By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri
The governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, on Monday commended the intervention of the government of Germany in the North-East humanitarian crisis, insisting that without the intervention of the German government in the crisis, thousands of youths in Borno State would have joined Boko Haram and ISWAP.
Zulum was responding to remarks by the German Foreign Affairs Minister, Annalena Baerbock, who paid an assessment visit to assess German intervention at Ngaranam, about 50 kilometers North-East of Maiduguri, in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Germany is the major donor in the over 600-housing project of the UNDP for the resettlement of the returnee community.
He thanked the German government for supporting the resettlement of the 3,000 IDPs at Ngaranam, stating that “without the support of the German government in the Boko Haram humanitarian crisis, thousands of youths would have joined Boko Haram and ISWAP.”
Baerbock had stressed the role and commitment of Germany, with support from the United Nations, UN, and European Union, EU, in the peace and stabilization process of the resettled communities of Borno State.
She said that the aim of Germany’s intervention in the North-East crisis is to return people to their ancestral homes to build their own future and give their children a future.
Each household of the community resettled last September, was given a 50-kilogram bag of rice, a 100-kilogram bag of maize and N100,000 cash to start life.
In addition, the household head was given a heifer and a bull, while the wife was given a he-goat and two goats to rebuild their economy.
Highlight of the visit was inspection of befitting school newly constructed, where children of the returnees were enrolled to receive qualitative western education.
