Cometh the man, cometh the hour. As mortar bomb after mortar bomb has shelled Borno State with attack after attack breaking afresh the hearts of a besieged people, Nigerians have watched on paralyzed by horror at just how devastating terrorism can be.
In the midst of the rubble from the attacks and the ruse from the combatants, Mr. Babagana Umara Zulum the Borno State Governor reminds one of the zebra, that gentle African equine with the distinctive black-and white- striped coats.
The zebra`s young – called a foal – does not waste any time in getting to grips with its legs – within six minutes of being born, it is able to stand. It walks within twenty minutes of its birth and within forty minutes of being born, it can run which puts the human race to shame.
Like Zulum like the Zebra. In 2015, the Borno State Governor was elected to govern a state gutted by the fire of Boko Haram`s zealotry, folly and bottomless wickedness. His strides ever since have put to shame those for whom governance is an interminable leisurely stroll. As part of his Christmas gestures, the governor provided free transportation for residents of his state from the Southeast to travel home.
It may seem selfish to amplify this, however, in a State convulsed by terrorism, and in country convulsed by ethnicism, the humble professor of engineering stands out, standing head and shoulders above his peers.
With everything that has happened to Borno State since 2009, Mr. Zulum would have been forgiven if he had taken on the dual roles of Nigeria`s chief alarmist and wailer upon election in 2019.He would not have been too harshly judged if he had failed to do nothing in Borno State given the far-reaching effects of terrorism.
Because the state has been largely ungovernable Mr. Zulum would also have been forgiven for joining the All Progressives Congress `s choir of lamentation that stretches from Abuja and runs through many states. But the Governor has taken the high road, a road less travelled but one which promises the good people of the State redemption from the claws of terrorist groups as savage as they are shameless.
Out of the State that hosts Sambisa and Boko Haram`s pit of vipers, one man`s vision and verve threaten everything ISWAP`S isle of idiots is trying to institute. One man`s courage of conviction is trumping the chimeric cowardice of Boko Haram`s battery of barracudas. In a country scandalized by the APC`s loquacious but lethargic do-nothing governors, the eminent Professor of Engineering stands out with his quiet dignity and abundant courage.
In a party under whose bootheels Nigerians groan, Borno`s bold miracle is being overseen by a humble, unassuming man from Mafa. In a state where many schools have been reduced to dust and many children purged out of the basic education circus, it is a teacher that poses the greatest threat to Boko Haram`s malignant campaign against western education.
Boko Haram and ISWAP should be ashamed of the devastation wrought in Borno State. But shame must also be reserved for those Nigerian governors who lulled to sleep by a false sense of security have failed to lift a finger to scratch their people who itch all over with insecurity and poverty. While some of them have refined the revolting mechanics of political propaganda, others have redefined the contours of political concubinage.
From Abuja through Ebonyi through Kogi through Imo through Cross River through Kaduna through Plateau through Lagos through Zamfara and even to the ancient city of Kano, it is like father at the center like sons in the states with incompetence calling unto incompetence from government house to government house.
Without scruples, some PDP governors regularly hop into the APC`s charabanc of incompetence. Think Abia and even Enugu. Can a reticulated python birth a Barbados threadbare snake? Can the sycamore tree suddenly sprout soursop? In the Igbo country, it is inevitable for the offspring of a snake to grow long.
In 2015, amidst the rubbles of the Peoples Democratic Party`s crumbling empire, Nigerians were sold short by the All Progressives Congress`s litany of lies and legion of liars. Nigerians were made to believe that the country would work again and that its enemies would be eviscerated. Today, it is no exaggeration to say that Nigeria`s enemies chief among which are corruption and terrorism have only grown teeth under the watch of the All Progressives Congress in the teeth of all the promises made to Nigerians.
It has been absurdity after absurdity with the nectar of nepotism juicing out of Aso Rock combining with the kid gloves used to treat terrorism to leave Nigerians in no man`s land. Recently, Mr. Zulum himself appealed to his supporters to stop comparing him to other governors given that each state had unique challenges.
The appeal was a foray into false modesty from a governor whose pace in developing his state has left his leaden-footed peers with eggs on their faces. Borno State may be devastated by the fury of killer terrorists, but the insecurity and poverty ravaging the country are not unique to the land of the ancient Kanem- Borno empire. Neither was any governor sworn into office with the understanding express or implied that performance metrics would differ from state to state.
Whispers recently wafted into the air that the governors chiefly contributed to the setback the Electoral Amendment Bill suffered at the desk of a pliant president.
Shall no questions then be asked of the foxes seen just before the cage of canaries was vandalized? Shall those sworn to develop their states not be held to account in the face of an abominable betrayal of the people`s trust because each state is supposedly rocked by unique challenges?
Shall children whose futures go up in smoke everyday at the end of flints wielded by those who wear dereliction like a paunch not have some satisfaction even if only momentary of seeing those responsible fed into the shredders of public accountability?
Another year begins in Borno as in every other state and every Nigerian home. Nigerians must be prepared to pose the hardest questions and draw the answers they seek lest they be suffocated by the dereliction oozing from many government houses like the odors of hell.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
