By Abdulkareem Haruna

The Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) has on Monday, Oct. 30, donated the sum of N2 billion as palliative to the traders at Maiduguri Monday Market, who lost their wares in a fire disaster early this year.

The fire, which occurred on 26th February 2023, resulted in the complete destruction of shops, stores, and properties worth billions of Naira, leaving the traders in ruins.

The donation was announced by the Managing Director of the NEDC, Goni Alkali, during a courtesy visit to Governor Babagana Zulum at the Government House, Maiduguri. 

Alkali stated that the NEDC was providing the N2 billion as a restart grant to the traders who had lost their goods and shops in the fire.

Alkali noted that Governor Zulum had kept his promise to rebuild the market as quickly as possible. The NEDC’s donation, he explained, was intended to support the traders in this difficult time.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Commission, Major General Paul Tarfa (retired), affirmed the NEDC’s commitment to fulfilling its mandate. The commission, he said, was eager to understand how it could best assist the state.

General Tarfa mentioned that they have visited Bauchi, Gombe, and Yobe, and were now in Borno, soon to visit Adamawa and Taraba states. He commended Borno state’s efforts in the fields of education, health, and agriculture.

NEDC Board Chair, General Tarfa, presenting a souvenir to Governor Zulum

Responding to the donation, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno vowed that not a single Kobo would be misappropriated into the Borno state government account. He thanked the NEDC for its continuous support to the traders, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and the government of the Northeast states.

Governor Zulum urged the commission to invest in security, education, health, mechanized agriculture, roads, and other infrastructures, which he saw as critical to addressing the root cause of the Boko Haram insurgency.

He shared distressing statistics about the destruction caused by Boko Haram and ISWAP, including the destruction of over 500 classrooms, 800 municipal buildings, and a million houses. 

“The insurgency had also displaced over 3.5 million people, left over 49,000 widows and 50,000 orphans, and destroyed property worth over $6.7 billion, two-thirds of which was in Borno state,” he said.

Expressing deep appreciation for the assistance the commission has been providing to the Northeast states, especially the IDPs in Borno, Governor Zulum expressed his hope that the commission would align with President Tinubu’s renewed Hope agenda.

He assured that the N2 billion donated to the traders of the Maiduguri Monday Market would not be diverted or remitted to the Borno state government account. He announced plans to include the DSS and police in the high-powered committee overseeing the reconstruction of the market, and to involve the EFCC to ensure that the money goes directly to the traders.