Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, yesterday, wept openly while presenting the 2013 appropriation bill before the state House of Assembly following the havoc wreaked on the state by members of an Islamic sect.
The governor, who became emotional towards the end of his presentation, however, affirmed that the state would rise again.
“Surely Borno shall rise again,” Shettima repeatedly said, as he told the people that his government was determined to improve on their lives and end the insecurity problem which had crippled economic and social activities.
Shettima said he was “deeply pained” by the security challenges facing the state, pointing out that the government was doing everything possible to improve on the lives of the people with the little resources at its disposal.
He said: “It is my fervent prayer and hope that this problem will come to an end soon”
Presenting the N184.3 billion budget tagged The Budget of Collective Renaissance, he said it was aimed at kick-starting the recovery, growth and development of all segments of the state through conscious, scientific and consultative approach to create new avenues for reviving the state’s economy.
About N52.1 billion is for recurrent expenditure, while N132.1 billion is for capital expenditure.
Shettima said: “We shall explore more ways of generating revenue to effectively fund our projects and programmes that have direct impact on the lives of the people.
“We will maintain prudence, accountability and transparency in the management of scarce resources.”
According to him, the budget is expected to be financed from a statutory allocation of N108.7 billion from the Federation Account and Internally-Generated Revenue, IGR, of N30.1 billion.