Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has urged Christians in the state to use the Easter season to pray for the development and prosperity of the state and the country at large.

Mr Zulum said in a statement to commemorate Easter issued by his new media aide, Abdulrahman Bundi, in Maiduguri on Saturday.

Christians globally celebrate Easter to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

“Let me, on this auspicious occasion, felicitate with our Christian brothers and sisters in Borno and throughout the country.

“I urge us all in this solemn period to commit to prayers for the development and prosperity of our dear country.

“I urge you to pray for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for God’s guidance and wisdom to steer the affairs of Nigeria for greatness,” Mr Zulum said.

He said he was conscious of expectations from the people of the state, particularly in the aftermath of years of Boko Haram activities and would always strive to meet those yearnings.

“Fellow citizens of Borno, as your governor, I understand the burden this office places on me. In the last five years, we have achieved remarkable success in our efforts to restore peace in our state.

“We invested hugely in education, healthcare, agriculture, and provision of potable water, among many other sectors.

“I have personally supervised the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable communities who have faced unimaginable terror from the insurgents.

“This effort is to give our people hope and prevent the possibility of anyone being lured to join the insurgency”, he said.

He promised to accelerate efforts to ease the hardship being experienced by the people of the state.

“As the economic hardships deepened, we also scaled up our palliative distribution to other communities who were not directly affected by the insurgency. In these exercises, the interventions were extended to over 200,000 people.

“While we understand the difficulties faced by the people, we recently shifted our focus to the revival of agriculture as a sustainable means of attaining food security and sufficiency.

“To achieve this, I have met the president in the last couple of days, and he assured me that he would improve security in Lake Chad to give access for the re-activation of the South Chad irrigation scheme,” Mr Zulum said.

Mr Zulum reassured the citizens of Borno of his administration’s commitment to their welfare and to provide the needed leadership where development thrives.

“We will employ a multifaceted approach in providing solutions to our problems in the areas of security, economy, youth unemployment and other critical areas,” he said.

(NAN)