The governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has stated that his administration is willing to work with the military to provide farmers in the state with access to their farmlands.
Zulum, who noted that it is essential for farmers to have access especially during the rainy season to their farmlands for improve productivity and improved living condition, gave the promise on working in collaboration on some initiatives that will give farmers in Borno State increased and safe access to their farmlands, while at Keleri, a town in the outskirt of Maiduguri, located along Maiduguri-Mafa-Dikwa- Gamboru Highway.
The promise was given by the governor to tens of thousands of farmers who were waiting for permission to enter their farmlands at a military road block on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Zulum said: “We (our farmers) had access (to their farmlands) in 2020, 2021 and 2022, I see no reason why we can’t have access to our farmlands in 2023 whereas there is a greater improvement in terms of security (in this 2023). I will see the military command and insha’Allah, we will discuss and come up with a strong mechanism that would allow farmers to safely cultivate their lands and we will also deal ruthlessly with some of the miscreants harbouring around the metropolitan and its environs.”
He added that “farming is very important to all of us, food insecurity is the worst form of insecurity. Therefore, we will not allow food insecurity to surface in this part where we have started to witness the return of peace substantially.”
Zulum assured of government’s commitment to improving security around farmlands through the use of more agro rangers to protect farmers from miscreants perpetrating criminal activities on soft targets.
The governor called on the people to be resilient and conscious of the happenings around them and also report any suspicious activity to security operatives, while tasking citizens to cooperate with the military and other security agencies.
