Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum has revealed plans to resettle over 50,000 farmers displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in Koshebe area and its environs back to their ancestral homes to boost agricultural activities in the state.
Zulum disclosed this yesterday in Koshebe town, in Mafa local government area while supervising the ongoing construction of ring road which will link Gwom, Gongolon and Zabarmari towns with the capital city, Maiduguri.
The governor explained that with gradual return of peace in the state, particularly, after the gruesome massacre against farmers in Koshebe, the federal government through the North East Development Commission (NEDC), decided to construct roads to enhance agricultural activities and ensure resettlement of displaced persons in the area which is favourable for rice farming.
Zulum said the purpose of resettling the farmers back to Koshebe after the relative peace is to give them opportunity to cultivate their farmlands which will also give opportunity for other farmers who are coming to the area for farming from other northern states of the country.
“The first thing we want to achieve is to partner with the federal government under the ‘Renewed Hope’ initiative of the President Bola Tinubu to see how we will join hands with the federal ministry of agriculture and food security in providing seeds and other agricultural inputs to farmers.
“We will also clear this land and support the communities with agricultural inputs and other upgraded seedlings, I believe this will help in boosting agricultural activities and food production in the state and Nigeria at large.
“You can see the massive land, this potential has to be harnessed to enhance food production, I spoke with President Tinubu and he released fund under the ministry of agriculture to support farmers and Borno State government will complement the effort of the federal government and ensure that people are back to the farming activities, I believed this will reduce the negative effects of insurgency in these areas,” the governor said.
Zulum commended Tinubu and North East Development Commission for constructing the road saying, “We remain eternally grateful for this initiative, because many farmers will get opportunity to engage in extensive farming, this is so because one of the major reasons that hinder agricultural activities is lack of access road,” he said.