The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai ElKanemi, has expressed dissatisfaction with the indigenes of the state who have held ministerial positions in the power ministry over their inability to influence the connection of about 10 local government areas in his domain to the national grid.
El-Kanemi said although Borno had been so lucky to have so far had six indigenes of the state, including the current Minister of State for Power, Hon. Mustapha Shehuri, overseeing the country’s power ministry, communities such as Kala Balge, Gamboru Ngala, Chibok, Bama, Marte, Monguno, Kaga, Nganzai, Dikwa, Mobbar, Abbadam, Konduga, Damboa, Mafa as well as Gwoza and Askira Uba local government council areas have remained without electricity for several years.
Power ministers from Borno have failed the people
He said while some of these communities had been disconnected, others had never been connected to the national grid.
The monarch stated this when the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, represented by the corporation’s Chief Operations Officer, Gas and Oil, Alhaji Saidu Mohammed, led other top management staff on a courtesy visit to him in his palace in Maiduguri.
Speaking angrily, El-Kanemi told the NNPC delegation , “Borno State has been having it so good in the area of appointments of ministers. We have had six ministers of power such as Ambassador Bunu Sheriff Musa during Gen. Babangida’s regime, Hon. Mohammed Wakil during President Jonathan’s administration, with the current serving Minister of State for Power, Hon. Mustapha Shehuri. But unfortunately, these ministers who were supposed to represent our people at the centre, failed to live up to expectations. As it is for now, over 10 council areas in my emirate have not been connected to the national grid.
It is very shameful.” He also noted that though the boko haram insurgency had resulted in the displacement of millions of his subjects, including district heads from their communities, the sustained efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari, the military and the civilian JTF members were highly commendable.
El-Kanemi said that they had brought back peace to the land after defeating insurgents and liberating captured communities. Earlier in his address, Mohammed said that the NNPC team’s visit was aimed at having a firsthand information on happenings in the state before resuming oil and gas explorations in the next six-eight weeks in the basin bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
“This will enable us plan and coordinate the full rehabilitation and integration of 2.6 million displaced persons from the Lake Chad region before deploying our high technology oil and gas equipment, including three dimensional drilling system in the Lake Chad Basin areas,” he said. He disclosed that the resumption of exploration in Borno State was to increase the country’s oil reserves from 35 million barrels to 40 million barrels per day. “The resumption of oil exploration in this basin is part of the efforts by NNPC to scale up and maintain the nation’s oil reserves, while daily crude oil is to increase from current 1.3 million mbd to 2.4-3 million mbd,” Mohammed said.
