The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved $1 million for the rebuilding of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno, as part of efforts to rehabilitate the community ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The Vice-Chairman, Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI), Alhaji Tijjani Tumsah, disclosed this to newsmen last week after a stakeholders’ meeting with members of the Chibok community in Maiduguri.
According to the PCNI Vice Chairman, the AfDB is underwriting the reconstruction of the schools, improved security arrangements for the school premises as well as the provision of psycho-social support and the enhancement of the security architecture in the Chibok community.
Tumsah also affirmed that the military engineers currently working on the school would continue their work in collaboration with the PCNI.
Mr Tumsah said that the objective of the meeting was to create a synergy between the Federal Government, the state government and the Chibok Local government council with the aim of rehabilitating the community which has been severely impacted by the conflict.
He commended the community for its patience and resilience since the abduction of the 217 Chibok girls and asserted that the Federal Government is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to recover the remaining abductees and to restore normalcy to the area.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Damboa Elders paid a courtesy call on members of the PCNI Committee on the 29th of April at the Borno State office in Maiduguri.
The delegation was received by the Vice Chairman of the PCNI Tijjani M. Musa who welcomed the delegation and expressed the gratitude of the government for their decision to return to the community.
The leader of the delegation, a member of the Borno State House of Assembly representing Damboa and the Chair of the Committee on Security, stated that the Damboa community will, with the help of vigilante groups, continue to provide security and ensure the rigorous vetting of persons volunteering to serve in the vigilante groups.
He also listed the provision of agricultural inputs, road construction and water supply as some priority areas in need of attention.
Responding, a PCNI member, Professor Hauwa Biu urged the community to adopt community policing and also increase their resilience in the face of threats by the insurgents while Senator Ali Ndume appealed to the community to look inwards and be innovate in order to overcome the current challenges.
On resilience, the senator urged the community to borrow a leaf from Izge and Kauji communities, which have not only have become reference points in terms of community resilience, but are already gearing up for early recovery.