Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has said his state has been dragged backward 50 years due to the Boko Haram crisis and near destruction of its economy.
The governor said this on Wednesday, during a courtesy visit on him by a group of youths under the auspices of All Progressive Youths Forum, Borno State chapter.
He told the youths that they have a lot to sacrifice to make the state great again and that he was happy that they had “declared to support the reinvention and reconstruction of Borno State brick by brick. Borno has been taken backward by 50 years, we have a big task before us to rebuild our state.”
Shettima noted that sacrifices to make the state great again was required from all residents of the state, indigenes and otherwise.
He said: “It doesn’t matter which of the 36 states of the federation you may consider your place of indigene, what matters is that you are a resident of Borno State and the progress of Borno State affects you as much as its problems bedevil you.
“The task of rebuilding Borno is ours, as one people, one family with one destiny, we have suffered trauma and by implication, fallen together and we have blight towards one another to hold our hands firmly and rise together as one people.
“As youths, you have the onerous task of talking to your peers door by door, educating and mobilising them to support the progress of Borno State, to help in the reconstruction of our dear state.”
Shettima added: “Borno is our pride, Borno is our heritage, we all own Borno and we have an obligation to work for its progress. When we work for Borno’s progress, we work for no other but ourselves. When we work for Borno, we secure our future and make Borno better for ourselves, our children and those yet unborn.”
He equally told the youths that: “My brothers, you hold the key to Borno’s progress, no one has the influence of the youths in molding public opinions; nobody has the strength and capacity of the youths unless the youths are divided; no one has the inner spirit and the boiling passion of a youth. This is our generation, we cannot sit on the fence, we must work as progressives to think and walk Borno.”
Shettima, who claimed that he is always happy to interact with youths, said to inspire the youths, one needs to “be the example they seek, be the change you want them to be, close the gap that may exist between you and them, think the youths, sleep the youths and walk the youths, then, you inspire the youths.”
He said: “The youth is the most complex member of any society yet the easiest to manage. The day you begin to tell lies, that day you lose the sympathy of the youths. The youths, by their age, have very inquisitive minds, they query everything you say, they ask questions, they don’t just listen and that is why they are complex.”
The leader of the forum, Abubakar Terab had promised the governor that they “are now ready to take their rightful place in the scheme of things.”
He warned that they would no more stand aloof and watch their future mortgaged by some selfish politicians who are out to gain from the destruction of the society.
Source: Thisday
