One can easily shed tears looking at the degree of hardship the people of the North-east region have been subjected to due to the devastation as a result of the lingering Boko Haram insurgency. The region has been completely destroyed leaving people with zero infrastructure, massive destruction of properties and millions of death recorded.
The decade-long insurgency has left millions of people homeless, forced women and children into begging, and increased the high rate of out-of-school children and poverty in the region. It has also forced many young girls into prostitution in order to earn a living. The insurgency has indeed worsened the already comatose national economy.
It is noteworthy that the people in the North-east are mainly agrarian farmers and cattle herders while only a few are businessmen and women. Unfortunately, most people are no longer going to farm, market and grazing areas for fear of being killed by the Boko Haram terrorists. Consequently, many people have been rendered idle and not doing anything for survival; hunger and starvation have killed thousands.
The massive destruction caused by the terrorists has led to the closure of many schools just as many businesses have been grounded. According to statistics by the United Nations in 2021, over 14000 schools were destroyed, many were forced to close down and nearly 2295 teachers were killed, all by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The situation has led to an increase in the number of children without access to education to 600,000 across the region, and many others have been exposed to street begging, among other detrimental activities.
Besides, the region has been battling with the issue of inadequate potable water and unstable power supply due to the damage of the facilities by the insurgent groups. This has led the region’s industries to be moribund as they can’t afford diesel which eventually led to unemployment among youths in the region.
Given the aforesaid tragedy, the people of the region began to appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari’s move towards the restoration of the region’s lost glory by revamping the affected sectors but unfortunately stopped along the way, now we are hopeless in the Buhari government.
To hit the nail on the head, most of the region’s willing-to-be-executed projects started by the Buhari administration have been entirely abandoned and are no longer ongoing though he has only a few months left for him to end his tenure.
Thus, I appeal to President Buhari and other concerned authorities to come to the aid of the North-east and complete those projects.
The projects include the Manila Hyropowr project, the dualisation of Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi and the Gombe to Adamawa road as well as speeding up the exploration of the Kolmami oil wells. This will go a long way in boosting the nation’s economy. The federal government should also revive the region’s moribund industries and dilapidated schools to allow our children to have access to quality and sound education.
To this end, I am appealing to the president to ensure the realisation of all the projects in the region before the end of his tenure, otherwise the North-east will end up benefiting nothing from his administration in spite of the fact that the region has given him massive support both in the 2015 and 2019 presidential polls.
On a final note, the completion of the projects like the dualisation of the Akwanja-Jos-Bauchi and Gombe roads, Mambila power projects, and Kolmani oil wells, among others, will play a pivotal role in improving the lives of the citizens of the region and the nation as a whole. Please, Mr President, we need your intervention.
Ukasha Rabiu Magama,
Magama, Toro, Bauchi state.
