Amazing Discoveries Within Boko Haram’s Birthplace – PRNigeria News

Amazing Discoveries Within Boko Haram’s
Birthplace
By Yushau A. Shuaib

Every time I have reason to travel to Maiduguri for an
assignment, my family members become prayer warriors, and
clarifications are sought around my dreams at such periods to check
for what might be portents, while safety measures are devised
against any possible untoward development.

As the birthplace of Boko Haram, Borno State is mostly
associated with media tales of abandoned orphans, homeless widows,
suffering internally displaced persons (IDPs), heartless suicide
bombers and brutal terrorists etc.

Professor Zulum and Senator Kashim Shettima

Since my itinerary in the State usually revolves around
humanitarian engagements, adequate security is routinely provided
throughout my stay by the respective federal agencies that are my
hosts.

In all the tours, I never paid much attention to the programmes
and activities of the Borno State government. Like the proverbial
bandwagon effect, I occasionally joined others in expressing deep
resentments against State officials, traditional institutions and
the political elite for doing little to curtail the excesses of the
terrorists rampaging across the State.

Attempts by Isa Gusau, the spokesperson to Governor Kashim
Shettima to convince some cynics like me with images and videos of
positive strides being made in the State frequently met brick walls
because we generally have a feeling that with technology, anything
can be manipulated.

Borno Housing
Estate

Therefore, when I received an invitation for a media tour of the
State a few days to the commencement of the Ramadan fasting, I
accepted the offer, even as I didn’t have any nightmare at the
period that required dream interpreters. As usual, my prayer
warriors conducted a special prayer for my safety on this more
recent trip to Maiduguri.

I was delighted to meet some renowned newspaper columnists on
the tour, including Mallam Mahmud Jega of Daily Trust, Mike
Awoyinfa of The Sun, Sam Omatseye of The Nation and Zainab Suleiman
Okino of Blueprint, among others.

Rather than being escorted and protected by fully armed
bodyguards in armoured vehicles, we were received by Governor
Shettima, who personally drove the lead car for the media tour of
various projects and facilities in the State, without the use of
sirens. A few state officials also accompanied us on the tour.

Borno
Boarding Primary School

The first ports of call were the state-of-the-art primary
schools newly built by the Borno State government, where the
Commissioner of Education, Musa Inuwa Kubo took us round
air-conditioned classrooms. The beautiful furniture there were
locally produced in Maiduguri, even if the digitalised teaching
boards and modern gadgets were unavoidably imported. The schools
have fine libraries, expansive dining halls and roomy dormitories.
I pinched my cheeks harder to reassure myself I wasn’t daydreaming
in fantasy when we entered a spacious Disneyland-like
playground.

Borno
Secondary School

We also inspected mega secondary schools with exquisite boarding
facilities, infrastructure and sports arena. The newly constructed
Borno State University is another world on its own, which is better
than most newly established universities in terms of space, its
physical ambience and buildings, and a conducive learning
environment. The campus is slated to commence operation soon with
the recent engagement of its principal officers.

Borno Solar Panel Production Plant

Again, Shettima, who is equally the Senator-elect for Borno
Central, led us to the newly established Industrial Park on the
outskirt of Maiduguri, where the manager of the facility, Engineer
Ibrahim Ali, informed us about the 16 tightly knit plants there,
which have machinery for solar panel production, with the capacity
to generate 120 megawatts of electricity. There are also plants in
the Park for crop dehydration, and the production of PVC pipes,
canopy-yarn, laminated sacks, plastic mats, school desks and
chairs.

Borno Primary School with locally produced
furniture

In our presence, plastic tables and chairs were produced, some
of which I sat on with the fullness of my weight in order to test
their strength, and quite impressively they were as solid as the
rock of Gibraltar.

In the Industrial Park, there are also plants for processing
cassava and tomato, biscuit making, and the extraction of assorted
juice, among other plants whose raw materials are produced locally
in the State. In fact, there is a plastic-roofed greenhouse near
the park where two types of tomatoes are farmed. There, I plucked
and munched on some of the ripe tomatoes to ensure they were not
plastic ones.

We were all amazed at the immense scale and beauty of the
residential estates built by Governor Shettima. Most of the
buildings are duplex apartments, flats, and bungalows. One may not
likely have the fear of Boko Haram, If only one could be able to
live in any of the glamorous estates in the serene environment!

Borno Medical
Facility

While thrilled at the amazing discoveries, we could hardly feel
the intensity of the over 40 degree Celsius sun, when the Governor
swiveled his saloon car towards to the Borno Specialist Hospital.
There, we were received by the State Health Commissioner, Dr.
Salisu Kwayabura, who conducted us round the medical facility that
offers the latest in high-tech medical care and advanced imaging
services, such as latest mammogram, Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI) and echocardiogram equipment for the early detection of
cancer in the human body.

Borno Hospital
Ward

There are also sophisticated Computer Tomography (CT) scanners
that features “intraoperative teleconferencing technology”. Some of
the new equipment in the facility are rare or very few in the West
African region. The multi-disciplinary medical services on offer at
the Borno Specialist Hospital, which feature cutting-edge tools
that are fully digital and Internet-enabled, are designed to manage
the data of patients electronically, in a completely paperless
manner.

The hospital’s ultramodern kidney dialysis centre has the
capacity to handle more than 40 patients, while the Intensive Care
Unit and the theatre are fitted with facilities for neurosurgery
and other advanced procedures from General Electric (GE), including
the 4D ultrasound (Voluson E10) scanning machine for finer clinical
details and diagnosis.

While I didn’t pray to fall sick during the visit, yet I felt
like I could be very easily diagnosed and treated in this
five-star, technologically advanced medical facility in Maiduguri
for any future ailment or sickness. It is simply so cozy and
soothing as a place of medical care.

Borno Nursery
School

I wondered how contractors, engineers, technicians, suppliers
and other labourers were able to successfully deliver on the
projects in the State considering the existence of Boko Haram
terrorists and political insurgents in a contiguous area, who could
have wreaked havoc on them to make a strong statement?

After over six hours of tours, Governor Shettima led us to the
Government House for a dinner with the incoming governor, Professor
Babagana Umara Zulum.

When I was asked to speak on behalf of the senior media
practitioners present, I commended the governor for personally
taking us round on the inspection tour of the beautiful structures
and highly sophisticated facilities his administration had
remarkably put together without any armed bodyguard or the use of
sirens. I nevertheless expressed my fear about the management of
the huge projects, both in terms of their maintenance and the
quality of personnel to be hired to man them. I then asked: “Would
these projects boost the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the
State?”

Borno
Industrial Plant

Governor Shettima’s response was apt. He said: “My tenure will
expire in about a month… What gives me so much joy is that the
structure, infrastructure and the facilities we put in place will
be adequately maintained and improved upon, because we are
privileged to have Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as my successor.
And this is because he has demonstrated a consistent passion for
our dearest Borno.

Borno new Factory

“Professor Zulum is head and shoulder above me in intellect,
competence, compassion, and integrity. He has demonstrated those
qualities, especially with his tremendous sacrifice and the risk he
took as the Commissioner of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation in
addressing the plight of the distressed and displaced people in the
State.”

Governor Kashim Shettima, a humble person, is quite an erudite
intellectual with brilliant and remarkable ideas on governance,
politics, and social development. His outstanding legacies in
revolutionising the key sectors in Borno State, despite a
debilitating insurgency, shall remain indelible in the minds of the
people, and in history.

After the dinner, I couldn’t help but contemplate what could be
the nature of the future relationship between the outgoing and
incoming administrations in the State. That is, beyond their
apparently pleasant rapport at this time, would the mutually
supportive relationship between Senator-elect Shettima and
Professor Zurum endure after their different inaugurations or take
a frosty turn like the known cases of the Kwankwaso-Ganduje saga
and the Tinubu-Ambode imbroglio? Or the Orji Kalu-Theodore Orji
clash, the Goje-Dankwambo rivalry, the Attah-Akpabio conflict or
even the Akume-Suswan fiasco, among other similar incidents between
political godfathers and their godsons?

Someone tells me that theirs will be a perfect example of
non-interference but mutual encouragement in their respective
constitutional mandates. I fervently pray that this is so.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author ‘An Encounter with the Spymaster’
Publisher, PRNigeria
www.YAShuaib.com^[1]