Ezekiel Awojide
Residents in Baga, a Kukawa Local Government Area community, have presented gifts of farm produce, including onions, watermelons, and smoked fish, to Governor Babagana Zulum to appreciate his bold effort of resettling Baga town over the last 3 years.
According to the residents, the resettlement of Baga town has provided them with financial independence, unlike when they were at the IDP camps where they depended on handouts to survive.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Abba Aji Alhaji Aji said, “Your Excellency, we want to most sincerely express our gratitude to you for your bold initiative to reopen Baga in September 2020 and for resettling us back to our communities.”
“In the past, we lived in IDP camps where we were unable to fend for ourselves and only looked out for handouts every month to survive. But now with your effort, we are in our homes in dignity and honour, we go out to farm, fish, and do all sorts of jobs to earn our livelihood.”
“Your Excellency, the farm produce you see is direct from our farms. We earn as much as we can eat and sell some to cater to our other needs. We came here to present this little gift to appreciate you and all the risks you have taken to ensure we are in our homes.”
“Sir, we would love to have presented much more than this. Had you come here at the peak of our harvest, you would be surprised by what we will present to you.”
In addition to the gifts, the community also presented an award of public service to Governor Zulum for the developmental projects he cited in Baga and all other parts of Borno State.
Governor Zulum expressed gratitude to the people of the Baga community for their resilience and commitment to hard work and nation-building.
