smaller units in various villages and towns, shall be collapsed to form part of the super camps in some critical major local government areas.
โIn our thinking as laymen not as military personnel, we thought this decision is not wise. We must ensure there is military presence in all the locations. We are very much aware of their numerical strength but nonetheless, their absence can create serious vacuum and that has informed the recent attacks.
โHowever, I heard that the military is now trying to re-establish the military formations in those areas and that they should not form part of the super camps.
โHonestly speaking, the civilian JTF are working but the most important thing is that they donโt have the heavy weapons that they can use to conveniently face. So the absence of the Nigerian military in a particular place will create a vacuum in such a way that the civilian JTF and hunters cannot perform effectively.
โI have told Mr. President and he has listened to our complaints, he has done a lot for the people of Borno State and it is our sincere hope that this time around, he will take necessary steps to forestall future occurrence. But most importantly, the presence of the Nigerian military in almost all the locations especially in local government headquarters, need not be overemphasized.โ
On his plans to create jobs for the youths towards ending insurgency, he said โWell, there are various ways of creating jobs. First and foremost, our administration in the last two months has embarked upon construction of technical and vocational centers geared towards providing skill acquisition, on the job training for the teaming youths in the state.
โSecondly, the state government has applied to the Central Bank of Nigeria to enjoy the facility under its accelerated agricultural development scheme.
โSo far so good, we have cultivated about 10,000 hectares of land, we are willing to invest in poultry farming, aquaculture among others to create jobs. Last month, we recruited about 4,000 youths within Maiduguri and enrolled them under the Borno State environmental protection agency for them to be engaged in the environmental sanitation exercise for a period of six months.
โWe are now profiling them so that before the six months will elapse, Government will look into the possibility of giving them starter kits so that they can start on their own. Definitely we are not sleepy, the large population in Borno State is not easy to manage because of increasing procreation, lack of education among others.
โBut, definitely, gradually we are going forward in terms of agriculture, skill acquisition especially vocational training centers shall be established while the existing ones will be reinvigorated.
โMost importantly, we have created the ministry of science, technology and innovation, it is saddled with the responsibility of creating enabling jobs so that our young ones can stand on their own.โ he added
Asked what strategies could be be put in place to ensure the repentant insurgents accept government programmes, he said โThis is a very important question. You will recall that the federal government under the leadership of President Buhari has established what we call operation safe corridor. This establishment is purposely to ensure that the repentant Boko Haram insurgents are being reintegrated into the system.
โBut somehow, I think we have to look into the efficacy of this system. In the last one month, I have been advocating at various local government areas that, let those insurgents who are willing to repent, return so that we shall open up windows for them under the operation safe corridor.
โThis is very important because dialogue is also very important because, those that were forced into insurgency should be given opportunity to come back home. Most importantly, we need to ensure that there is a robust mechanism on ground to take care of them, to rehabilitate them and to reintegrate them.
โDuring our first economic council meeting, the president did mention that the governors should go back to their home and discuss with their traditional rulers and look into the possibility of resolving issues at their own levels. That entails empowering the traditional rulers, the civilian JTF and hunters and ensuring that dialogues are being held between the traditional rulers and repentant Boko Haram.
โI hope by doing so we can succeed. There is a renewed effort in this direction and very soon I will be having a meeting with the operation safe corridor team to ensure that this is put in place.โ he said
The governor declined to give details on the present situation in Gubio and Magumeri local governments.
But he added โAs far as I am concerned, there was an attack in Gubio and Magumeri, local government area, secretariats were burnt down, health centers were burnt down, vehicles were burnt down, communication gadgets were burnt down.
โAnd it is disheartening to note that since the advent of this administration, burning of secretariats and other public buildings ceased for the last four and a half years. What must have informed this decision for them to resume these attacks? These questions remain unanswered.
โMost importantly, I am sure this government has done a lot and the discussions I had with Mr. President shows that we are getting to an end very soon and I am optimistic that we shall get enough support.
โRight now we are receiving support from Mr. President but we are only appealing that the system be strengthened, for him to look into the porosity of the system, evaluate the system with a view to enhancing it.โ
Speaking further on the Civilian JTF, he said โWhen you look at the Nigerian Constitution, it has clearly spelt out the powers of the state government, the powers of the federal government as well as the Nigerian military. The civilian JTF are institutional bodies that have been created by the government of Borno State, we can go to an extent of supporting them but there are certain limitations.
โEven the Nigerian police have some limitations of carrying some of the heavy guns like AA. So therefore, for them to function effectively and face these insurgents, they must have certain buffer and that buffering capacity is the Nigerian military.
โWe are also advocating that the federal government should also look into the possibility of providing temporary permit to the Nigerian police to carry some of the weapons considering the lean numerical strength of the military. That will strengthen their numbers and then ensure that while there are limitations in terms of numerical strength, police can supplement.โ he said
