By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has carpeted Arab nations for not doing enough in the fight against Boko Haram, while commending the Western nations for their care for Borno citizens.
He said that the attitude of the Arab nations was not right considering that Borno State shares some common tradition, culture and religion with them (Arab countries).
Zulum gave the verdict in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when he received the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Saleh Fheied Saleh.
The governor expressed his happiness with the Palestinian government for being one of the few exceptions, within the Arab community that identified with Borno State.
His words: “I am a practical person. I work with the realities I see on the ground. In the face of our challenges over the years, we have received humanitarian support from the United Kingdom (UK) and other parts of Europe, the United States, Canada, from Japan and a host of others that have demonstrated concern and have made efforts to support our traumatised citizens in many ways, especially on food, medicals and livelihoods.
“However, that level of concern never came from Arab countries with which millions of Borno people share a similarity in religion and culture. We even have indigenous Shuwa Arabs in Borno and this shows how our histories are tied.
“We have made several efforts, written and visited embassies of Arab countries, especially those that are rich and not dealing with crises, but obviously, the majority of the Arabs do not care about our situation, neither do they support us.
“The Arabs have not shown concern to us. Your visit, however, has renewed our hope especially, and we are very grateful for your visit.”
Earlier, the Palestinian Ambassador informed Zulum of his government’s plan to support the government of Borno State in some areas of need.
“There are a lot of Palestinian companies in Nigeria. They are willing to work with the Borno State government. We are ready to co-operate with you, we are ready to help in anything you want us to do that we can do,” Saleh said.
He also revealed that many Nigerians are currently residing in Palestine.
He mentioned particularly some who are indigenous to Borno State that have diligently served the government and people of Palestine such as Fatima Barnawi, a lady who was once a minister and police chief in their country.