Kayode Idowu, Maiduguri
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima,
has blown the whistle on the unaccounted N500m set aside by the Federal
Government for the rebuilding of the Government Girls School in Chibok
under the Safe School Initiative.
Shettima, addressing villagers in Chibok
town on Monday, lamented how the misfortune of the people had become a
money-making venture for some group of people.
He called out the contractor handling
the project and demanded an investigation of the money released because
the school had remained in a state of disrepair since the abduction of
the girls.
The Safe School Initiative programme
initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration was introduced after
the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.
A former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, had flown to Chibok to inaugurate the N500m rebuilding
project in the school.
Meanwhile, Shettima, spent the Boxing
Day in Chibok, celebrating Christmas with the 21 schoolgirls abducted on
April, 14, 2014 by Boko Haram insurgents from their school hostel.
The girls, who were released a few
months ago by the insurgents, were allowed to go back to their
communities to celebrate the festival with their families.
The 21 schoolgirls were freed by Boko
Haram in October 2016 following a negotiation that was brokered by
international mediators.
They have been in the custody of the
Federal Government in Abuja but were brought to Chibok to mark their
first Christmas since their abduction over two years ago.
Armed soldiers and officials of the
Department of State Services guarded the 21 girls to Chibok and remained
with them throughout the Christmas celebration.
Shettima, who left Maiduguri early on Tuesday, hosted the girls at a government building in Chibok.
The governor was accompanied by Senate
Majority Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno-South
senatorial district, where Chibok is located.
The girls, who were very excited to meet
the governor again months after their initial meeting in Abuja,
presented him with a medium-size photo frame with the inscription,
‘Thank you’ printed on it.
The photo frame has pictures the
governor took with the girls when he visited them in Abuja months back.
The frame also has the pictures of each of the 21 girls.
Glory Dama, one of the 21 girls that
presented the photo frame on behalf of her colleagues, said they deeply
appreciated the show of love by Shettima and his wife, Nana.
The governor, who was moved by the girls’ show of appreciation, said he was concern about their future.
He said, “As you know, 56 of your
colleagues who escaped abduction are currently in two international
schools where they have been since 2014. We are taking care of all their
educational needs from school fees to other basics. Left to me, I would
want the 21 of you to join them in those two schools so that you can
all feel at home and move on.”
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