Borno is now 50 years backward due to Boko Haram, says Governor Shettima
Borno State governor, Kashim
shettima, has said that the level of destruction by the odious activities of
the Boko Haram sect in the state, has taken it backward by 50 years, with
educational institutions being mostly affected.
The governor who made this statement
on Monday, in Abuja, when the Executive Secretary of National Universities
Commission (NUC), Professor Adamu Abubakar Rasheed, presented a letter of
recognition to him for establishing Borno State University, said;
“At the risk
of sounding repetitive, Borno state has been taken 50 years backward, no thanks
to the vicious Boko Haram we inherited in 2011. As we all know, hate for
education is the fundamental principle of the Boko Haram. This explains why
they focused so much attack on educational institutions. In the educational
sector alone, a total of 5,335 classrooms and other academic buildings were
destroyed by insurgents across 512 primary schools, 38 secondary schools and
two tertiary institutions in Borno state. The objective was to bring down
education in a state that has a long history of learning. As far back as 625
years ago, Sultan Uthman Bin Idris of Borno, in his communication with Sultan Barquq
of Egypt in 1391, portrayed Borno Empire as one that takes pride in writing and
learning. Today, Boko Haram wants to reverse that noble pride, but we will not
let them do it. We shall continue to invest heavily on education,” he said.
Governor Shettima added that the
state is now safe and ready to rehabilitate, reconstruct and expand educational
institutions.
He revealed that contracts
of N3.4 billion had already been awarded for the first phase of physical
development of the university, which includes construction of five faculties; Faculty
of Science, Social Science, Management Science and Arts and Education.
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