AfDB Releases $1m to Reconstruct GGSS Chibok

Alhaji Tijjani Tumsa, the Vice-Chairman, Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI), has revealed that the African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $1 million for the rebuilding of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno, as part of efforts to rehabilitate the community ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He said ‘‘The ADB has committed 1 million dollars for 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,’’ he said.

‘‘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.

‘‘That is why we felt that we will involve everybody in the community,’’ Tumsa said, adding that the outcome of the meeting was successful.

‘‘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,’’ Tumsa said.