Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said the Government, in collaboration with some development partners, will introduce a 5-billion-naira (US$31 million) intervention programme for the rehabilitation of the North-eastern part of the country, which has been devastated by the activities of the violence Islamic sect Boko Haram.
The private BusinessDay newspaper reported Tuesday that the Minister, who spoke at the joint public presentation of the 2014 budget in the capital city of Abuja Monday, said through the programme, tagged ‘Federal Initiative for the North East (FINE)’, the government intends to restore hope in that region by rehabilitating local schools and health clinics.
She said the programme would also provide additional assistance for farmers in the region to help restore their livelihoods.
The predominantly-Muslim North-east has been the worst hit by the violence perpetrated in the north since 2009 by the sect.
Thousands have been killed and injured and property worth millions of naira damaged in the violence that has also affected farm, schools, health facilities and the offices and residence of security agencies, among others.
The Nigerian government has declared a state of emergency in three of the most affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, but that has yet to stem the violence, even though the military has continued to claim huge successes in its battle against the terrorists.
