BY NDAHI MARAMA

Mr. Inuwa Hyeladi Bwala is the Borno State commissioner of Home Affairs, Information and Culture. He spoke to Newsmen on the performance of the state government in the midst of the security challenges, their legal battle and relationship with the Media among others. Excerpts:

How did the Borno State Government view the judgment of the Court of Appeal in respect of your governorship tussle?

We are not deterred in the judgment. As you may be aware, this particular case has been subjected to many intrigues, especially at the court of appeal level. We are not surprised by the verdict that eventually followed.

But we are not deterred and we will not be deterred in pursuing the agenda we set for ourselves in giving the people of Borno State the best in governance. The PDP knows they will not have a better alternative than what we have on ground today. Their ranks are split; they do not have a case in the first place.

To what extent is the case detracting Governor Shettima in the performance of his duties as Governor?

You see since the inception of this government as you may be aware, we have been faced with multi-faceted challenges. One of them is the security challenge, unnecessary disruptions by this legal tussle. Secondly the activities of mischief makers and lastly is Boko haram. But thank God we have not for one day been swayed from our projects.

Our people are happy by what they are getting from us. We are making the difference in this government. If you seek for the opinion of the common man on the street, they would tell you that our government is the government that is definitely giving them the best.

Gov Shettima

Rural development is one of the cardinal focus points of your government, what is your government doing to address the issue of shortage of workers in rural areas more especially health workers? We promised to drill hundred boreholes in the first 100 days of our administration, thank God we have even surpassed 100 boreholes.

The boreholes are there for all to see. Even as you go out you will see a borehole functioning outside. We have promised to provide healthcare services, as I am talking to you today, we have commissioned five General Hospitals fully equipped to standard.

We are opening up the rural areas, because we realized the bulk of our people are living in the rural areas, and this is the only way they can enjoy the facilities being enjoyed in the urban area.

There are allegations that you are trying to re-appoint caretaker councils following their dissolution on the basis that you are afraid of conducting election into the councils? What is your reaction?

You see government takes decisions that are in the best interest of people of Borno state. We don’t want to take orders or directives from the opposition or any other quarter because the state government is saddled with the responsibility of administering the local government areas for the good of the people. So we are not going to borrow an agenda from the opposition on how to run our local governments.

The position in the law is either for the government to appoint caretaker chairmen or conduct election into the council. And when the appropriate time comes we are going the conduct the elections. I can assure you that no opposition party can tell us what to do. We know what we are doing that is why we are in government.

With the ongoing controversy over the removal of oil subsidy viz a viz the number of road projects embarked by the state government, people are insinuating that the projects will not see the light of the day, how will you react to this?

We had enough funds to execute these projects on ground even before we started the projects. So whether we receive grant from federation account or not we have enough resources to complete the projects on ground. Some of them have already seen the light of the day. So those who are insinuating that we will be starved of fund from the federal Government do not know our financial war chest of the Borno state government.

Those insinuating do not know our capability neither do they know what we intended to do for the people before embarking on these projects. I can assure you that this government will be last government to embark on white elephant projects. Any projects you see us embarking on we have enough fund to complete them.

Globally governments are now diversifying their revenue through tourism, what is government doing to see that it harnesses the tourism sector in the state?

As I am talking to you now, both Sambisa reserve, Rabi Fort and Lake Tila resort are undergoing renovation, chalets are being renovated for guests. They are going to be turned into tourism sites as we appreciate the value of tourism which can also boost our economy. Tourism development is one of our cardinal agenda and that is why the Ministry of Tourism is being strengthened by the state government.