Fighting Boko Haram: Zulum Approves Scholarship For Orphans Of Civilian JTF Killed Since 2013

The Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum has approved government scholarship for children, most of them orphans, whose fathers were volunteers amongst Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes killed at battle fronts while fighting boko haram in the last seven years.

Zulum also flagged off a welfare package of N50,000 each for widows of killed volunteers and the distribution of N180m and 27,000 bags and cartons of food variety to 9,000 volunteers.

The Governor announced all the interventions on Wednesday in Maiduguri, while addressing a gathering of about 9,000 volunteers who have been fighting alongside the Nigerian armed forces to contain Boko Haram insurgency in Borno.

In a statement by Media & PR practitioner Isa Gusau “Each of the 9,000 volunteers is to receive 20,000 naira cash, a 50-kg bag of rice, a carton of spaghetti and a gallon of cooking oil, all of which were outside their regular monthly allowances”

The Governor said “For me, the greatest miracle that has emanated from Borno State within the last ten years, is the emergence of the Civilian JTF back in 2013, and the coming of more volunteers from hunters and vigilantes, all of whom have devoted their lives to fearlessly and patriotically fight side by side with soldiers and other armed forces, in the battle for Borno’s liberation from Boko Haram.

“Our indomitable men and women of the civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes, the people of Borno State are mightily and gratefully proud of each of you. Nothing can compensate for the sacrifices you are making, only Allah can adequately compensate each of you. This is particularly so for many of our fellow compatriots who have died in the battle fields”.

He noted that “In the last seven years, we have recorded instances in which volunteers in the civilian JTF have intercepted suicide attackers and in the process lost their lives. We have recorded more instances of many killed in major battles after they also succeeded in our shared victories over Boko Haram at different encounters. I will not mention names, but there are records of warriors in the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes from Southern, to Northern and Central Borno, who fought so hard and gave their lives fighting for Borno.

Governor Zulum announced that Borno State Government will award education scholarship to the most vulnerable orphans of Civilian JTF who have been killed at battle fronts.

“This scholarship will be awarded in phases, starting with the youngest and most vulnerable families of the earliest fallen volunteers, down to the most recently killed.

“I will, insha Allah, constitute a multi-stakeholder committee which shall thoroughly evaluate vulnerabilities, come up with a list of children to benefit in the first phase, recommend schools, and develop a feasible and sustainable structure of the scholarship. The committee will be tasked with securing admissions, uniforms, fees and monitoring the academic progress of the children.

“The parents of these children died fighting for all of us, the people of Borno State, the very least we can do is work towards the future of their children.

“For widows left behind, we shall today release some social intervention packages to them, especially food.

I assure you all that we recognize and value the priceless contributions made by those who have died and those of us gathered here, whom we pray that Allah should continue to protect at the battle field.

He added that the State Government will be releasing social intervention to all of you gathered here. We will be releasing packages of food items through sector leaders for Civilian JTF, and representatives of groups for hunters.

Insha’Allah, we will continue to make efforts to support all of you in any way we can, within the limit of scarce resources and competing demands.

On behalf of the Government and the people of Borno State, I once again register our profound appreciation to all of you and to our fallen volunteers.

To all citizens of Borno State, I urge us to continually reflect on our challenges in Borno State, and to remember at all times that while some societies may have the liberty to engage in certain characters, Borno already has more than enough problems.

We should continue to appreciate the fact that no matter how worried our current situation is confronting us, the evidence before us is that, the Buhari administration has made significant progress when compared with our past experiences before 2015. As an academic, I work with evidence. We all know what Borno was before Buhari, and what it is under Buhari.