17/01/2023
Zulum All The Time: Why So?
By Habu Kale Tijjani Yajiwa
Learning from our respectable journalists in Borno State, I now pen a column: “The Yajiwa’s Column” in the Northeast Punchline, a news blog that is still coming up.
At the start of the column, the blog’s editor- in-chief, Babagana Modu, gave me a long list of political personalities across the northeast, requesting I write on them.
Not surprising, the name of the Governor of Borno, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, topped the Editor-in-Chief’s list.
Ironically, my enthusiasm dropped on sighting Zulum’s name. Yes, I lost the enthusiasm, not because of who Zulum is, but I asked myself, “what can I write on Zulum that has not been written already?”
Here is a man who always gives more and more news content to journalists and writers, as raw material and resources to work on, largely because of his never-sit-back-and-watch
approach, but work-work-work attitude.
Yet, I have to quickly think of something to write! At least to keep the trust and confidence reposed on me in even bringing up a whole column, in my name for that matter.
One thing that always comes to my mind, whenever the name Zulum is mentioned, is the word ‘Time keeper’. Yes, this was a name we coined for him way back, when he was the Rector of one of Borno’s prestigious institutions of higher learning, the Ramat Polytechnic.
The then governor of Borno State, now Vice Presidential Candidate and hopeful, Senator Kashim Shettima, entrusted Zulum with the recovery and peace building assessment (RPBA) – a World Bank project, which was an inclusive post disaster and insurgency recovery framework for the Boko Haram hit Northeastern states.
I happen to be one of those who handled the raw data, working round the clock, which we received from the various stakeholders: the victims, local government administrators, security, health, educationist, water resources, agriculturist, and civil society among others.
Zulum will pop in around 1:00 am or 3:00 am, either to give an instruction on how to go about certain section of the template or clarification on a data submitted by a victim from a local government area. Moreover, he was always surprised to meet us on the table working in most cases applauding saying “aren’t you guys getting tired?", while on the other hand, we were always motivated by his never tired, no-day-no-night work stride. If a leader like him won’t sleep until he confirms a little data that can wait until tomorrow, would we slow down or keep it late?
The amazement always didn’t stop there, someone that comes in around 3:00 am and stayed more than an hour or two, you see him turn up for a meeting as early as 6:00 am the following morning, with no sign of fatigue but eagerness and enthusiasm to find the solution to the matter at hand, and hear him saying he has another meeting.
Abdurrahman Ahmad Bundi and few of my colleagues can attest to once, when Zulum invited us to a meeting when he was a Commissioner for 3R, he gave us 6:00 am. We came to the new ministry as early as possible, five minutes late unfortunately, even though thinking he is now a commissioner and given the cold period then.
To our amazement, the honorable commissioner was already in his office and even finished meeting with someone.
“You are 5 minutes late,” He said.
In a normal circumstance I shouldn’t meet you, because you seems to be not serious and good time keepers. But since I invited you, I’ll see you after I finished with those already here.” He said
What an amazing time keeper
Unprecedented developmental projects
The first time a state in the northeast clearly and proudly celebrated the constitution of a standard more than 5 kilometers long flyover, was When President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the Custom flyover in Maiduguri, conceived and built by Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.
Indeed Borno celebrated a record 120 capital projects in the first 100 days in office of Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as governor of the state.
While everyone was applauding the 120 projects, Zulum went ahead and completed 556 in two years. Projects ranging from the celebrated custom flyover, numerous 500 and 300 units housing estates distributed across the state, the unprecedented number of Mega schools, construction of both townships and high way road networks, construction and renovation of general hospitals and primary health facilities among others.
As for human capital development, do I need to talk about the constant scholarships both domestic and foreign to the Borno youths?
Thursday, January 4, 2018. Zulum in Bama inspecting reconstruction of houses in Bama
Fearless
One of the greatest attributes of a leader is being fearless, especially in a demanding and emergency situation.
Carey D. Lorenz said in his book “Fearless Leadership: High-Performance Lessons from the Flight Deck” said the following and I quote
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. If you want to become a stronger leader, you must be willing to step up, show up, and put in the time. Knowing your value, speaking up, and not flying under the radar—this is what fearless leadership is about.”
When Boko Haram fighters on Wednesday July 2020 opened fire on the convoy of Babagana Zulum at Baga town, many believed that the governor’s journey to the security dreaded areas was over, to the surprise of the world he went back to same location only two months later.
I remember when Zulum was a commissioner, the fearless professor spent about 156 days in Bama, a town which was once under the occupation of Boko Haram insurgents until it was liberated by the Nigerian military.
At that time, it was a clear su***de mission for anyone to venture out of Maiduguri beyond 5 kilometres, yet Zulum was always in one local government or another spearheading the recovery project.
The Vice Presidential Candidate and then Governor of Borno State had this to say. “When I first appointed Zulum as my Commissioner for Reconstruction, I sent him to Bama to supervise some projects, he went and met one substandard work, he refused to come back to Maiduguri and stayed there sleeping and dining in the same room with laborers, Civilian JTF for 156 days until the work was demolished and a standard one was reconstructed.”
Emancipator
One of those strikingly onerous and humble characters of Zulum that even his sworn enemy must admit is his never sit back and leave the work to the subordinates attitude. He is someone who wants to always ensure his work is done thoroughly. Until Zulum became the governor of Borno State, I always thought leaders are only to facilitate and flag-off any given project, especially which has to do with the masses, crowd and remote parts of the state.
Not minding the paper works and various visits to solicit for support to the internally displaced persons, you always see the professor in Monguno, Baga, Gwoza, Damboa, Ngala or Dikwa among others; he is always in the field even before most of the other officials arrive, participating in the upkeep of the IDPs. Beginning with arranging them in rows to beneficiary’s cards distribution completing with the food and non-food items distribution proper.
Zulum always stays back in that locality until he is sure that what is on ground is done for.
Optimism
Many have been very skeptical and keeping second thoughts when Zulum announced that he is reopening most of the liberated but ghost towns in the state and returning the displaced persons back to their ancestral homes in dignity and according to the Geneva protocol.
To this day, the optimism and never-give-up stride of Zulum not only paid in reopening of the towns and returning the IDPs, but it has built a strong sense of resilience among the people. Gone were the days when people shrink and shudder with fear at the mention of their towns, talk about even returning.
To cap that, Zulum made sure that not only the people returned, but local government administration and traditional leaders also returned, bringing closer governance and sense of belonging to the people.
The 2020 local government elections vindicated Zulum’s belief and optimism and consolidated the total return of peace and local administration in the state.
Yes I should have begun with this, but deliberately left it to the end. When Zulum first put his feet at the Musa Usman Secretariat on his first day in office, one of the things he announced then was his pledge to return the seat of power to the secretariat and its renovation to give the workers a conducive environment to work in.
True to his words, Zulum re-established the Governor’s Office for the first time since 1976 during the era of late General Musa Usman of blessed memory, and to date he makes use of the office, especially important and critical government activities.
A view of the golden view of the international conference Centre of the Musa Usman Secretariat is one of the landmark indicators that the Secretariat had seen a renovation to modern standard, a place which every worker feels at home and enjoy working in.
Saying all these, I just remembered what Senator Kashim Shettima once said about Zulum, “Our state was very lucky to find such a person in Professor Zulum. Allah made the recruitment of a successor. Borno State got it right with him. I think that’s the “magic,” to use your word.”
“When I first appointed Zulum as my Commissioner for Reconstruction, I sent him to Bama to supervise some projects, he went and met one substandard work, he refused to come back to Maiduguri and stayed there sleeping and dining in the same room with laborers, Civilian JTF for 156 days until the work was demolished and a standard one was reconstructed.”
Now I believe you will agree with me, why the name Zulum came first on the list and why Zulum is the ultimate answer for a next coming four years in Borno and beyond, if there’s a window.
https://northeastpunchline.ng/2023/01/17/zulum-all-the-time-why-so/
