By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri

The member of the House of Representatives representing Hawul/Askira-Uba federal constituency of Borno State, Dr. Usman Midala Balami, has described the creation of Savannah State out of the present Borno State as imperative due to Borno’s current population and number of local government areas.

“If you look at all the states in the North-East, Borno State has the largest population; and it has 27 local government areas, which also is the highest number in the geopolitical zone,” Midala told newsmen in Maiduguri, Saturday, at the sidelines of the House of Representatives version of the ongoing constitution Review.

“We want to ensure effective utilisation of resources in this country; and when we talk of that, the smaller the size of the component, the easier and more effective the management of the resources it has,” he argued.

“So, for the people of Borno State, the creation of Savannah State is a win-win situation, because once Southern Borno has Savannah, Borno itself will have a population it can easily manage in terms of development, resource utilisation and even in terms of security,” the federal parliamentarian argued further.

“I want to say today to all lovers of democracy and to all citizens of Borno State that the agitation and yearning for the creation of Savannah State is a clarion call for all to support, whether you are from Northern, Central or Southern Borno,” Midala said.

“Because this is a constitution review, we must align with the yearnings and aspirations of our people, which is the creation of Savannah State,” Midala said, assuring, “the yearning for the creation of Savannah State is not a yearning that goes against anybody in Borno State.”

He argued that in the entire North-East Southern Borno is the most-deserving of state creation and should, therefore, be given Savannah State