Gov Babagama Umara Zulum of Borno State has charged the Northern Governors Wives Forum (NGWF) to churn out decisions that will target the over 200,000 widows and 55,000 orphans as well as thousands of children roaming the streets in the north and other parts of the country as a result of the Boko haram insurgency and related crimes across Nigeria for quite some time now.
He gave the charge Thursday when a delegation of Northern Governor’s Wives Forum (NGWF) paid him a courtesy call at the Council Chambers of the Government House, Maiduguri and pledged to come up with their request during the next 19 Northern State Governor’s Forum (NSGF) for discussion within the spheres of the law while noting that, truthfulness should be the guiding principles for effective and efficient leadership.
According to him, the government will continue to support the leadership of the forum to achieve the set goals and objectives of the Girl Child Education (GCE) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
“We will also promote women education as a tool to reduce poverty among the womenfolk, protect their lives and those of the children.
“We will also support maternal healthcare delivery services in the state to reduce the mortality rate. We will also need to enhance the activities of Still Birth Attendance (SBA) awareness programmes and as part of our 10 point agenda, we will also improve on Referral Systems following the number of widows and orphans born out of the Boko Haram insurgency”, Zulum said.
Earlier, leader of the delegation and Spokesperson of the NGWF wife of Kebbi state governor, Dr Zainab Bagudu, appreciated the efforts and dedication of Gov. Zulum in developing the state despite the lingering security challenges bedevilling the state in the past ten years.
She used the occasion to commend the governor for the return of socio-economic activities and restoration of peace in the state, noting that the forum was in Maiduguri for its NGWF first quarterly meeting for the year 2020.
“We go round the country for our quarterly meeting to support our spouses to achieve their goals in office
“In Borno State, we went around some IDP camps to impact on them by donating food and non-food food items as well as women kits as part of efforts to curtail Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
“As part of our activities, we have also carried out orientations and renovation on illicit drugs and substance Rehabilitation Center in Sokoto, Kogi, and Niger states, apart from renovation of Skills Acquisition Centers in these state, while plans are underway to carry out some renovation in other states of the federation”, Zainab said.
The Kebbi First Lady further solicited for the support of the Borno State Government in funding the programme of their spouses while urging the governor to present the NGWF request to his colleagues in the Northern State Governor’s Forum meeting for proper sponsorship and appealed to the Governor to impress on them to intervene in the CBN pledges on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) made to the NGWF.
