Hearthbreaking: Governor Shettima Cries Out, Stops 49th Birthday Felicities

Kashim Shettima, the Borno state governor, would be 49-years-old on Wednesday, September 2, but he will not be felicitating as his heart is saddened by the incessant insurgent attacks by Boko Haram.

Shettima appealed to his political appointees, political associates in the All Progressives Congress (APC), foreign and local contractors having dealings with the state, kinsmen, former colleagues in the banking sector as well as friends in different parts of the country. The governor asked them not to place any advertisement on newspapers, magazines, television, radio, online and social media platforms to congratulate him.

According to Daily Post, the governor noted that the restriction was to respect the memory of too many Borno citizens and residents who have been killed by Boko Haram Islamists in the recent and the previous attacks, as well as the utmost need to honour the late deputy governor of Borno state, Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha, who died on Saturday, August 15, 2015.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram: 56 Dead, Many Injured In Borno State

The governor’s ban was stated in an by his special adviser on communications and strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, dated Monday, August 31. Shettima also used the medium to seek understanding by the media houses which could have anticipated to generate revenue from his 49th birthday.

Gusau said his boss personally called some specific friends and associates, whom he suspects were planning to place adverts, and has made the appeal to them directly, but felt it was necessary to tell others whom the governor might not be aware of.

Shettima urged those willing to place adverts to channel the funds to different private organizations in Abuja and Maiduguri currently seeking funds to support multitudes of internally displaced persons affected by the attacks in Borno and other parts of the northeast.

He expressed deep appreciation to anyone, group or institution especially those associated with the APC or the Borno state government that might have intended congratulating him on Wednesday, September 2. He pleaded with them to pray for the return of peace in Borno and all parts of Nigeria and for his administration to succeed in its practical efforts to remodel Borno state for the benefit of its citizens under an atmosphere of freedom from terror attacks and any violent or criminal threat.

The governor, who had refused to allow any birthday party from taking place since becoming the governor in 2011, maintained that he would only celebrate his birthday, if necessary at all, when peace is completely restored in all the parts of Borno state with affected citizens fully rehabilitated and re-integrated into reconstructed communities.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram New Deadly Attack: Nigeria Warns US

‎It is recalled that in 2014, Governor Shettima reportedly rejected a birthday party organized by a group of his friends from Lagos and Abuja who wanted to surprise him on his 48th birthday. The governor then explained that it would be insensitive of him, as the leader of Borno, to be partying while the citizens of his state were being killed in serial attacks by Boko Haram insurgents who destroyed dozens of communities, rendering over 1.5 million internally displaced and forcing others to take refuge in neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, at least 80 people were killed from attacks on three different villages by suspected Boko Haram gunmen who raided at the weekend on horseback in Nigeria’s restive northeast.

Sources said 68 people were killed in an attack on Baanu village in Borno state late on Friday, August 28, while witnesses said another 11 people were shot dead in two other villages on Saturday, August 29, and Sunday, August 30.

Colonel Tukur Gusau, an army spokesman in Maiduguri, and Borno government spokesperson Isa Umar Gusau could not immediately comment on the attacks, saying they had been out of town over the weekend.

Boko Haram has been seeking to impose a strict Islamic system in northern Nigeria, and their insurgent attacks have killed at least 15,000 people and displaced not less than 1.5 million since 2009.

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