Borno State which has earned the sobriquet home of peace due to its prevailing peace enterprise, was over the years, bedevilled by an insurgency that crippled its economic base, rendering it a mere shadow of its gangling former self. Francis Okoye, in this piece, noted that all hope is not lost as the brave town, in a move archetypal to the Phoenix, is bouncing back to life after the prolonged stormThe dastardly and unprecedented Boko Haram insurgency which struck Borno State like a sore blight, has no doubt shattered the convivial atmosphere of the town which was responsible for its peace, sanity and serenity, attributes that make the town the epicentre of attraction and melting pot for all tribes and creeds across Nigeria.However, the Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the state for the past seven years changed the status of the ubiquitous home of peace to an epicentre of destruction and human carnage orchestrated by Boko Haram terrorists in their weird bid to islamise the people.The sheer destruction of lives and properties wrought on the town at the peak of the Boko Haram carnage was so massive, that the post insurgency recovery and peace building assessment report indicated that the insurgency has inflicted destruction worth $9 billion on the state.It was officially reported that over 20,000 persons were killed while over two million people were displaced and over one million houses, 665 municipal buildings and 201 healthcare centres were turned to rubbles as the insurgency lasted.In view of these massive destructions which constituted serious economic set back to the home of old Kanem Borno Empire, some people and experts insinuated that, it will take up to 50 years to get Borno back to where it was before the Boko Haram invasion.But disproving such gloomy prognostications and insinuations, many, who know the history of the ancient city are of the opinion that the town, like the cat with nine lives, which has survived several invasions that were even more than Boko Haram in the past, will come out of the present quagmire in no time.Among such people, a director in the states ministry of local government and emirate affairs, Alhaji Hassan Boguma, the Zanna Boguma of Borno who, in dismissing the insinuations, told LEADERSHIP Friday that Bornos history was replete with surviving such kinds of invasion or attack since its creation and that Boko Haram terrorists invasion, cannot be an exception.People are insinuating that Boko Haram insurgency has dealt a blow to every segment of Borno. Some people have even given it a timeline that it will take up to as much as 50 years to be rebuild.But I refused to take that insinuation because Borno has gone through high magnitude of crises similar to Boko Haram insurgency in the past and survived it.The Fulani jihadists came and destroyed the city in their bid to occupy it but were defeated and chased out. The Bulalas later came but were defeated. Rabi, all the way from Sudan invaded Borno in the 18th century with the aim of creating his own Kingdom in Dikwa but only ruled for seven years, seven months and seven days after which he was defeated and yet Borno rose up again and became formidable.And yet in the 80s, the Maitatsine crisis by Mohammed Marwa rocked Borno and again the people defeated it. Boko Haram came before and was defeated before the coming of Mohammed Yusufs Boko Haram. And from what you can see on ground, Borno is rising up again to what it is known for as Home of Peace.The issue of Borno taking 50 years to rebuild is just a figment of imagination of some few, because Borno can never be destroyed. You can cut Borno down, but within some minutes, it will spring up again.Hopefully, the government of Governor Kashim Shettima is trying its best to rebuild Borno through massive developmental projects even in the face of the economic crisis. With the effort being made to enact the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and the recent directive from President Mohammadu Buhari for the exploration of oil in the Lake Chad, Borno will rediscover itself in the next five to six years, said Alhaji Hassan Zanna Boguma.The Zanna Boguma further told LEADERSHIP Friday that some misguided enemies of Borno, imported Boko Haram to the state out of envy as the fastest growing city because of its link with three international borders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon which are transit routes to Malian, Sudanese and Central African Republic merchants.Similarly, the minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, in his recent visit to the Shehu of Borno, appreciated the fact that normalcy is returning to the once embattled city.Fashola said that what he saw on ground is contrary to the false picture of a war torn devastated state being woven and peddled around, noting that what he saw during the visit, was a state on the verge of self-reincarnation as people have accepted to put the gory insurgency in the past and embrace a future with all sense of commitment and positive spirit.I am happy to acknowledge that normalcy is returning to this part of the country in spite of the untrue picture that perhaps is still being presented around, nationally and internationally about Borno.I am happy that banking activities are going on here with people buying and selling. I saw people making withdrawals at the various Automated Teller Machines (ATM) that we passed on our way to the various power facilities in the state.What I have seen is not compatible with the story of a totally devastated war torn state and we must tell that story. Yes, we had conflict and we have overcome the conflict and we are beginning to get on with our lives , Fashola said.Also, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji (Dr) Abubakar Ibn kyari Garbai Elkanemi, while engaging the minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola on the history of Borno and its continual survival of every crisis, said Borno has a long history as it has being in existence for over 1,200 years without any interruption.So many things have happened in Borno which include Fulani invasion, Rabi invasion of 1803 to 1900 and Maitasine crisis of 1980s which were all defeated, talk more of Boko Haram insurgency.Rabi came and invaded Borno to establish his kingdom with his group but was defeated. Again, the Fulani Empire came with their ideology but were defeated.Even this Boko Haram did not originate from Borno but was imported by strangers who came under the guise of acquiring quranic western education.With the efforts of President Muhammad Buhari and the Nigerian Military in restoring peace to Borno, we are hopeful that very soon, the once known home of peace will return to what it used to be in the past.
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