Maiduguri—In a powerful show of compassion and inclusive governance, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Sunday, launched the 2025 Annual Free Transportation Programme, providing festive travel and welfare support to 1,050 non-indigenes, widows and other vulnerable residents of Borno State.
The initiative, which has become a signature humanitarian gesture of the Zulum administration since 2020, once again underscores the government’s commitment to people-centred leadership, social cohesion and national unity, regardless of ethnicity, religion or social background.
Representing the Governor at the launch, the Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Chief Ugochukwu Egwudike, said the programme was designed to ease the burden faced by low-income earners during the Christmas and New Year festivities, while also reconnecting families separated by economic hardship and years of insecurity.
“This programme goes beyond transportation. It is about restoring dignity, strengthening unity and reuniting families who have not seen their loved ones for three to five years,” Egwudike said.
He disclosed that the 2025 exercise spans all six geopolitical zones, with 750 passengers travelling in batches—320 on day one, 280 on day two, and 150 on day three—while 300 widows, orphans and other vulnerable persons will receive palliatives on the fourth day, December 24.
Egwudike recalled that in previous editions, beneficiaries also received ₦30,000 each, paid directly into their bank accounts to cushion financial pressures and ensure transparency.
The initiative drew commendation from faith and community leaders. The Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Borno State Chapter, Apostle Joshua Akeredolu, described the programme as timely and impactful, especially for Christian faithful travelling home for Christmas, and offered prayers for Governor Zulum’s continued success.
Similarly, the Chief of the Idoma Community in Borno State, Jonah Odo, hailed the scheme as a practical demonstration of humane leadership, noting its positive effects on social welfare, interfaith harmony and national integration. He urged other state governors to emulate the gesture in the interest of national unity.
The Free Annual Transportation Programme remains one of the flagship social intervention policies of the Zulum administration—an enduring reminder that governance, at its best, is about compassion, inclusion and service to humanity.
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