Zulum secures eight capital projects from Qatari foundation

• Swears in LG bosses, perm secs, aides

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has facilitated the execution of eight projects by the Qatar Charity Foundation (QCF) in Maiduguri metropolis.

Zulum also inaugurated 27 local council chairmen, seven permanent secretaries and 29 special advisers comprising Igbo, Yoruba, indigent politicians and technocrats to boost service delivery.

According to him, the projects are sited on a 2.5-hectare of land with the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to the foundation.

While laying the foundation stones of projects, yesterday, in Maiduguri, Zulum disclosed: “The foundation’s eight projects comprise a school, an orphanage, clinic, staff quarters, charity office, sporting ground and a mosque.”

The orphanage, he added, is to accommodate about 100,000 children orphaned in the 14-year Boko Haram terrorism that also claimed lives and property.

“Today’s event is to lay the foundation for the construction of an integrated school and an orphanage by QCF in Maiduguri.
“I have been working towards this integrated project since 2015, and today we have seen the light at the end of the tunnel,” said the governor.

He, therefore, directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Tijjani Bukar, to grant approval for all the requests made by the foundation.

Zulum, however, lamented the devastation caused by terrorism in the state, adding: “In the past seven years, we have had about 3.2 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), with about 50 per cent being resettled.”

According to him, about 1.2 million persons are still in IDPs camps.
He said 432 health centres were also destroyed, as well as 900,000 houses and 5,000 classrooms.

While thanking the foundation for the projects, he said: “The completion of the eight projects in the metropolis will have a direct impact on the living conditions of people, particularly the orphans.

“The state government will collaborate with the foundation to ensure the success of these projects.”

In his brief remarks, Nigeria’s representative for the Qatari charity, Sheikh Hamdin Bin Abdul, said the projects would be extended to all the 27 local councils in the state.
He added: “We are pleased to execute projects here in Borno. We thank the governor for all the support. By God’s grace, we will use the Maiduguri centre to cover all the local councils in the state.”

Abdul reiterated that the foundation would work in many sectors, including water supply, housing and economic empowerment.

Other interventions of the foundation are to be in the health, education and social service sectors for widows and orphans.

Swearing in the 63 government officials, yesterday, in Maiduguri, the governor disclosed: “All of you are to live up to the expectations of the government and people of Borno, while discharging your responsibilities to boost service delivery.”

He said the chairpersons, including a lady from Jere Local Council, Inna Galadima, won the council elections conducted on February 20, 2024.

Zulum, therefore, urged them to discharge their duties with honesty, impartiality, compassion and fairness to all.

He added: “You must work assiduously for the actualisation of the shared prosperity mantra of this administration.”