TheCable

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has committed $1 million for the rebuilding of Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno state.

On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram insurgents invaded the school and abducted 27 girls, while some managed to escape and others regained freedom, 195 are still in captivity.

Tijjani Tumsa, vice-chairman, Presidential Committee on the North-East initiative (PCNI), disclosed the contribution of the continental bank during an interactive session with journalists in Maiduguri on Thursday.

Tumsa explained that the money was part of efforts to rehabilitate the community ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency and some would be channeled towards providing psychological support for the affected people.

“The ADB has committed 1 million dollars to the school project; the money will be used to reconstruct the school and secure the premises. Part of the money will be used for some psycho-social support and security enhancement in the Chibok community,” he said.

“The military engineers are part of the project, actually we have been negotiating with the Nigerian Army; so they are part of the new initiative. We are going to encourage them to make use of local suppliers on all needs on the project to support the local community.”

Tumsa said that the project was being implemented in collaboration with the PCNI, whose main focus was rebuilding the northeast.

He said that the objective of the meeting was to create synergy between the federal, state and local governments towards restoring the “lost glory” of Chibok.

“We had a stakeholders’ engagement with the community because we felt that it is necessary to engage with the community, the state, the local government and the traditional institution toward returning life to normal in the Chibok community,” he said.

“That is why we felt that we will involve everybody in the community. The meeting has been fruitful; we are now on the same page with the community toward returning life to normal.

“Our intention is to complement the military successes against Boko Haram by providing civilian response in terms of resettlement, in terms of restoration of livelihood in the Chibok and other communities affected by the insurgency.”