…despite the disruption of normal daily living in Borno State and the destruction of hundreds of lives and property worth billions of naira in the many battlefronts that abound in the State, the people of Borno, led by their ebullient and affable Governor Shettima, are ready to obliterate insurgency with optimism, hope, transformation and development of their State…— Malcolm X
Boko Haram predated the administration of Governor Kashim Shettima and its devastating consequences for years. However, but for the recent thawing and degrading of the terrorist group, who would have thought that paradise was not already lost in Borno State to the dare-devil insurgents. Apart from the attention given to education, other social services such as health, infrastructure and industries to absorb the teeming unemployed youth are also not left out. The industrial hub caught my attention. The practical demonstration of their works, to show how chairs and desks are being produced, was such a sight to behold.
With his interest in education seen as the antidote to the current malaise of misguided youth drafted into the war, perhaps Shettima is at one with Malcolm X who was quoted to have said: “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”. For Borno children attending one of these schools, their future is somehow secure with the solid foundation already established by today’s government.