Professor Babagana Umara Zulum’s teeth have cracked a hard bone from the support of leadership in Nigeria. He does not know which end to break. The Governor of Borno State has always been in the news since his assumption last May, for his unique style of demonstrated governance. Watching him conduct government has been my great pleasure ab initio – a pride for every heartful citizen who goes out of this country to see other people do things.
I had asked Governor Zulum to ‘Take Heart’ in an open letter to him shortly after inauguration. Zulum is a key pleasure of the many gratifications I enlist since The Level. So many good things just happen everyday in policy, in programme delivery, in management and conduct of public affairs at all the levels, for the people. It has been my dream to see things working for the grassroots, and thank God, it has been tremendous.
But he is such a bunch of beatiful flowers at some costs. An acting Nigerian Governor of his type is a media frenzy and he is getting hottest in the media now than ever, may be even some more in the future. A video of him viraled last week, speaking to the Theatre Commander of the Nigerian Army Security Forces in Borno State. The Governor was maddened at the flock of traffic at the entrance to Maiduguri, owing to the Army’s extort of passengers and drivers enroute.
What angered the Governor was a normal sight, for everyone familiar with the international trade route. But for all the years in the dark decade, we only murmured. No one made a case. In the national system of clandestine officiation, only petitions can make a case. and the stigma, long process and possible carpeting of petitions are some of the good reasons persons do not want to write.
And so the attention and the anger of a Governor brought to matter a popular bad thing happening in the public eye. Only him dared to raise the issue. Do not tell me he could because he is Governor. He is the only. The rest of us have pretended all along, conspired, partook and perpetrated the bads of our lives. When evil happens and the learned who know it is evil but mutes, instead, God curses them. Many of us get it wrong when we think, “ba ruwana” – I dont care since I am not the one who does it, or involved. God does not care. Society is, and should be everyone’s responsibility.
And so Governor has leg-touched the tail of snake in the dark, wearing slippers. And no one to help the expected venormous bite. Again we acted bad in the comfort of self deceit, because we are not ok, and Borno, the whole country, is still besieged. The blood hands of economic self-benefits are many, immediate and remote; lucrative and mean; open and close, with short- and long term consequences, making amplified means of income for the wanty and everyone thinks that is normal. We are all aiding them even, in different ways.
Governor Zulum has a heart that is deeply pained by that abnormality of the case of luxury of the fittest and the dying of the weakest. Not in his home. Not with all he has seen and suffered. In everything insurgency’s decade, Governor Zulum is a first person. He worked under impossible conditions and terrible moments to change the situation before. Now he is more disposed to. And he does not want to just talk. He wants to act, do.
I am making a case today of prayer for this unique, heartful man, to seek him God’s protection from the possible evil that can swam such a likeheart. It is selfevident in history. In a way, I am also making a case of my own exenoration from conspiracy and aiding evil in any way. Make your own case. But if you are silent now, and want to remain so, then you can only be the worst among us.
I expected all Nigerians to stand up to rally around Governor Zulum to make the point against an evil that we talked, wrote, complained much about since independence and through military rule. It is only the people who can change their destiny. Lest you not make this a call for revolt. It may if it has to. But the push has hit the wall, and our people cannot be subjected to evil beyond God’s own time. Like we said, the purpose of PMB’s leadership must prevail.
The President of the Republic put a cover for change in a huge Campaign which has systematically be ignored and set aside, murmuring that Government is not doing anything again. Government cannot do anything about change of attitude. You must stand up to the challenge, yourselves. The Campaign will not work on its own, not just by name. We keep blaming the government for not doing it. How can the President or Governor chnage the individual behaviour of an individual or group. It never happened. It will never happen.
Instead of all of us come out that day to back Governor Zulum and inspire mass support his disharbour of the bad things that perpetrate the insurgency, we left him alone in disgrace to public ridicule. Some, many commended, praise and celebrate him but only in silence, secrecy, by heart or mind. We need a demonstration of anger like Zulum did that day, open and on point, emphatic and categorical.
We once reminded ourselves about the evil and cruel that we are, to ourselves and to our own. Or we are afraid. Cowardice has taken away our souls. We are only caskets left in the bare sun of the Savannah’s arid zone of Nigeria’s most unfortunate part. We fear everything including our own shadows and we run for life from the same shadows. We are afraid, afraid to lose a favour, a privilege, a right.
We are afraid to lose our boyist position with the faceless patrons of the insurgency that we cannot even identify, not even at gunpoint. We hold patronage we owe God, to them by sybmitting to dogma, for no clearcut expected reward. We are afraid that something will happen to the Governor, government may change and we may lose favour. Do not menrion the current opposition who are happy at the laughs at Zulum. Yes. Laughs. He is a laughing stock now.
The army has denied what is open and true and the nation has accepted by listening and nothing happening.Governor Zulum is the stupid fool, now. And for the normalcy that followed the military’s usual issue of state, we are only hypocritical about the problems at our calls, in Borno and in every other nook of the country. There is just no way things will stop being bad and start being good by this impossible attitude.
I have fist hand tests of the dangers of trauma, more than the rest of the results, of doing things in different ways as the only way to make the difference in the lives of the led, the governed. It is huge cost of everything from goodwill to life. It takes a heart and Governor Zulum has taken his into his hands. He has taken the lead. Are you coming with him or staying in the vicious cycle of denial, cowardice, treachery, betrayl and hypocrisy?
And what are you going to do about this one? Will you stand up in prayers for the Governor’s success and protection, or you will still ignore, deny and silence the import of the call? Please do something. Say any word of prayer anyhow, in any human tongue now. Pray for Zulum.
Hassan Alhaji Hassan can be contacted on 08032829772/08050551220 (text only with full names and address)a[email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
