BORNO GOVERNOR VISITS KALA-BALGE LGA,DISTRIBUTES FOOD ITEMS TO 10,000 HOUSE HOLDS.

By Dauda R Pam, Maiduguri

Borno Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum has  distributed food and non food items to 10,000 households living in Rann, headquarters of  Kala-Balge, the remotest local government area of the state and the fourth visit since he assumed the mantle of leadership.

A statement by Special Adviser to the Governor on Communications and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, said Zulum was flown from Maiduguri to Rann, onboard a military chopper, on Sunday May 31, 2020 and that the Governor had earlier made three  similar trips, the first being in June, 2019, few days after coming into office, when he undertook the need assessment of public facilities and subsequently ordered construction works as he later return in December 2019 to distribute cash to 15,000 widows and again by February,Zulum was soon back to Kala-Balge,to distribute N100 million cash to 10,000 trapped families.Again last Sunday, Zulum supervised the distribution of relief items to women and aged men amongst other vulnerable persons in need, with about 300 Nigerians taking refuge in the Republic of Cameroon who returned to Rann to benefit from the gesture in which each beneficiary received a bag of 50kg Maize grain, two cartons of spaghetti, two bags of 10kg rice and a-3 liters cooking oil, as well as female beneficiaries who got wrappers in addition to the food items.

It could be recalled that,residents of Rann have since mid last year been trapped without access to their farmlands due to  flood from a dam, this forced Nigerians in Rann to resort to neighboring Cameroon Republic for livelihoods.

Governor Zulum at a press briefing after the exercise, acknowledged food contributions from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Dangote Foundation.

He said: “I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, for all that he has been doing towards repositioning the northeast.

“I also wish to express my appreciation to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Northeast Development Commission, as well as NEMA and Dangote Foundation, all of them have contributed to the success of this excersice.”

Meanwhile, after his food distribution exercise, Governor Zulum proceeded to Wulgo, a border community, to assess the level of destruction caused by the Boko Haram insurgents,preparatory to resettlement of thousands of IDPs from the community currently staying at formal and informal camps in Gamboru town of Ngala LGA.

The governor said: “The aim of our visit here is to assess the town with a view to resettling back the community. We will have an interface with the community, I think the first thing we will do is to clear the town.”and thereafter proceeded to Gamboru Ngala where he passed the night, during which he interfaced with the Internally displaced persons from different communities.

Governor Zulum while in Rann and Wulgo, paid visits to military formations in the two towns in order to boost their morale and presented 250 bags of 50 kg rice,10 bags of 50kg sugar, 200 cartons of noodles, 500 cartons of sphagetti, cooking oil and cash to each of the formations.