World Bank Director Commissions Seven Zulum Legacy Projects in Borno

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Mathew Verghis, has commissioned seven projects delivered by the Borno State Government under Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, describing the interventions as significant for education recovery and urban renewal.

The commissioned projects include one flyover, three mega schools and three dual-carriage roads in Maiduguri. They are Government Secondary School Mainusari, Mairi; Mega Primary School Maimusari; Command Secondary School Maiduguri; West End flyover; Sultan Mainalari dual carriage road; Bursari dual carriage road; and Shehu Sanda Kura dual carriage road.

At the event, Verghis said the World Bank would continue to support programmes being implemented in Borno. He said the schools represented more than physical infrastructure and signalled that children, including girls and vulnerable learners, should have access to learning opportunities despite years of disruption.

Governor Zulum said the projects align with his administration’s post-insurgency priorities in education, infrastructure, economic activity and climate response. He said data from a World Bank-supported Recovery and Peace Building Assessment showed that more than 5,000 classrooms were destroyed at the peak of the insurgency crisis, leaving around 2.2 million children out of school.

He said the state has since built 104 new schools and rehabilitated 2,931 classrooms and related facilities. According to him, these interventions have reduced the out-of-school population by more than 70 per cent to below 800,000, while enrolment rose to above 1.4 million children as of December 2025.

Zulum also listed support provided since 2019 to improve retention, particularly for children from vulnerable households. He said the government had supplied over 20 million exercise books, 2 million textbooks, 1.5 million school uniforms, 700,000 school bags and other learning materials. He added that about 50,000 pupils benefit yearly from school feeding, while 10,000 bicycles were distributed to ease school access in rural communities.

For older out-of-school youth, the governor said the state expanded technical and vocational pathways by establishing five Vocational Enterprise Institutes, three Second-Chance Women and Girls Skills Entrepreneurship Schools, and reactivating nine vocational centres. He added that Borno is reforming the Tsangaya system by introducing literacy, numeracy, English, ICT and vocational competencies, while developing Higher Islamic Colleges across all 27 local government areas, with 20 already completed.

On infrastructure, Zulum said the state commissioned 7.44 kilometres of dual carriageway and 14.86 kilometres of drainage, alongside its third flyover. He said Borno has so far delivered four flyovers, with another underway, plus about 412.603 kilometres of roads and 108.97 kilometres of drainage statewide.

The event underscores an ongoing partnership between Borno and development institutions focused on rebuilding social services and critical infrastructure after years of conflict.