Insurgency: General Danjuma commissions 40 public buildings in Borno.

Insurgency: General Danjuma commissions 40 public buildings in Dikwa,  liberated stronghold  .... Lauds Shettima over 16 additional projects with VSF's N250m materials. - Kolade Oludare

 

Governor Kashim Shettima welcoming General T.Y.Danjuma at the Maiduguri International Airport ahead of the commissioning of 40 public buildings reconstructed through a partnership between the Borno State Government and the Victims Support Fund chaired by Danjuma... at a ceremony in Dikwa town, Borno State, on Wednesday.

Left to right: Borno State Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Dr Babagana Umara Zulum, Governor Kashim Shettima and General T.Y. Danjuma ‎commissioning 40 public buildings reconstructed through a partnership between the Borno State Government and the Victims Support Fund chaired by Danjuma... at a ceremony in Dikwa town, Borno State, on Wednesday. 

Former Minister of Defense, General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma on Wednesday commissioned a General Hospital, council secretariat, police station and 37 other public structures to set stage for return of internally displaced persons to Dikwa town, headquarters of Dikwa local government area in central part of Borno, used to be one of Boko Haram’s occupied and administered territories before liberation by Nigerian troops under the Buhari Administration.  Dikwa is 80 kilometers from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Danjuma had arrived ‎Maiduguri a little after 10am and was received by Governor Shettima at the Maiduguri International Airport before proceeding straight to Dikwa for the commissioning. 

Our correspondent reports that ‎the Victims Support Fund, initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan and chaired by ‎Danjuma had two months ago gone into a pilot partnership with the Borno State Government which involved the Fund donating building materials worth two hundred million naira and cash of N50m for labour and supervision to the Borno State Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement which was to rebuild 24 public structures including a General Hospital, schools, the council secretariat, police barracks, police stations and other public buildings to put in place civil authority and essential facilities to prepare the return of IDPS. However, Governor Shettima guided the Ministry into using the same amount of materials to reconstruct 16 additional public buildings beside the 24 earmarked by the Victims Support Fund bringing to 40, the total number of buildings rebuilt through the partnership.  

"We gave Borno building materials wort!h N200m and cash of N50m for payment of labourers and other coordinating items to reconstruct 24 public buildings we identified in Dikwa but to our pleasant surprise, the Borno State Government used the same materials and money to reconstruct not only the 24 public buildings to standard but added 16 others. This is remarkable'" Danjuma was told by Professor Sunday Ochoche, Executive Director of the VSF.

While commissioning the 40 projects, General Danjuma, dressed in sky blue jeans shirt and trouser, said he was impressed with the 'judicious use of resources by Governor Kashim Shettima" noting that with the positive attitude displayed by the Governor, the Victims Support Fund has decided to make intervention on reconstruction of Bama town, the worst affected by Boko Haram occupation. 

The retired General said out of over N50b donated by corporate organizations, individuals and Government institutions during fund raiser at take off, only less than half the amount has been redeemed to the fund so far. He explained that when it was established, the scope of the Fund was to rehabilitate victims of the Boko Haram insurgency but that the Buhari Government expanded the scope of the Fund to include ‎reconstruction. He noted that Dikwa town was the test of reconstruction works by the Fund and Bama will be next. Danjuma also said the Fund would make intervention in supporting individual victims to rebuild their homes through a controlled system of donations made to them with supervision on how they apply the donations. 

In his remarks, Governor Kashim Shettima was full ‎of praises for General Danjuma's role in managing the Victims Support Fund. 

"In 2014, when it was made public that one of Africa’s foremost philanthropist, one of Nigeria's most disciplined Generals, one of northern Nigeria’s most revered leaders, General T.Y.Danjuma was to chair the Insurgency Victims Support ‎Fund, every reasonable Nigerian ad even the international community had hopes rising because everyone knew that whatever amount that was to be raised was going to be safe under the custody of our father, General T. Y. Danjuma. Indeed, General Danjuma proved everyone right because not only did he work to redeem pledges and kept the money safe, he went as far as donating a whopping sum of ten million dollars which is equivalent of N3.4 Billion today, to the fund. Nigeria is grateful to General Danjuma and the people of Borno State are profoundly grateful to him because Borno is the nerve center of the destructions" Shettima said.

The Governor pledged to be firmly committed to accelerating reconstruction works to fast-track the return of IDPS to safe communities so as to restore their dignity. ‎He explained that operating IDP camps is usually accompanied by series of problems. 

Dr Babagana Umara Zulum, Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Borno State explained that Governor Shettima had sounded it clear that resources must be judicious utilized to achieve greater results and hence his Ministry's strict adherence t meeting standard with minimum resources. 

The Commissioner conducted General Danjuma round the reconstructed General Hospital, the council secretariat, police barrack and a school, as samples of the 40 public buildings ready for use by citizens.

PHOTO: Senate President Visits Maiduguri.

The Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki(2nd right) receiving one of the 600 malnourished children treated after their evacuation from Bama IDP camp two months ago, when Governor Kashim Shettima led the Senate President to the Special Malnutrition care unit established by Borno Government in Maiduguri after a condolence on the family of late elder Statesman, Shettima Ali Monguno in Maiduguri. - Kolade Oludare

Photo after the cut.

First on the left is the Chairman, Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Engineer Garba Satomi, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima.

PHOTOS: NATIONAL HOSPITAL ABUJA LOCKED DOWN BY ABUJA ENVIRONMENTALS

An official of Abuja environmental who spoke to us this morning on anonymity told us they have to locked up National hospital because they (National Hospital) can no longer afford to pay their bills and that is why they have come to lock up the NATIONAL Hospital with security agents and court order pasted on the entrance. - Kolade Oludare.

 

Pictures after the cut.

 

 

 

 

 

KASHIM SHETTIMA: N345m IS TOTAL CASH DONATION WE RECEIVED ON IDPS FROM 2011 TO DATE

SHETTIMA: N345m IS TOTAL CASH DONATION WE RECEIVED ON IDPS FROM 2011 TO DATE - Kolade Oludare

Kashim Shettima - Governor of Borno State

 

... Amount covers all sources,Int'l and local, including 4 years of Jonathan 

Contrary to wild assumptions that the Borno State Government has received billions of cash donations in local and foreign currencies for the management of Internally Displaced Persons, the State Governor, Kashim Shettima has revealed that a lot of Nigerians may be shocked to know that a total of three hundred and forty five million naira (N345m) is the overall amount received as cash donation by his administration from May, 2011 when he inherited the Boko Haram crisis to date. 

Governor Shettima made the disclosure while responding to questions by  journalists in Maiduguri shortly after his arrival from Abuja. The journalists sort his response over claims on the social media and a section of the main stream media the 'the Borno Government had received billions of naira in cash donations as support to cater for IDP'S whereas the donation was diverted by Govt officials with food supplies not provided for the IDPS.

"You see, contrary to wild assumptions that the Borno State Government has received billions of cash donations in local and foreign currencies for the management of Internally Displaced Persons, a lot of Nigerians may be shocked to know that a total of three hundred and forty five million naira (N345m) is the overall amount received as cash donation by our administration from May, 2011 to date.

‎Here is the list of cash donations we received from all sources whatsoever for the support of IDPS, in Borno State and this figure is from 2011 when I took over, to this moment:   

‎1. The FG under Jonathan gave us N200m in 4 years

2. Lagos State Government, N50m in October, 2015 

3. Edo State Government, N25m in 2013

4. Kano State,  N20m in 2013

5. Adamawa State, N20m in 2013

6. Ekiti State, N10m‎ in 2013 

7. Osun State, N10m in 2013

8. Kaduna State, N5m

9. Unity Bank, N5m 

 

‎‎There is one woman who prefers her name not to be mentioned, she donated one hundred thousand naira in cash bringing total cash received to three hundred and forty five million, one hundred thousand naira. 

‎So, in effect, N345m is the total cash donation received by the Borno State Government from 2011 to date meant for support of internally displaced persons and we were spending N600m every month to cater for IDP'S throughout the Jonathan era.  All other interventions have been in kind through donation of food items or medical supplies etc and they include:  

 

A. Kebbi State Government had donated 1,200 bags of rice

B. Ebonyi State Government gave us 5,000 bags of rice

C. Taraba gave us 3 trucks of highland tea 

D. Gombe gave us 6 trucks of assorted food products via 2 interventions.

These were all for IDP interventions from State Government but of course, there have many other groups who visited and donated food items in the last five years but certainly not cash to Borno State Government" he said.

The Governor explained that International partners operate in such a way they have technical partners that implement their interventions. 

‎"We have received tremendous support from some part of the International community but no foreign country or any International partner within or outside the UN and major world donors gave any cash to our administration from 2011 to date for the purpose of IDPS but rather all donations come in materials like medical supplies, technical support and food items, most of which are directly distributed by the International partners themselves to reach IDP'S in different parts of Borno State. Amounts you might heard through the media were not cash donated to Borno by international partners but rather, items and services worth such amount mentioned to the public. They do not give cash. For instance, there was a time the General Electric graciously donated one million dollars to Borno in support of IDPS,I was at the presentation in Abuja, I was even presented the symbolic cheque but the money was paid to UNICEF and it was UNICEF to implemented the G.E's intervention in the era of Healthcare and nutrition.

When the Government of Norway announced donation of 4 million dollars, the money wasn't given in the form of cash to Borno, it was the worth of their food supplies and these food supplies are being distributed by the Norwegian Refugee Council which deals directly with the IDPS in Borno. The ICRC has made the highest humanitarian intervention in Borno but we don't even know how much they have spent, they have their men on ground who deal directly with the IDPS across Borno State" he said.

He noted that "the World Food Programme also makes intervention of food and recently they are doing conditional cash transfers and that also is handled by officials of the World Food Programme.  If there is one organization that has given us any cash donation outside the N345m for IDPS, it was the Dangote Foundation which gave Borno N400m but that wasn't for IDPS, it was an economic empowerment program for women which the Dangote Group launched in different States including Lagos,Kano, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa and Yobe States in which N10,000 each was given to about three or four hundred thousand women across these States I mentioned. The N2b Dangote announced in support of Borno two months ago, we requested that he doesn't give us cash but building materials worth the amount".

Shettima also said "as far as 2012, I foresaw eventual mischief on this issue of intervention on IDP'S, that was why we made it a policy of not dealing with cash but supplies and even on the supplies when the food is much,  in most cases, we insist that donors supervise the distribution of their donations to the IDPS, this was exactly what we did with the 104 trailers of food donated  by Dangote Foundation for the Ramadan feeding for IDPS. Officials of Dangote led the entire distribution.  So, I really don't know where this issue of Borno collecting Billions for the purpose of IDPS came from, the Borno State Government has been the one bearing the major brunt of managing these over two million IDPs throughout the Jonathan era. We have spent Billions of our resources not only in feeding IDPS but also in reconstruction of many communities from 2011 to date and yet we manage to pay salary of N2.6b to our workers by 26th of every month without failing for once. We have paid salaries of June last week. I think people should be fair to us. We are not angels, we have our short comings as humans but we do our best most of the time to meet the needs of our citizens".

The Governor said ‎"a political group in Borno has since hijacked the issue of IDPS, the group was no where when we were in crisis and taking care of these IDPS, now that peace is emerging, politics has set in,  they send all kinds of information with misleading figures and pictures, the media should try to separate facts from fiction by simply seeking clarification from us on issues that affect us. I am not a fighter by my nature but Allah has blessed me with the capacity to resist pressures. Challenges don't distract or slow me down, they inspire me,they make more focused. I have been following all the mischief. The social media doesn't bother me at all. The only comment that surprised me was one that kept being repeated on the Television by a particular TV station based in Lagos. There is a program they call Journalists Hang Out, in which some senior journalists that ought to simply assign their reporters in Borno to get them facts or reach my media aides or even me directly for clarifications, who chose to be making serious and libelous allegations on live TV saying Borno State has received hundreds of Billions of naira as cash donations to take care of IDPS and that the funds were diverted and IDPS were left dying of hunger. Unfortunately, other media houses seem to have bought into that misleading information since the unfortunate case of malnutrition came out of Bama which by the way, we brought it to public knowledge after I ordered the evacuation of over 1000 malnurished children and adults before and during my visit to the Bama IDP camp on 15th of June which was before the statement by the MSF" he said.