By Victor Izekor, Maiduguri
In the words of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “It is not the deed that matters but aftermath of the deed.” Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State had hardly taken his oath of office when billboards announcing his administration’s “TEN POINT AGENDA” emerged on display in strategic points in the state capital, Maiduguri.
The agenda is all embracing, touching the economy, unemployment, job creation, education, industry, youth and women empowerment, security, agriculture, health, rural and urban development, reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement and others. One would not be far from the truth to assert the 10-point agenda as the political testament or policy thrust of Governor Zulum.
Immediately he assumed office as the state’s chief executive, Prof. Zulum, an irrigation engineer, shot off like a meteor into some parts of southern and central Borno senatorial zones to see, assess, direct and observe things and in some instances, implement decisions.
REWARDING BORNO WORKERS’ DEDICATION TO DUTY
His first 10 days in office were action-packed. Some of the actions provoked, pricked and prodded the 10-day flurry of activities. In the governor’s impromptu visits to places and establishments, some got the blessings, others warnings, some bashing and others adopted a “siddon look” attitude in anticipation of the rainy day.
However, it is ironic that about the same time the governor was dishing out goodies to, especially the civil servants in the state this period, Marte, the Headquarters of Marte Local Government in the northern part of Borno was being sacked by insurgents. Reports from the area indicated that following the assault on the town by terrorists, the military put up a gallant fight, but they were finally over powered by the insurgents. And what followed was everyone for himself!
During the governor’s unscheduled visit, his first port of call was the Musa Usman Secretariat, accommodating about 12,000 workers. To his utter disgust and dismay, Governor Zulum met only 1,350 staff on duty and two permanent secretaries, namely, Zanna Galadima of Religious Affairs Ministry and Alhaji Bukar Alau of Health Affairs.
As a reward for the 1,350 dedicated staff, who reported to their duty posts, the governor, who was visibly disturbed, directed the immediate payment of their leave grants while the two permanent secretaries would get fifty percent of their furniture allowance.
From Musa Usman Secretariat, he moved to the Post Office area of the state capital, where he assessed the possibility of constructing a flyover over the roundabout there, in order to decongest the usual chaotic traffic in that part of the state.
From Maiduguri, Governor Zulum dashed out of the state capital to Gwoza to have an on-the-spot assessment and examine the spot for the possibility of embarking on the immediate construction work on Pulka – Gwoza – Limankara road to ease the transportation challenges being encountered by security operatives and communities plying the road. This part of the state shares boundaries with the security challenged Sambisa Forest. Contract for the construction of the road was awarded by the Federal Government in 2010, but was abandoned by the contracting firm.
Governor Zulum explained that he would intimate President Muhammadu Buhari on the present state of the road and the possibility of reviewing the contract and securing the approval of the Federal Government to do the job on its behalf. The governor pledged the provision of social amenities and economic empowerment to the people of the area.
From Gwoza, he proceeded to Bama, the headquarters of Bama Local Government. In Bama, he magnanimously increased the allowances of members of the Civilian JTF to N20,000 each with a view to boosting their morale and ensuring the security of lives of the people. The state’s chief executive, who spent a night in Bama, inspected public infrastructure destroyed by insurgents in the town and pledged to reconstruct them in no time. While in Bama, Governor Zulum suspended the local government council secretary for absenting himself from duty without permission. According to the governor, in the past three months, the secretary has not been seen at the local government secretariat. Even throughout the duration of the governor’s visit, the sacked secretary was nowhere to be found.
GOVERNANCE WITH HUMAN FACE
Back to Maiduguri, Governor Zulum put smiles on the faces of civil servants, who, for some time now, had been unable to access their salaries and entitlements as a result of technicalities they experienced during the last bio-metric exercise.
During the courtesy call by the officials of the state branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress on the state governor at the Government House, Governor Zulum directed the permanent secretaries, heads of parastatals and government agencies to compile list of their retired and serving staff for immediate payment of their salaries that had been unpaid for over three years, following complaints by the officials.
The governor stated that the civil service is the engine room of good government and “so, with or without biometric data or verification, all those affected must be paid with immediate effect, even if it is on the table before the Eid-El-Fitr Sallah celebrations.” Putting his words in action, the governor was physically at the Finance Ministry to ensure payment as he even personally conducted the payment of some affected workers. He, however, made it clear that inspite to the governor’s gesture on the payment of salaries to all categories of workers, those found culpable at the end of the day would pay the penalty.
No doubt, since his assumption of office, Governor Zulum has been walking the talk, rewarding, rebuking and sanctioning in accordance with the dictates of the moment. However, there are still more rivers to cross, even with regard to some of the governor’s actions so far.
Among his actions so far is the directive that all categories of workers captured or not captured in the Biometric verification be paid for now, but with a clause that if found guilty at the end of the day, they would face the law.
Honestly, the human face disposition of the governor is commendable, considering the agony the affected workers and their families had gone through.
However, sentiments and emotion should not and must not be allowed to subsume our sense of responsibility. Even reports showed that during the on-going table payment ordered by Governor Zulum, some culprits were allegedly caught. What this means is that there is some element of justification, though not total, in the withholding of some workers’ salaries in the first instance by the operators of the biometric verification exercise.
Notwithstanding, this is the time to get at the roots of this ghost workers syndrome and put this menace behind us. It is sad the ghost workers’ mantra has almost become our national anthem as it is re-echoed repeatedly. At the federal, state and local government levels, many culprits have been caught, but what has become of them? Remember, sometime back, the former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, announced that several billions of naira was recovered from ghost workers in the federal sector payroll. There were similar discoveries in almost all states of the federation. For example, immediate past governor Kashim Shettima, while addressing the state Assembly during the presentation of the 2019 budget, said that the state government had saved over N500 million monthly from the detection of ghost workers on its payroll.
The question now is, what has become of the masterminds behind this crime? They are visible, they are known and they are part of us. In fact, a deeper look would reveal that there is a syndicate of masterminds from within and outside the services at both the federal and state levels.
It is sad that about two and a half decades back I asked a governor during a one-on-one interview of the outcome of the verification of workers exercise carried out by his administration and he replied to my utter shock, ”Yes, we caught some people but a prominent traditional ruler in the state has intervened.” And that closed that chapter!
It is commendable that Governor Zulum is striving to bring to an end the side effects of the Biometric data exercise on civil servants, which have been of concern to many, but the recurring decimal the ghost workers syndrome has become is eating into the economic fabric of the state’s coffers and it must be brought to an end through deliberate and sustained efforts.
Time is long overdue to fish out these vampires that have been sucking the civil service dry. The culprits must be located, prosecuted and jailed. This is the greatest thing that is still
behind.
