Umara orders Borno monarchs, council chairmen, others to return to their communities

Governor Babagana Umara of Borno State has ordered council chairmen, secretaries and two monarchs to return to their respective local councils and chiefdoms.

Umara, who gave the order yesterday at the Government House in Maiduguri, said that the return of council members of staff and monarchs should commence in earnest to establish civil authority in local councils.

According to him, the relocation and return process followed the restoration of normalcy and subsequent return of over 870,000 Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their ancestral homes.

“I have directed the Secretary to the State Government, Usman Jidda Shuwa, to write to Chairmen of Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) and Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to initiate mechanism and procedures to ensure return of all council members of staff and teachers to their respective duty posts,” he said.

He said that Shuwa had been directed to write the Shehus of Bama and Dikwa to also relocate back to their respective emirates along with their district heads and other traditional title-holders.

“Traditional rulers’ functions and responsibilities are critical in running the affairs of their people,” the governor said.

He said the presence of council members of staff and traditional rulers, as well as members of staff of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), who work in zonal offices, are essential requirements to establish civil authority in insurgency-affected local councils.

He said that this was the only way the local council system could be resuscitated to restore public confidence in service deliveries.

The system, according to him, could adequately attend to people’s needs in addressing challenges of development processes.

Umara, who noted that if IDPs could return to their respective council areas, there is no reason for council members of staff not to return, assured them that government would address the challenges that may arise during the relocation exercise.

He said that the Civil Service Commission (CSC), LGSC and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) had been asked to initiate administrative process to return all insurgency affected council members of staff, adding that a monitoring panel had also been set up to ensure compliance.