By Alpha Maidawa
An adage says leadership is an action not position. Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has done a great job at validating that statement. Following a protracted conflict between the Boko Haram insurgents and government forces which impacted economic activities and impeded against social activities in Borno state, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum assumed the office of the Governor of Borno state. Gov. Zulum met a state that has been ravaged by insurgency and in a dire need for rebuilding.
Gov. Zulum began to give the people of Borno hope of a brighter future when he swung into action by making his ten-point agenda clear and taking steps towards consolidating them.
In his list of priorities is the issue of security. Given the history of the state, Gov. Zulum wasted no time in meeting with necessary stakeholders to put a complete end to insurgency in the state. Recently, he made a call for deployment of more troops to Borno state, adding that he is ready to provide 50,000 able-bodied men to help combat terror in the state. However, in his proactive way of dealing with situations, Gov. Zulum recruited over 3000 Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and vigilante hunters, providing them with over 200 patrol vehicles and office accommodation.
He also inaugurated the Agro Rangers Scheme, a special security outfit comprising CJTF, vigilante hunters, mobile police squad and civil defense trained special squad. The outfit was vested with the responsibility of protecting rural farmers across the 27 LGCs and even Sambisa Forest towards enhancing food production and food security across the state. This initiative was applauded by many as a remedy to farmers and herdsmen clashes in the state.
As one of the cardinal policies of his administration, Gov. Zulum seeks to address the issue of IDPs in Borno state. Meeting IDPs camps that were being scandalized with accusations of mismanagement and embezzlements, he ensured that every form of unscrupulousness was eradicated cautioning NGOs, SEMA and NEMA. He personally distributed relief materials in the camps and called on Local Government Council staff, teachers and traditional leaders to return to their communities and continue their work and services to their people. However, he pledged to resettle victims of flood in Ngamdu while flagging off the construction of over 1000 housing units project in Ajiri and Mafa communities to settle those displaced by insurgency.
Gov. Zulum also made an appeal to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), urging the commission to focus on building permanent resettlement houses for IDPs instead of concentrating on government designated and controlled IDPs camp. Of late, he revoked allocations of houses in Indimi estate and reallocated to homeless IDPs. The Governor continues to tour round IDPs camps, giving out relief materials and cash while personally inspecting the distribution.
Gov. Zulum, seeing the need to revamp a degrading civil service, took efficacious moves that triggered sound ethical conduct in the state’s civil service in terms of staff attendance and attitude to work. He recently suspended the hospital staff of the General Hospital of Ngala town for abandoning their duties and leaving the hospital in the care of an international Non-Governmental Organization. He made the discovery during an unscheduled visit to the hospital. He set up a high-powered committee mandated to eliminate ghost workers on the payroll of the state government at the state and local levels by introducing verification and biometric data capture. Intent on bettering the state’s civil service, Gov. Zulum introduced e-payment of salaries, allowances and pensions so as to ensure prompt and stress-free payment of remunerations. He also approved the payment of outstanding salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities worth billions of naira to serving and retired civil servants respectively.
Understanding the inarguable need for a farming society, Gov. Zulum initiated the ‘Back to farm initiative’ which is aimed at boosting agricultural production in the state and ensuring food security. Last year, he made a symbolic move towards achieving food security by distributing seeds, farm kits and cash tokens to IDPs to enable them fully participate in farming activities at Muna Garage IDPs Camp along Gamboru Ngala Road-Mafa in Maiduguri. Recently, Gov. Zulum traversed Dikwa communities where he unveiled agricultural initiatives for farmers. He also met with farmers during a tour of communities on the shores of Lake Alau in Konduga and Jere Local Government Areas of the state. He personally interacted with some of the farmers in Laujeri village. He assured them of security fortification on the shores of Lake Alau Dam and his administration’s plan to ensure that fishing and irrigation farming is restored in the communities. According to him, this would allow 56,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the 28 agrarian communities along Lake Alau to engage in dry season farming and fishing. He also appealed to the Federal Government to provide irrigation facilities and equipment for farmers in the state.
Intent on rebuilding Borno state after the destructions wreaked by insurgency, Gov. Zulum flagged off construction projects across the state, approving the rehabilitation and reconstruction of facilities and amenities in the state. Also, he approved the construction of new projects across the state including educational, health, housing, transportation and water supply facilities.
Among many other projects, Gov Zulum flagged off the Dikwa-Gamboru Ngala road project, construction of Northeast’s first overhead bridge in Maiduguri, construction of 500 and 400 housing units in Maiduguri and Ajiri ward of Mafa LGA respectively. Earlier this year, Gov. Zulum unveiled ten additional projects in education, health and water supply sectors in Borno south. The unveiled projects are located in Gwoza, Hawul and Biu Local Councils. In Biu Local Council he inaugurated the Biu Mega School, Local Government and Education Secretariat complexes with 40 and 14 offices respectively.
Also, Gov. Zulum is set on reviving the Maiduguri International hotel, the state hotel, and four industries in the state. The industries include Borno Fertilizer Company Ltd, NIETAL Shoes and Ternary Factory, Borno Steel and Wire Industry and Borno Supply Company. This will help boosts internally generated revenue in the state as well as create employment for unemployed youths in the state. Speaking of unemployment, Gov. Zulum made a commendable move towards addressing unemployment issue in Borno state by visiting the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Abuja. He stated that the purpose of his visit is to explore avenues through which the state can benefit to provide job opportunities for its unemployed youths. Director General of the directorate, Dr. Nasiru Ladan Argungu, said Gov. Zulum was the first northern Governor to visit the directorate’s headquarters and for that he will give Borno state priority attention in addition to security challenges that confer comparative advantage on the state.
It should be recalled that in a bid to address joblessness, political thuggery and government offices loitering, Gov. Zulum, through the Science and Innovation Ministry he created, set up a Vocational Entrepreneurial Training Scheme that engaged over 3000 unemployed youths in the state.
Although, the nation is still battling the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Zulum’s efforts at curtailing the spread of the virus in Borno state has been nothing short of commendable. In the wake of the pandemic in Nigeria, he set up a 25-man Taskforce geared towards preventing an outbreak and tackling possible outbreak. He directed a 14-day lockdown after a COVID-19 case was confirmed in the state, extended it by a week while consulting with stakeholders including religious leaders on how to tackle the pandemic. However, with the continuing presence of the coronavirus pandemic in the nation, Gov. Zulum traverses the state distributing palliatives to IDPs and other vulnerable persons in the state alleviating the suffering caused by the pandemic. He has distributed palliatives to thousands of people in areas like Maisandari, Gamboru, Limanti, Mafoni, Bulabulin to mention but a few.
