Ambassador Usman Sarki, a prolific analyst and a regular contributor to Intervention was at ‘home’ when Borno State governor, Prof Babagana Zulum presented his 2022 budget. In this piece, the ambassador used the budget as a staging post to score the governor high in terms of responsible and responsive leadership. That is something to think about because Ambassador Usman would not say that if it is not true! Read on – Editor
History is made by men and women in positions of leadership who are consciously engaged in building their societies and advancing the conditions of their people. Reciprocity between the government and the governed is, therefore; a critical factor in maintaining the delicate balance in the democratic practice everywhere.
A case of genuinely making the people count!
A case of genuinely making the people count!!
While the people entrust their well-being and security to the elected officials, such officers in turn are duty bound to observe the proprieties of governance by providing accountable and responsive leadership to the populace. In this way, trust and confidence are established, while decency in public affairs is cultivated and nurtured for posterity.
The administration of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, mni, in Borno State is predicated upon these pillars of probity, accountability, trust and decency as well as the observance of due proprieties in his dealings with the people of the state. That has been the hallmark of his leadership since he came into office in 2019.
Much as I have been a little bit detached from the effervescent politics of the state and have not been a resident for a long time, I can assert with confidence, that Borno State today and for the last two years, has been favoured with the essential ingredients of governance that make for a better society and peaceful environment conducive to human development and progress.
Having closely studied the governor over the past two years and often communicated with him about matters relating to the conduct of state affairs and politics, I have reached the conclusion, without any inducement or prompting, that the continuation of Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as governor in Borno State will be the salvation of this ravaged corner of Nigeria and the rescue that the people have desperately yearned for so long.
This much can be said for him even by detractors who see grandstanding instead of a passionate disposition towards justice and alleviation of the people’s sufferings. Power without compassion is merely an intoxicating experience that creates incidents only and leaves nothing as a lasting legacy of goodness by which a leader will be judged or remembered. In the case of Governor Zulum, his compassion for the people of Borno has become legendary in the short period of time that he has been in office and at the helm of affairs in the state.
His tender feelings of compassion that have been brimming over, have been demonstrated in several instances that make it impossible to ignore or not to remark upon. Here is a man who is willing to sacrifice his life for the people so that they can live in safety with dignity, and be regarded as worthy of consideration even in their most trying moments under egregious insecurity and abuses.
Letting the children count!
Taking hope to those who need it most in a very challenging space and time?
A demonstration of Governor Zulum’s compassion and empathy towards the people was on display recently in what can be considered a routine matter of governance but one that is pregnant with much hope and expectation for the people of Borno. On Tuesday, November 30th, 2021, the governor presented his administration’s budget for the fiscal year 2022 which he named “A Budget of Hope and Restoration for the State”.
Ordinarily, there is nothing dramatic or theatrical about budget presentations, but in this instance, much fanfare, jubilation and joyful exuberance were exhibited due to the sense of hope and relief that the budget promised for the state. This sense of celebration is something that cannot be taken away from the people, given the innate desires and urges to be free from want and fear which the joy demonstrated. It also showed their desire to belong to the rest of the human community where peace and prosperity reign.
Such outward demonstration of enthusiasm and affection for their governor signifies that even at moments of desperation and disconcerting challenges, and the hesitancy about life and its array of debilitating travails at such moments, it is possible to celebrate propitious moments that portend hope and regeneration in the seemingly unending cycle of traumatizing events that Borno people have gone through.
Not to be so demonstrative is akin to being fatalistic altogether and losing hope about what the possibilities of the future could be and the promise that they harbour. Hope being the very essence of life and exertion is what the Zulum budget for the fiscal year 2022 is actually all about. The presentation of a budget is a momentous occasion pregnant with hope and renewal as I wrote earlier. Profound and far-reaching things are contained in this simple statement of faith that the governor delivered to the assembled legislators, dignitaries and members of the general public.
Although much deliberations must have taken place away from public glare and the blinding flash lights of the television reporters and photographers, the attention paid to the event by the public is worthy of note and reporting. Borno being the home of subdued elegance, understated taste and cultivated refinement, the ladies and gentlemen that appeared at the budget presentation were all bedecked in their finery and beautiful dresses.
This sense of occasion and festive gaiety was a contrasting outward manifestation of the people’s resistance to Boko Haram and their repudiation of all that the terrorists stand for, which is uniform misery and leveling of every citizen under a terrible dictatorship of blind fanaticism and obstinate unreason. The dignitaries attending the occasion therefore, came out in their myriads to represent the hopes and aspirations of the whole of the State in its hour of need.
From the Honourable Speaker of the House downwards, all those present were mindful of the solemnity of the occasion and the history that was unfolding. The budget was received with dignified applause, befitting courtesy and appropriate approbation by both the members of the State Assembly and others fortunate enough to be in the House chambers that morning.
Taking charge!
As with the military, so with the police too!
The salient but important points in the budget speech are around good governance, gender advancement, youth empowerment, social protection, security support initiatives, value addition in economic activities, achieving food security and ensuring safety of intakes by the people, competitiveness of the state’s economy, inclusiveness and integration of populations, climate change mitigation and environmental initiatives, renewable energy use, schools safety and security, human development programmes and infrastructure development.
An enlightened citizenry conscious of its rights, duties and obligations is the surest bastion of democracy. Education, therefore, has been the bedrock of the service orientation and governance posture of the Zulum administration since 2019. Remarkable are his programmes on education. What is even more edifying is his vow to retain and continue all the activities of his predecessor in that field. He not only vowed to complete all projects that he inherited but also to sustain the momentum in building new schools and intensifying teacher training in the state.
The welfare and security of the people of Borno State is a top priority of the budget. Having functional schools and hospitals, sufficient food for the citizens, secure environment for students and pupils to study, happy homes everywhere, well paid and contented workers, responsive healthcare systems, functioning offices and accountable civil servants, etc, are taken for granted in some countries and climes.
In Borno State, with its egregious challenges and disconcerting problems that are bound to overpower even the most intrepid of administrators, these are existential services that must be consciously and conscientiously addressed by any fiscal and administrative remedial arrangements. It was in this respect and not for any sadistic desires that Governor Zulum vowed to deal with all defaulting officials in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Self-exertion beyond the call of duty as has been demonstrated by the governor himself in his inimitable ways, is to become the expected attribute to be exhibited by all the state’s civil servants. Service delivery therefore; was the main philosophic and aspirational outlook of the 2022 budget of Borno State, which should be underpinned by discipline and responsible attitude to work. If the essence of government is the prudent use of resources and meeting of set schedules, it is vital that all Borno State civil servants harken to the governor’s pledge to complete all projects that he had inherited from his predecessor as a priority, something which no doubt would require the critical presence of mind of officials entrusted with such heavy responsibilities. It is through the combination of physical development and attention to the welfare of the people that the foundations of civilizations are laid and future prospects are secured.
Programmes like infrastructure development may seem as normal expectations to be demanded or even insisted upon from governments. However, in circumstances such as those afflicting Borno State at this time, such undertakings become really a matter of survival and securing of the future of the state. It is only when a closer look at the situation in Borno is undertaken that the enormity of what may appear in other places as needless extravagance can be appreciated.
Keeping enemies of the open society at bay
Securing the open space from its enemies!
The repeated and often continued reiteration of the urgency of reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) will only make sense to outsiders when viewed in the context of the two million of the state’s population that have been forcefully displaced and scattered across different zones by the deliberate and malicious actions of the Boko Haram terrorists.
In such circumstances, it would be a problem of unimaginable proportion to even begin to calculate the costs and develop the strategies for ameliorating the conditions of the affected people. In Borno State, however, with the kind of leadership now obtaining and the perseverance of the people, much progress has been made so far in addressing these millennial challenges that have befallen the lot of the people.
In the state, when the governor or his associates speaks of development, it is not in the conceptual and abstract sense that they do so. It is actually in the context of the basic arithmetic of allocation of resources to specific and observable projects that they make such assertive proclamations. Therefore; the process of the 2022 appropriations after tendering for deliberation by the Speaker of the House in the formal opening of proceedings, was in fact a smooth sailing affair.
The adoption of the budget was characterized by dignified silence and mature reflection on the import of the enormity of the contents of the document. There were no dissenting voices here precisely because the House was acting as one body led by a single head that works in cooperation with the Executive Governor for the well-being of the state and the people. That is the Borno way of doing things.
The artificial distinctions of politics of opposition and the cancerous weakness of party antagonisms did not rear their heads here. All other sentiments were overcome and subsumed under the imperatives of the objective conditions facing the state and the challenges that are confronting the administration in its attempts to restore normalcy and bring about progress in a state that has been battered by the vicissitudes of fortune and the escapades of terrorist insurgents spanning over twelve years.
One fact that illustrated the situation in Borno State is this. As the governor was presenting his budget, Borno in its entirety was in a state of permanent blackout with electricity remaining unavailable to the people for more than ten months! That is because the Boko Haram terrorists deliberately targeted the transmission lines of the national grid that convey power to the state for destruction repeatedly. The cost of providing alternative power using generators was simply prohibitive and this dilemma was expressed by the governor in his speech.
I think it is important for the people of Borno State and perhaps of Nigeria as a whole if we are humble and appreciative enough, to confess and to acknowledge that leadership is among the key ingredients of development of any community, society or nation. Without this, the reciprocal attachment of interests and concerns that I referred to at the beginning of this essay, becomes vitiated and rendered irrelevant in the estimation of all the enumerable factors that make for happy and fruitful societies.
In Borno State, we must measure our good fortune by the tons and count our luck in infinite numbers for having the present set of leaders, especially Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as our governor. However, counting our fortune is not good enough. We must give thanks to the Almighty Allah for showering His mercy and grace upon us and favoring us among all the states in Nigeria with such a compassionate man as our Governor.
