by Dolapo Adelana

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima has said Boko Haram terrorists group has been decapitated, despite recent suicide bomb attacks.

He said this while addressing the Summit for the Security and Development of Northern Nigeria, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) Tuesday in Kaduna.

Shettima said with its enormous land, the North should not be poor.

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The Governor, however, said it is time to rebuild Borno State, which has been ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency for the past eight years, promising that Borno will be looking different in the next six months to one year.

He added that the recent bomb attacks showed that Boko Haram’s powers were waning.

He said, “In spite of the crises, between six months and one year there will be massive development in Borno state with emphasis on gender empowerment, girl child education and employment generation for our teeming youths. We need to invest in education, create job opportunities for the teeming youths and ensure gender empowerment for our women.

“We will definitely overcome the challenges of Boko Haram we have gone over the rubicon, we now want to tow the path of growth and development. Boko Haram basks in the glory of attacking soft targets, but the monster has been decapitated. Suicide bombing is a sign of weakness of the insurgents. We have covered a lot of ground thanks to our armed forces for doing so much.”

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He added, “Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has proved pessimists’ wrong, not many people expected the foundation to remain alive after eight years.

“Coexistence is enjoyed when the majority is magnanimous to the minority. We must create a platform where a governor of a Muslim-dominated state must be fair to the minority Christian population and a governor of a majority Christian state should show empathy to Muslim minority. The fairness of a leader can unite or divide a society. Majority must be large at heart and the minority must be fair to accept that.

“North makes up 79% of the total land mass of the country and 53.8% of the total population of the country. The North has no business being poor because land is the most important of resources and must be harnessed for the benefit of our people.

“By 2050 our population will be 440 million making Nigeria the third most populous nation on earth; we would be facing desertification and other challenges that would make Boko Haram a child’s play. Leadership is vital but followership is essential, we all have responsibilities and we all have our roles to play. This is time for action,” Governor Shettima added.