From Bama to Konduga; Gov Zulum shares another N185 million to 26k IDP households

Governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum, was on Thursday in Konduga the local government headquarters of Konduga LGA where he distributed a total of 185 million to 26,000 households of internally displaced persons.

A press statement released by Isa Gusau, the governor’s Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, indicated that Governor Zulum had on Thursday left Bama town where he distributed the sum N200 million to 70,000 IDP households, before he moved straight to Konduga.

Konduga is 36km northwest of Bama on the road that links Maiduguri, the state capital with Bama.

Mr Zulum said the governor continued the “humanitarian and social protection interventions to residents denied means of livelihood by Boko Haram.”

“Continuing in Konduga town, headquarters of Konduga local government area, Zulum supervised the disbursement of N185m to 26,000 displaced persons, small and medium-sized business owners and groups of volunteers supporting the military’s fight against insurgents,” Mr Gusau said.

Mr Gusau explained that from the N185m, the Governor attended to the disbursement of “N80m and foofd varieties to 26,000 displaced households located in three centers: two in Konduga town and one in Mandrari.”

He explained that the N80m was shared to 16,000 female heads of households, each of whom received food, a wrapper and a token of N5,000.

“A total of 10,000 male heads of households each received a bag of rice, a bag of maize grill and a carton of spaghetti.”

The governor was reported to have seized the opportunity to announce an “upcoming agricultural initiative to restore farming activities so people could eventually fend for themselves.”

Business owners get a lifeline

The governor also attended to the business owners who had lost their investments during the conflict.

To help stimulate local businesses in Konduga, Governor Zulum allocated N100m for distribution of small and medium-sized business holders, Mr Gusau said. 

“Of the amount, 70 per cent of business owners in more populated Konduga town were selected and the remaining 30 per cent beneficiaries were drawn from Auno, Dalori and Kawuri towns, all in Konduga LGA. 

However, warned the traders to ensure they invest the money in their businesses.

CJTF, hunters too smiled with N5.2 million largesse

“To boost the moral of local volunteers helping in the fight against Boko Haram, Zulum in Konduga, distributed N5.2m to a combined number of 523 members of the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes,” the spokesman said.

Each of the beneficiaries received N10,000, which in total summed up to N5,233,000.

The local security operatives also went home with two bags of rice, two bags of maize grill and two packets of spaghetti.

The governor had also directed each of the volunteer vigilante groups to submit a list of their broken-down patrol vehicles for immediate repairs, “in addition to getting new ones where necessary.”

Governor Zulum has so far, in the last few days, distributed the sum of N710 million to a total of 196,000 households of IDPs in Monguno, Bama and Konduga local government areas of Borno.

The Humanitarian Times had earlier published a straight news analysis on how the decade old insurgency has been draining lean resources of the war-torn state.