Approves additional N50m for night traders
BY ROTIMI DUROJAIYE
Governor Babagana Zulum on Thursday night went out on the streets, to see firsthand, how the commercial town of Banki was going to appear after seven years of desertion.
Lanre Obadiah, his Senior Special Assistant on Publicity, said in a statement on Friday that Zulum was impressed that at 10:30pm, the town was bustling with social and economic activities.
Obadiah said this made Zulum to describe what he saw as one of his best moments since becoming governor two years ago.
He said after interacting with night traders, Zulum approved the distribution of additional N50 million to a number of them, to enhance their business with potential impact on the local economy.
Banki, one of Borno’s major economic hubs outside Maiduguri, is a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon, located in Bama local government area of Borno State, and it was famous for huge day and night economic activities, until the town was sacked by Boko Haram around 2014.
This forced the residents to flee and become internally displaced, and refugees in neighboring countries.
Zulum has visited Banki almost 10 times since becoming governor and has approved reconstruction of homes, schools, hospitals and other public services and hundreds of new resettlement estates.
The governor’s latest visit was on Thursday morning for the launch of another phase in UNDP’s regional stabilization facility, encompassing commissioning of police and paramilitary offices to entrench civil authorities.
Though the event held in the morning, Zulum stayed overnight to observe nightlife in Banki town.
Addressing some night traders on Thursday, Zulum expressed delight over the steady return of peace to Banki and other parts of the state.
“Alhamdulillah. It is gratifying to note that business activities have resumed in Banki town. You can see Banki’s situation at 10:30pm today. This is the kind of progress we have been looking for in a long time.
I think today is one of my happiest moments because of the fact that we can walk inside Banki town at this odd time.
I am very much satisfied, because, this is not 10am; this is 10:30pm. Anybody I believe will be happy to note this development.
“Just six months ago, Banki was a ghost town when we came in; residents confined themselves to IDPs camp for about 7 years. But now we have seen the progress.
We express our utmost gratitude to President Buhari, the Nigerian military, Police, DSS, the multinational forces, paramilitary and our volunteers and all other stakeholders for making the changes in Banki, possible.
We pray to Almighty Allah to bring lasting peace to this community and the entire state.
Insha’Allah, we will continue to provide the needed security architecture in this very important town and other communities of the state. Insha’Allah, we shall continue to build the resilience of the people, we shall promote peace and cohesion among the residents in the entire state, insha’Allah” Zulum concluded.
