By Abubakar Muhammad (9NEWS NIGERIA, NORTHEAST)
Following the maiden state executive council meeting in the new year, some commissioners in Borno State government have briefed journalists, highlighting key issues in the meeting.
They also disclosed the approval of funds for some important projects in the state.
The state government is set to commence the dualization of Muhammad Buhari International Airport road in Maiduguri.
This was after the approval of funds for the project by the state governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum during the meeting.
The 1.9km road is budgeted for N1.4 billion and was approved at the state executive council meeting, held at the Government House, Maiduguri.
The commissioner of works, Engr. Mustapha Gubio, stated that the road network will ease movement of people in and out of the airport.
He noted that the airport will soon commence International flight operations.Engr Gubio also announced the readiness for the construction of other roads and drainage systems across the city.
”Apart from the N1.4 billion approval made for dualization of the Gomari Junction to Muhammadu Buhari International Airport up to the Hajj Operational Unit at the airport, more roads and drainages would be executed across communities in the three senatorial district this fiscal year,” he said.
The commissioner also highlighted some completed roads an drainage systems across the state, including laying of asphaltic structures on many washed away roads.
The roads were washed away by the devastating flood disaster that wreaked havoc on critical infrastructures last year in the state.
On another development, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Professor Baba Malam Gana, said that his ministry is determined to meet up with the needed Universal Health Coverage.
This he said is following the allocation of adequate funds to the health sector in Borno.
He said that with the allocation of 15% to health, in the state budget by Governor Zulum, more medical doctors, nurses and midwives would be trained to meet up with modern medical services.
While noting the infrastructural deficit in the sector due to terrorism activities, the health commissioner said more hospitals and clinics would be rebuilt, equipped for proper diagnosis and treatment across the state.
”The state has lost 45% of its institutions due to insurgency, hence the need to reconstruct and build more health facilities,” he said.
Also according to him, two colleges of nursing in Monguno and Gwoza willl be completed this year to help produce more frontline health workers.
Similarly, the state Commissioner of Education, Science and Innovation, Engr. Lawan Abba Wakilbe, assured that the state government is working on reducing the number of out-of-school children from the current 700,000 to 200,000 by 2027.
This is after the state governor’s statement earlier that the current number was achieved during his tenure, noting that it was over two million when he assumed office.
On scholarship programs, Wakilbe said that Governor Zulum has disbursed about N9.7 billion in scholarships to indigenous students undergoing various studies at tertiary institutions within and outside the country in 2024.
According to him, a total of 30,616 undergraduate students across Nigeria’s Universities, Colleges, Polytechnics and other institutions, studying Law, Science, Medicine, Nursing, and Engineering received N4,289,243,200 billion in the said amount.
Additionally, he said 335 local postgraduate students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses were awarded a total of N382 million.
In support of international education, N2,325,467,300 billion was disbursed to 132 undergraduate students studying Medicine and Engineering at universities in China and Egypt.
Furthermore, Wakilbe added that 287 postgraduate students enrolled in STEM courses in India and Malaysia also received N2,691,467,300 billion.
The commissioner further stated that a total of 31,369 students benefited from the scholarship programme within the year.
He also said that the governor has already approved sponsorship for over 30 new students who will pursue Aviation courses this year.
He further disclosed that additional scholarship and sponsorship programmes will also be launched for the upcoming year.
Highlighting some of the institutions hosting the beneficiaries, Engr. Wakilbe reported that 997 students are currently enrolled at the College of Nursing, Maiduguri, with 94 others at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
Similarly, 32 medical students are attending Al-Ansar University in Maiduguri, while 392 students are studying at the Federal Polytechnic Monguno.
With regards to foreign scholarship, he said “about 150 students are studying in India, with 19 pursuing Medicine, 29 in Malaysia, 65 at Sharda University, and 85 at Integral University in India.
In China, he added that 10 students are enrolled in the MBBS programme at Jinzhou Medical University, 30 at Anhui Medical University, and 50 are studying Engineering at Naijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Liaoning University of Technology, and Hefei University of Technology.
