TheCable

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, has said the development of technology is one of the best ways to fight insurgency.

Zulum was speaking on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 2nd meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Governors Forum holding in Niamey, Niger.

The governor said the region is incapacitated in terms of equipment, in terms of modern warfare to tackle the insurgents, requesting that the stabilization forum looks into the possibility of development of technology to fight the insurgency.

On the insurgency in the Lake Chad region, he said the Boko Haram insurgency has triggered acute humanitarian and forced displacement crises with devastating social and economical impacts on the population, further deepening the poverty in the region.

“The most important thing for us to do in this stabilisation programme is to address the root causes of the Boko Haram which are not limited to poverty and basic illiteracy, high unemployment rate, social inequality, poor social and economic infrastructure, poor economic output, drug abuse, environmental degradation, climate change among others,” he said.

“We must understand the nexus between peace, security and development; without peace, there’s no security and without security there is no peace and therefore it is worthy to mention that addressing the root causes of the insurgency is the gateway for sustainable development in the region and a sustainable solution to our current problem.”

He said the governors of the region should also look in conjunction with the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the United Nations (UN) and other partners, into the possibility of the next resuscitation of the region, where more than 30 million will benefit.

Another most important thing that I want to mention is that of the synergy among the four countries which is also very important.

Last month, Zulum had said his administration will spend its last kobo to support the military and strengthen the civilian JTF and hunters to fight the Boko Haram group.

Zulum also handed over the leadership of the governors forum to Mohamed Mouddour, governor of Diffa, Niger Republic.

Zulum said he is honoured to have handed over the chairman of the Lake Chad governors forum to his counterpart in Niger.

“I thank him for successfully organising the second meeting in Niamey and I pledge on behalf of other governors of Nigeria and the government of Nigeria will continue to support this forum,” he said.

Meanwhile, Brigi Rafini, prime minister of Niger republic, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for providing strategic leadership and commitment to the stabilisation of the Lake Chad region.

Rafini said Buhari’s plan launched in 2016 has become a global strategy in tackling the menace of insurgency and restore livelihood of the affected victims.