Capital expenditures have been allocated seventy percent of the total amount budgeted for the 2016 fiscal year in Borno State, Governor Kashim Shettima announced on Wednesday during the presentation of the State’s budget at the Borno State House of Assembly in Maiduguri.
In an address tagged, “Budget for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement,” Governor Shettima announced the sum of N155 billion for both capital and recurrent expenditures out of which, capital projects are allocated N103 billion representing more than 70% of the total budget while recurrent gets N51 billion representing about 30%. Both expenditures are expected to be financed from a recurrent revenue of N155 billion comprising Federation Account Allocation and Internally Generated Revenue of N29 billion, Shettima said.
Education which include reconstruction of schools got the highest allocation of N27b while the Ministry for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement got N10b for reconstruction of other infrastructure in destroyed communities; Agriculture got N8b, works and transport N16b while healthcare was allocated N10b. About N24 billion was budgeted for trade and investment, poverty alleviation and women empowerment in different sectoral allocations.
Governor Shettima announced that the 2016 budget size was less than that of 2015 fiscal year including the previous year’s supplementary budget, by 29.16%, due to the dwindling revenue from the Federation Account as a result of the falling Oil prices at the International market.
“The Borno State 2016 Appropriation Bill is aptly tagged “Budget of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement”. There are extenuating circumstances which prompted us to re-direct the policy decisions of the State Government in 2016 to the issues of rehabilitation and resettlement of the thousands of victims of the insurgency and the reconstruction of infrastructural facilities as well as public and private buildings callously destroyed by the insurgents across the length and breadth of the State. As we are all undoubtedly aware Borno State, for the past six years has been embroiled in an extremely complicated and unconventional security challenges brought about by the Boko Haram insurgents.
“You may recall that since the crisis started in 2009, the challenges had become more complex while the attendant violence increased in scope and lethality. Consequently, our people were unacceptably subjected to unfathomable, calculated and deliberate attacks, culminating in miserable and excruciating death of thousands of innocent people and unimaginable destruction of billions of Naira worth of property in virtually all parts of the State. In addition, thousands of our people were forced to relocate to safer places, and invariably became refugees in the neighbouring countries and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the relatively safer areas of the State as well as other parts of the country.
”As the violence became more complex and unparalleled in nature and scope, most of our Local Government Areas were overrun by the insurgents and were therefore rendered unsafe. The influx of people, affected by the insurgency in the rural areas, into Maiduguri the State capital alone, increased exponentially to the extent that coping with the situation became a serious challenge to the Government in its determined efforts to implement its policy decisions in almost all sectors.
”To put the security situation in proper perspective, it is worth mentioning that, in addition to the needless loss of thousands of innocent lives, more than 800 public schools, particularly at the Primary and Secondary levels, were completely destroyed. Furthermore hundreds of institutional structures, commercial properties, shops, residential buildings, Local Government Secretariats, entire markets and whole villages were wantonly set ablaze by the Boko Haram insurgents; thereby appallingly subjecting our people to frightful physical and psychological trauma. In consequence, their means of livelihood were literally destroyed as the overall commercial activities in the State were grounded to a virtual standstill. Additionally, farming activities in the state, on which majority of our people depend for their livelihood, were systematically halted by the insurgency.
”ln the education sector, apart from the destruction of school buildings, we were forced to close down the few public schools which were not affected by the insurgency, in the wake of the kidnapping of the Chibok School Girls, to forestall similar abduction in other schools” the Governor said after expressing condolences to survivors of victims affected by insurgency attacks.”
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