The trip of uncertainty A combat ready soldier delicately held the anti-aircraft gun at the back of the open van, three other armed soldiers precariously stand beside him scanning the morning traffic as we drive out of Maiduguri. Soon enough, we were cruising out of the city; escorted by another van mounted by stern looking soldiers at the rear. These were the complements the theatre Commander, Gen Lucky Irabor, had described as unbroken special escort when the leader of our delegation, the Vice Chairman of the PCNI, Alh Tijjani Tumsah, led us on a courtesy visit to the Theatre Command a day earlier. Their task that day was to take us to Chibok and back safely. The town had grabbed global consciousness in the wake of the abduction of girls at a Girls Government Secondary School on the 14th of April 2014. The pristine and consistent work of the Bring Back Our Girls movement has also ensured the incident remains fresh in our collective hearts.Most of us in the convoy were passing through the Damboa road since it was recently reopened. Soon enough, the now familiar sights of wanton destruction, mortar pockmarks on walls came into view shocking those who were seeing it for the first time. The emptied shells on the right and left shoulders of the road and fallen mobile phone masts all told tales of death and devastation. We passed empty settlements, homes that had become the abode of insurgents until early 2015. Every few kilometres one was accosted with the ruins of hamlets that are now fading memories in the minds of the townsmen.We passed soldiers at desolate intersections, lonely sentries waiting for slight movements in the shrubs to shoot. Shortly after passing Masba village, a loud ricochet followed by a volley of AA bullets interrupted our chatter; it stunned us into our thoughts as our eyes scanned to see if there were any movements around the shrubs. Fortunately, they were simply warning shots by our escorts however, our hearts had skipped several beats at the possibility of near mortality.A rebound for Damboa Hundreds of thousands of IDP families from Damboa hitherto were part of the IDP population in camps in Borno State, four months ago they went back home after a safety assessment by the army. Today, there are clear signs of a bounce back, amidst great reconstruction going on there. Along the roadsides the greatest signs of recovery were the fresh oranges, guava, carrots and vegetables on sale. There were also lush green farmlands of spring onions spreading as far as the eyes could see and truckloads of commodities passing througha testimony of livelihoods slowly coming back after years of displacement.Arriving ChibokAt Damboa, we took a detour to Chibok, passing through an undulating and never been tarred road. We were told it is even more tortuous and impassable during the raining season. The journey from Maiduguri should have slightly been more than an hour; however it took us four hours to get there. At last, we arrived Chibok and drove straight to GGSS Chibok, where we were received by Mr Yaga Yagarwa the local government chairman and other cheerful elders of the community. We went round the ongoing ambitious reconstruction of the school which will include a race track, ICT halls and staff residencies when completed; the project is intended to be a model institution in defiance to the Boko Haram ideology and a tribute to egalitarian values.A call for greater support for ChibokThe governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, continues to personally be involved in the development of the Chibok community, last year he spent Boxing Day with them and pledged to continue working in the interest of the released Chibok girls. Most importantly, N1.8 billion has been earmarked for the Damboa-Chibok-Mbalala fifty-five kilometre road in this years budget The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, alongside the Midland Church of the Brethren in the United States continues to also support the people of Chibok not only spiritually, but also in cash donations and other non-food items. The Victims Support Fund is also implementing its Livelihood Programmeproviding support for small business and skills empowerment and the foster care project in Chibok where it places orphans under the care of foster parents and pays them a monthly stipend. The PCNI sub-committee on education under Prof Hauwa Biu is also committed to revamping the educational infrastructure in Chibok LGA and also scaling up the livelihood support in the area.But the Chibok we saw needs more from INGOs, local NGOs and above all, everyday citizens. It needs boreholes, psycho-social support, agricultural input and primary health care centres amongst several other things. We left behind a community of resilient people, from young girls riding bicycles home after a day of studies, to women with stacks of fire wood tied to their bicyclesindeed the women of Chibok are inseparable from their bicycles. There were also courageous vigilantes standing around intersections and clusters of towns people, all waiting for this veil of darkness to pass over and become distant memories.Postscript: Less than 48 hours after passing the Damboa route Boko Haram elements attacked a travelling convoy killing 10 people.Abdulkadir is the Head of Media and Communications at the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiatives, PCNI.
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