By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri

About 500 women, under the auspices of a group called: A Dade Anayi Sai Gaskiya, from the 27 local government areas of Borno State, converged on Maiduguri, Sunday, April 26, calling on erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria’s Director of Monetary Policy, Dr Mohammed Musa Tumala, to seek the governorship of the state in the 2027 elections.

They cited the urgent need to reverse the mass exodus of the state’s youths to North and Central African countries in search of jobs.

The occasion took place at Barwee Luxury Suites in Gomari Airport of Maiduguri Metropolis.

“Since the beginning of Boko Haram insurgency in the state about 15 years ago, nobody can reliably estimate the population of youths who fled the state to other climes, especially the Central and North African countries in search jobs to earn a living,” Hajiya Yagana Alhaji Musa, the chairperson of the association, said when addressing the convergence.

“But, apart from the thousands of Borno youths who fled to and melted in the populations of other Nigerian states, no fewer than 4,000 of them have fled to other countries in North and Central Africa in search of jobs to earn a living,” she observed, remarking, “this is my estimate. They can be much more.”

Dr. Tumala is not yet announced as registering his membership of any of the political parties, Sources however revealed that he may likely join the coalition African Democratic Congress, ADC.

However, the women gathering observed that Dr. Tumala should hasten to register with any of the political parties and pick the required forms for the governorship contest before the commencement of the party primaries.

“Professor Babagana Zulum has done his best in this regard in his two governorship terms,” Yagana recalled, Maintaining, “an indigene, who is an economist with a track record of incorruptibility should join the new set of entrants into the race for the sake of the youths who form the majority of the population.”

The women also expressed the need for Dr. Tumala to pick a woman as deputy governor.

Dr. Mohammed Musa Tumala, a statistician, who was a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri for 18 years, was, at separate times, a member of the Borno State House of Assembly and CBN’s Director of Monetary Policy Department. END