Thursday, March 28, 2024

Now, Borno’s billionaires are needed

In a press interview on May 11, 2014 in Maiduguri, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State was asked; “You were reported to have said you have been unhappy as governor. Why?” He replied, “How can I be happy when citizens I am under constitutional oath and with moral and religious duty to protect are being killed? How can I be happy when as we speak, over 200 daughters of Borno are being held somewhere? How can I be happy when hundreds of Borno sons and daughters are six feet under the ground out of cruelty? How can I be happy when, as a governor, I am forced to close down schools? How can I be happy when hundreds have lost their homes and sources of livelihood? How can I be happy when we have spent over N10 billion that should have been used for developmental needs to resist man’s inhumanity, and yet we are still spending? How can I be happy when people were forced to close their shops, avoid markets, abandon schools, and stay away from their relations?”

He further lamented: “How can I be happy when the economy of Borno is being grounded to a halt by our own people? I just don’t want to go on, please. Only Allah knows exactly how 1 feel. Not even I can explain the extent of what goes through my mind every day. There was one night, about one and half years ago, I was thinking that I should resign. I was so frustrated that the insurgents were waxing very strong; I was feeling helpless and I didn’t want Borno to collapse and surrender to insurgents under a regime that had me at the helm of affairs. But then, I thought that somebody has to be at the helm of affairs in Borno. If I am not there, someone has to be there. By the way, I asked myself, what was it that was to make me leave? Was it fear of death, a fear of challenge or just trauma?

 

A Borno billionaire in affluence who could afford to give billions of naira to a political party and having some planes, found it a problem to give even N50, 000 to alleviate the suffering of the Internally Displaced Persons in the state

 

“I am a fanatic of motivational quotes. There was one by Meg Cabot that inspires me, which states that, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.” That night, I then said to myself, ‘Wasn’t it better for a leader to die for a good cause than to abandon his own kinsmen and women to live for nothing at all and forever be remembered for abandoning his people?’

“Since that day, I made up my mind to confront whatever challenge is before Borno State and work towards the recovery and progress of the state. I have conquered the fear of challenge, but I live with the reality of the trauma our citizens’ face and that gives me immense headache.”

However, between 2014 and now, Governor Shettima had cause to be happy, in spite of the challenges. Reason: Over a hundred of the abducted Chibok School girls have got their freedom. Boko Haram has been “technically defeated” as it has been “degraded and decimated”. All the local government council areas hitherto occupied by the insurgents have been liberated. The Nigerian military has demystified the unassailable Sambisa Forest as it has captured Camp Zero, the headquarters of the dreaded sect in the forest and still on the prowl curbing all places for the insurgents. In particular, the Borno State Government, through its Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, has made remarkable progress in the resettlement of some of the displaced persons in their permanent homes. Commercial activities are picking up while the traffic jam, especially in the major roads in Maiduguri, the state capital, is back.

Neither has the government reneged on its electoral promises to uplift the status of the people as manifested in its mass-oriented poverty alleviation and food security programmes; infrastructural development, and provision of basic amenities, especially in health and education.

Yet, in spite of the laudable achievements of the state government in various sectors, Governor Kashim is not a happy man because the billionaires of Borno have disappointed him, while some elite too, try to make his state ungovernable. In several fora, especially at very important ones, he has always unburdened this.

While he commended the Federal Government, especially the President Buhari administration, the international community, the Non-Government Organisations, the Dangote Foundation and others for coming to salvage Borno at this critical time, he is disappointed that Borno billionaires kept the distance-not forthcoming. It is his view that if they had responded as others did, there would have been a remarkable difference as presently obtained.

Governor Shettima cited an instance. A Borno billionaire in affluence who could afford to give billions of naira to a political party and having some planes, found it a problem to give even N50,000 to alleviate the suffering of the Internally Displaced Persons in the state.

He similarly made reference to some elite of the state, who fled to other towns in Nigeria and beyond when the terrorists struck; abandoning the state to its fate. There are others, according to the governor, who though are outside the state but are trying to cause instability in Borno, using their agents within. Fed up with this particular group, Shettima at a point, dared the whirlwind when he stated unequivocally that though he knew the consequences of unmasking the masquerade, he would still do when compelled. In short, he would unmask the trouble makers.

However, of recent and to the cheering mood of the governor, the Muhammadu Indimi Foundation, a humanitarian organisation founded by a Borno billionaire, Alhaji Muhammadu Indimi, the Executive Chairman of Oriental Energy Resources Limited, announced the construction of a N600 million solar-powered village consisting of 100 units of three-bed room houses for persons displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State. The village will feature, among others, five blocks of classrooms, a fully equipped health centre, an opened-shed market, sport facilities and an incinerator. The project will be located in Bama town, the worst hit area, and replicated in Ngala town.

Flagging off the village scheme, Governor Shettima commended Indimi for the humanitarian bold step. Now that Indimi has broken the ice, other plutocrats from Borno should emulate the gesture for humanity purpose, and to avoid the harsh judgement of posterity.

*Izekor, a journalist, public affairs analyst, is a member of the Board of Advisers of The Point. 

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