Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum has facilitated the execution of eight projects including a school, orphanage, clinic, shops, staff quarters, sports ground, charity office and a Juma’at mosque by the Qatar Charity Foundation in Maiduguri.
Laying the foundation for the construction of the projects cited in Bolori yesterday, Zulum expressed pleasure laying the foundation for the construction of an integrated school, orphanage, clinic, and many other projects by the Qatar Charity Foundation in Maiduguri, revealing that he has been working towards the project since 2015.
The governor recounted the devastation caused by the over a decade Boko Haram insurgency where several people were killed and many properties destroyed.
Zulum said, “We have identified a total of over 100,000 orphans resulting from the Boko Haram crisis. These figures are the official ones; the unofficial figures are even higher than this.
“In the past seven years, we had about 3.2 million displacements, with about 50% being resettled and about 1.2 million still in the IDPs camps. 432 health centres were destroyed, 900,000 houses were also destroyed as well as over 5,000 classrooms.”Governor Zulum expressed gratitude to the Qatar Charity Foundation for choosing Borno State to execute numerous projects that will have direct impact on the lives of the people.
“What you are doing today will, In sha Allah, have a positive impact on our society. On behalf of the people and government of Borno State, I want to express my deep appreciation to the Qatari Foundation for this giant initiative. Be assured that the government of Borno State, under my leadership, will collaborate with you to ensure the success of this project,” Zulum said.
Earlier, Nigeria’s representative for Qatar Charity, Sheikh Hamdin Bin Abdul, said the project will expand to all 27 local government areas of Borno.
“It gives us great pleasure to execute projects here in Borno. We thank the governor for all the support. Insha Allah, we will use this centre to cover all the local governments in Borno State,” Sheikh Hamdin pointed out.
The Qatar Charity’s Nigerian representative also stressed that the foundation will work in several sectors including water resources, social housing, economic empowerment, health, education, and social services for widows and orphans.
Meanwhile, Governor Zulum has approved 2.5 hectares of land for use by Qatar Charity to execute several projects in Borno. The governor presented the certificate of occupancy (C-of-O) granting legal right for the use of the land.
The governor gave assurance of providing all the support needed for Qatar Charity to meet its objectives. Zulum directed the secretary to the state government (SSG) to grant express approval for all the requests made by the Qataris.
