By Babagana Bukar Wakil, Maiduguri
MAIDUGURI — After more than a decade of Boko Haram insurgency that emptied communities, crippled businesses and disrupted education, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State is gradually coming back to life.
From the historic town of Kukawa to Baga, Doro, Kekeno, Cross Kukawa and Bindiram, displaced residents are returning home, farms are being cultivated again, schools are reopening and economic activities are gradually picking up.
The Executive Chairman of Kukawa Local Government, Hon. Mustapha Mohammed Kukawa, disclosed this on Monday in Maiduguri while presenting his administration’s scorecard ten months after assuming office.
He attributed the emerging recovery to the resettlement, reconstruction and security interventions of the Borno State Government under Governor Babagana Umara Zulum.
According to him, the return of residents to their ancestral communities has begun to restore the social and economic fabric of an area that was once severely devastated by insurgency.
Kukawa, located about 170 kilometres from Maiduguri along the shores of Lake Chad, is Borno State’s largest local government area by landmass.
The historic community, founded in 1814 as the capital of the Kanem-Borno Empire, was once known for farming, fishing and vibrant cross-border commerce.
Its Baga fish market was also regarded as one of the major commercial hubs in the region before the insurgency disrupted livelihoods and forced thousands of residents to flee.
Kukawa said the security situation had equally undergone significant changes.
He recalled that travelling from Maiduguri to Kukawa was once a dangerous journey, with motorists requiring military escorts because of frequent ambushes and improvised explosive devices planted along major routes.
The local government, he said, subsequently worked closely with security agencies to address vulnerabilities along the roads.
The council supported the repair of damaged road sections and the clearing of roadside vegetation that could be used by insurgents as hiding places.
It also established community-based intelligence channels through which residents could alert security agencies to suspicious movements.
Although the Gajiram-Mairari axis still records occasional security threats, the chairman said attacks and explosive incidents around Kukawa town and surrounding communities had reduced considerably.
Education suffered one of the heaviest blows during the insurgency, with schools in Baga, Doro and other communities remaining shut for years after facilities were destroyed.
Kukawa said the local government, in collaboration with the Borno State Ministry of Education and relevant education authorities, responded by consolidating destroyed schools into a mega school in Baga.
The facility provides separate learning structures for higher Islamic studies, boys and girls.
To encourage children from returning families to resume schooling, the administration introduced free uniforms, instructional materials and daily feeding.
The chairman said school attendance had continued to rise as more families return to their communities.
The recovery is also being felt in the agricultural sector.
Kukawa said farmers who fled to Jigawa State and other parts of the country during the insurgency were gradually returning to cultivate their ancestral lands.
Fishing, another major source of livelihood, is also beginning to regain its place in the local economy, although security challenges remain in some remote parts of Lake Chad.
The chairman said insurgent remnants still impose illegal levies on some fishermen before allowing them to operate in isolated waterways.
He, however, said Governor Zulum’s intervention to clear and dredge waterways across the Lake Chad basin was expected to further boost fishing, transportation and cross-border trade.
According to him, more than ₦4 billion has been committed to the waterway intervention, including support for coordinated clearance efforts with authorities in neighbouring Chad.
Kukawa, who previously served for seven years as Senior Special Assistant on Security to Governor Zulum, said his frontline experience had shaped his approach to governance.
He said moving from a city-based assignment into direct community leadership had allowed him to better understand the needs of residents rebuilding their lives after years of displacement.
For Kukawa, the transformation is not merely about rebuilding physical structures but restoring confidence, livelihoods and the future of communities that endured years of violence.
As more residents return, farms reopen, children fill classrooms and economic activities gradually resume, Kukawa is beginning to show signs of a community determined to rebuild from the ruins of insurgency.
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