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Buni Setting Yobe on the Path of Becoming Nigeria’s Medical Tourism Destination with Research Centre and Worthy Hospitals

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Buni Setting Yobe on the Path of Becoming Nigeria’s Medical Tourism Destination with Research Centre and Worthy Hospitals

By: Michael Mike

Yobe State is gradually getting something right in the medical field as it has in place a medical research centre and classic hospitals all through the effort of Governor Mai Mala Buni, Michael Olugbode reports:

Research is essential in various aspects of life, offering numerous benefits including
Knowledge advancement (Research expands our understanding of the world, uncovering new information and insights), Problem-solving (Research helps address real-world issues, developing solutions and improving lives), Innovation (Research drives innovation, leading to new products, services, and technologies), Evidence-based decision-making (Research provides a basis for informed decisions in fields like healthcare, policy, and business), Critical thinking (Research promotes critical thinking, analysis, and evaluation of information), Academic growth (Research is a fundamental aspect of academic development, advancing fields of study and disciplines), Improved practices (Research informs best practices in various industries, leading to improved performance and outcomes, Enhanced credibility (Research adds credibility to claims, theories, and initiatives), Collaboration and networking (Research fosters collaboration, building connections and partnerships) and Societal progress (Research contributes to societal progress, addressing global challenges and improving the human condition).


By conducting research, we can continue to learn, grow, and innovate, ultimately making a positive impact on individuals, communities, and the world at large. This informed the decision of Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni to encourage the establishment of
Africa accounts for 15% of the global population but 25% of the worldwide disease burden. However, little scientific research is done within the continent to address health and disease problems. Taking COVID-19 pandemic as an example, with a population of about 200 million, as of December 2020, less than 0.5% of Nigeria’s population were tested for COVID-19. This is partly because only a few laboratories in Nigeria have the necessary equipment for conducting COVID-19 testing.
Research laboratories across Nigeria also have a drastic shortage of laboratory equipment. As a result, most Nigerian scientists are unable to conduct cutting-edge research in areas of bioscience. For example, as of 2020, no institution in Nigeria has a functional confocal or transmission electron microscope. This challenge is compounded by low funding for scientific research and a relatively small number of active scientists. These barriers limit biomedical research and innovations from Nigeria and Africa at large.


To arrest this low point, Dr. Mahmud Bukar Maina, born and raised in Yobe State, Nigeria, became inspired to help address these challenges after joining TReND in Africa, a charity supporting scientific capacity building across Africa. It runs cutting edge biomedical training courses, provide universities with scientific equipment, run academic volunteering and outreach schemes, and support and work with African researchers. As the founder of TReND Outreach Programme, in 2017, he organized a science festival in Yobe State University to raise public understanding of science and start discussions about the need for having a sustainable hub for biomedical science research and innovation. Due to the enthusiasm shown in Yobe, in 2019, Dr Maina started collecting laboratory equipment from institutions and groups around the world through TReND in Africa to establish a state-of-the-art bioscience laboratory in Yobe State University, and as a result of the outpouring support received from groups and institutions worldwide, a laboratory was launched in August 2021, which called the biomedical science research and training centre (BioRTC) aimed at research and training in biomedical sciences to address local and global problems; and to become a centre of excellence in research and training in areas of biomedical sciences in Nigeria and Africa, helping to solve local and global health problems through scientific research, with the mission of becoming lead world-class research in the field of biomedical science, to provide training to scientists and health professionals, thereby fostering the development of highly skilled scientists in Africa, offer state-of-the-art core infrastructure to support biomedical science research, foster research collaboration with scientists and institutions both within and outside Nigeria to tackle local and global biomedical science problems.


With very strong backing from Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, the BioRTC boasts of cutting edge equipment acquired through grants and donations facilitated by Maina. This includes among others Zeiss Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopes (LSM 780 and LSM 700) which visualizes detailed cellular structures, confocal microscopy which provides clear, detailed images of cells and tissues by eliminating out-of-focus light, study cellular dynamics: live cell imaging capabilities that help in observing dynamic processes within cells in real-time, and multicolor fluorescence imaging which enables the simultaneous visualisation of multiple fluorescent markers, aiding in complex biological studies such as cancer research, neuroscience, and developmental biology.
The rest are Zeiss Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopes 780 and 700, LI-COR Odyssey imaging system, Applied Biosystems 7300 Real-Time PCR system, Full tissue culture suite, Cellular biobank, Nikon Eclipse Microscope 50i with fluorescence, Bio-Rad Mini-Protean System and UVP BioDoc-It imaging systems, and several others. With this Yobe State is perhaps the leading state in medical research as the governor continues to set the path of rejuvenating the state’s health sector and position the Northeast state as the the numero uno in medical tourism destination.


Conducting journalists round the facility, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) of the university, Professor Mohammed Musa Lawal, who is also the coordinator of the centre, said the centre enjoys strong support from the state government. “The centre was founded by Professor Maina with support from foreign varsities including University of Sussex. This research centre focuses on malaria, kidney disease and dementia among others. It also organises workshop with resource persons from around the world and participants from within Nigerian and around Africa,” he said.
In his virtual remarks, the founder, Maina put the estimate of the equipment at the centre at over a billion naira, adding that some others were still being expected to facilitate further research work.


He said the choice of Yobe came because it is an example of places within the region with low resource and in conflict, adding it’s also a way of giving back to the community where he was born and raised.
The neuroscientist has never hidden his influence in getting the centre established in Yobe state, stating that: “As an indigene of Yobe State and given the commitment of the university’s management to promote teaching and research, I wanted to help establish a laboratory in the university which can be used for teaching and research.
“Having such a laboratory would enable us to mentor the next generation of African scientists in Nigeria and would make it easier for people like me to return home eventually to continue with research work. In a way, I am giving back to a community which has done so much for me.’’


Inheriting a legacy of note from his predecessor, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam, Buni during his inauguration a little over five years ago said: “The Yobe State Teaching Hospital has no doubt made impressive mark as a tertiary healthcare institution, providing efficient services to the people. No wonder, the state has become a hub of medical tourism for patients in search of qualitative medical attention.


“This administration considers it necessary to upgrade the capacities of health institutions in the State by providing state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment to provide the best services to the people. Government will continue to look into the welfare of healthcare providers to enhance healthcare delivery.


“The Medical College established in the state university, will be nurtured and supported to provide a conducive learning environment for the training of manpower for our health institutions. As the saying goes, health is wealth; this administration is determined and committed to creating a healthy population for an economically prosperous state.” He has since May 29, 2019 kept to his words and remained focused on ensuring that he endowed on the state a health sector worthy of note, five years on, the quality of the equipment and manpower available in the state’s health sector is a clear demonstration that the administration is consistently meeting the people’s health needs both in the areas of research and final service delivery. Today, Yobe houses a legion of medical equipment worth billions of naira, spread across Yobe State University Teaching Hospital and the adjoining Biomedical Science Research and Training Center (BioRTC) also in Damaturu, reputed to be the first in Nigeria.


The Yobe State University Teaching Hospital is one important place the Buni administration has invested a lot because of its importance to the health of the people of the state, the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Dr. Baba Woru Goni has this to say: hundreds of people receive kidney dialysis free of charge, this is because of the prevalence of the ailment in the state.
Goni during the tour of journalists of the facility, the 600-bed capacity maternal and child hospital in Damaturu, said with huge investment in the health sector by the Buni administration, the institution is being equipped with the state-of-the art facilities to be on top of reducing maternal and child mortality.


He noted that the hospital stands on a tripod of service delivery, training of manpower and research, insisting that “with the quality of equipment and manpower made available in our hospital by His Excellency, I make bold to say that we will be meeting the health needs of not just the Northeast states, but that of the entire north and even the country. We are working towards making this the nation’s medical tourism destination.”
While lamenting that Yobe has the highest number of kidney-related ailments in the country, he noted that: “So, the dialysis is all for free while we continue with the research to find a lasting solution to the problem. It is practically impossible for the poor to pay at least N50,000 for a session of dialysis. We thank the governor for his magnanimity,”
At the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), where preterm babies, those with jaundice and other infections, are kept in a facility designed by Prof Nicholas of Imperial College in London, for proper care for the first 28 days, he said five of such facilities, are available for use across the state.


In the area of manpower and welfare, Goni said 25 senior consulting lecturers were employed and a 32-room one-storey building made available by the state government for the Houseman-ship. Full locum service, a system where retirees are also brought on board to fill some vacuum for a brief period, is also put to use by the teaching hospital.
Some other areas, Buni has impacted the healthcare delivery to the next level in Yobe state, include upgraded four General Hospitals to Specialists Hospitals, and eight Primary Health Centres to General Hospitals, with all the necessary equipment and facilities befitting of Specialist, and General Hospitals thereby boosting the secondary healthcare delivery and bringing healthcare services much closer to the people of the state.


Some things are definitely happening in Yobe State worthy of the attention of other Nigerians, and one of those things is in the area of improvement of the healthcare and it is not only worth the visiting of other Nigerians but definitely to benefit from.

Buni Setting Yobe on the Path of Becoming Nigeria’s Medical Tourism Destination with Research Centre and Worthy Hospitals

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THE IMPERIALISM OF FOREIGN RELIGIONS BY AUSTIN ORETTE

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THE IMPERIALISM OF FOREIGN RELIGIONS BY AUSTIN ORETTE

By: Austin Orette

While Africans opine about imperialism of the west and others, the least talked about and the most lethal of all the isms, is the imperialism of religion in African society.

We can criticize our tribes; we can criticize our politicians and politics but the moment we try to examine the role of religion in our backwardness we are considered pariahs. Soon or later a death decree or fatua is issued. Why is it so? What is so special about religion that cannot be criticized?

All over the world, religion has led to the death of many. Any comment on religion that is not in good light is considered blasphemy and the penalty is death. Why this and why Africans should kill each other because of foreign religions. How did these religions enter our society with so many disregards for the life of the African? I have thought about this and came to the conclusion that the fear that religions impose on its adherents in Africa is not only the fear of hell fire but also the fear of physical harm and social ostracism.

How did foreign religions become so powerful to supplant our cultures and assume primacy of place that we are willing to torture and fillet our neighbors because he does not agree with our concept of God? The two religions tearing Nigeria apart are Islam and Christianity. The homeland of these religions has no respect for the humanity of black people. These religions were the tools used to enslave black people and still use to this day to discriminate against black people in the Western and Islamic world.

The practitioners of Islam and Christianity in Africa will form a common cause to kill on behalf of the religion of these invaders. We see all these anomalies in these religions, but our people have been severely and thoroughly mentally enslaved that they are blind to these realities. They are blind to these abominations and continue to revere these foreign gods whose goodness is bestowed on Caucasians or Arabs only. They ravaged and desecrated Africa and the African people and we stupidly believe that their god that told them the African was inferior, and worthy of slavery is also our God. Until we abolish the imperialism of religion in Africa and Nigeria in particular, we are going nowhere with our so-called independence. The reason we cannot criticize these religions is a carryover from their homelands. When the religions were practiced by the villagers and so-called primitive people, it was okay to throw these primitive people into the lion’s den. When the kings adopted these religions for their political survival, it became sacrosanct to criticize these religions because doing so became equivalent to criticizing the king. The king was the church, and the church was the king. These religions became tools of conquest. The penalty for criticizing the king was death. This is how religion became sacrosanct. The king could do no wrong because the king was God. The adoption of any religion by the reigning monarch was the quickest way to spread any religion in early times. The Monarch is converted, and all his subjects are decreed to follow suit.

In Africa, attempts to convert kings were rebuffed and the king was overthrown, killed or exiled. The Western societies dug themselves out of this conundrum. They fought many wars, and Europe became scattered all over the World. A nation called America was born. America looked to the ills of Europe and distilled a blueprint of a society that is not beholden to religion. In America you are free to practice your religion, but the state cannot establish or practice a religion or impose any religion on you. Their constitution has stood them well and the old countries of Europe have gradually ceded their monarchies and religion to the personal realm. In fashioning the American constitution, the good Christians there still considered the African an inferior being that was only three fifths human. This is how far the western religion went in denigrating the African. Islam did worse. The only difference is that the Arab world has done so much to hide their brutality against the African. The Arab world is still under various monarchies and Islam is the religion of the Monarchs. Like their western counterparts, the Monarch is Islam, and any criticism of the king is the criticism of Islam. This is the reason why the crown prince of Saudi Arabia sent murderers to kill Khashoggi, who criticized him in Turkey. Since the King is Islam and Islam is the king, why has the Arab world not issued any decree that prohibits discrimination against Africans.

A stroll through any Arab city will tell the African he is not wanted. This is why I will prefer the west any day. They have made attempts to enact laws against discrimination. No such laws in the Arab world. In the Western world the people may be racist, but the system is being refined not to be. In the Islamic world, the people and their system are racist. It has been observed that during the hajj, punitive conditions are rolled out for those attending from black Africa. It is obvious that they only want the money. Don’t pay attention to the feigned nicety of their big cities.

As I observed earlier, in the Arab world, there is no difference between Islam and the state because the monarch is Islam. So, the concept of separation of the state and religion is still in the horizon (and the future when the church or the state will become so corrupted that people will cry and fight for reformation). It is already happening in Yemen. It is this system that is called Sharia that Muslims in Nigeria want to impose on Nigeria. They forget that Nigeria, unlike the Arab world, is a plural society.

Inspite of all these clear observations, Nigerians are at war with each other to prove the superiority of their imported religions. This is not a religion that originated in Africa. Why are we the ones to keep alive the religions that are dying in their homelands? The imperialism of religion has forced the African, who is a loving being to become the blood thirsty and bloodletting tool of western and Arab imperialism.

It is time we begin to jettison these foreign religions and rely on the culture that saw Africans through the travails of foreign invaders who introduced their gods to us without recognizing our humanity. Nobody should tell us about our divinity except us. Any explanation of our divinity by non-African (the so-called pastors and Imams) will always be fraudulent. This is why they don’t respect us. They cannot believe we worship their gods’ inspite of what they did to us in the name of their gods. Call it Christianity or Islam, they cannot talk more about God and love more than Orissa. This is a call for Africans to remove themselves from the worship of these foreign gods whose holy books were used to enslave the people of God that live in Africa. Until we take this drastic step, the African will always be a creature of pity and contempt. He will always be seen as a slave by the west and a kaffir by the Arabs.

Austin Orette, a physician, lives in Texas, USA

THE IMPERIALISM OF FOREIGN RELIGIONS BY AUSTIN ORETTE

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WALL OF HATRED, EMBELLISHED BIAFRA STORIES AND LIES

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WALL OF HATRED, EMBELLISHED BIAFRA STORIES AND LIES

BY AUSTIN ORETTE

I don’t enjoy replying to these incendiary and caustic postings of Biafrans. For us to move forward, someone has to do it. All the blame for Biafra must go to those who started Biafra and are still in denial to this day and blames everyone who has any observation to the contrary.

Today, we are witnessing another bellicose nation deny its responsibility in drawing destruction unto itself. Israel started a war and it is blaming Iran for its destruction. This is the corollary of the Biafra separatist. They declared a war on Nigeria and since they lost, they blame everyone but themselves. The generation that declared Biafra is dying away. Soon most of those who were the actors in Biafra will be gone. Instead of the bitterness ebbing away, a thick wall of hatred is being erected because that generation that fought, are handing over embellished stories and lies to their children who are not interested in reexamining their positions and reappraising their stagnant thinking about the war and the issues that led to the war. We are familiar with the fact that truth is the first casualty of war. The Nigerian civil war is not an exception in this regard. For some reasons, the proponents of Biafra will want us to believe that they have the monopoly of the truth. This gentleman saying Gowon lied should revisit Biafra without his acidic temperament. His remarks against Gowon should not go unchallenged. His remarks are wrong, self-serving and crude and devoid of historical accuracy.

Nigeria did not declare war on Biafra. It was Biafra that declared war on Nigeria. Gowon was a very reluctant warrior. He didn’t want brothers to spill brothers’ blood. He tried everything including granting a lot of concessions to Ojukwu in order to avoid the war. He was a man of peace. The proponents of Biafra always hang on to Aburi as if there was nothing happening in Nigeria before Aburi. It is very disturbing to see people so clear eyed about Aburi but they are amnestic about what led to Aburi. If the Igbos had declared Biafra and stayed in their enclave, the story of Nigeria would have been different. After they declared Biafra, they invaded the Midwest Region and deposed Gov David Ejoor and appointed a Biafran as the governor. The people of the Midwest region saw hell and mayhem during the three months that the Biafrans occupied the Midwest Region. They conscripted people into the Biafran Army, raided Banks and killed those who refused to join Biafra. It was on their way to Ore that they were pushed back by federal troops that were hurriedly assembled. The three months of the occupation of the Midwest region by the Biafrans was hell on earth for the citizens of the Midwest region who were under the Biafran military occupation.

Since the Proponents of Biafra always take Aburi as the beginning and end of everything, I will try to examine this Aburi for all to see. The Biafrans to this day have never accepted that they were the aggressors. They have handed erroneous history to their children. This is the deliberate ploy to hide their gross negligence. They have used their propaganda machine to populate the whole s system with lies and innuendos. In a twist unknown to them, these lies have become a prison to their uninformed generations. This is the reason why the generation that was not alive during that war always speaks with anger and crudity. Nnamdi Kanu actually used Aburi to justify his aggression towards the Nigerian state. It is time we point them to the accurate history and pull away the blanket of lies that have given them comfort in their infamy. When a sitting senator can mount a podium and malign an elder statesman, like Gowon, then nothing is sacrosanct. It is time Nigerians tell the Biafrans that their whole existence is a big lie generated by those who led them into the wrong alley. The sooner they jettison these lies and form a common course with other Nigerians, the better it will be for them. Their perpetual cry for Biafra is fraudulent and based on lies. They should be made to understand that they brought Nigeria to this nadir.

In this discourse, we may be forced to delve into their uncivilized behavior that made them to cripple the Nigerian state through murder and mayhem. The Igbo man in Nigeria is not a victim. He is a perpetrator. They owe Nigeria apology for the disruption they caused the Nigerian state.

Aburi was a place for cessation of hostilities. No one sent Gowon to Aburi to rewrite the Nigerian constitution that was overthrown by the Igbo officers. For the Igbos to always try to convince everyone that Aburi was the beginning and the end of their bellicosity is a big lie. They have told this lie over and over that they are beginning to see it as the truth and they have wrapped this lie with all kinds of mythology. Why Aburi? This place was chosen because Ojukwu said he was not safe in any place in Nigeria. Fair enough. If Ojukwu had insisted on return to the status quo ante, maybe things would’ve been different. If you look at the body language of Ojukwu and Gowon during those meetings, you can see that Gowon was very pliant. He was ready to do anything to avoid that war. It was Ojukwu who came with cautery of lawyers and made impossible demands. The Igbos forgot that we had a constitution that guaranteed regional autonomy that was abrogated by Aguyi Ironsi who also abolished the regions and introduced the unitary system that started Nigeria on this perilous path. I am always amazed when the South-East people refuse to acknowledge the role they played in ushering Nigeria to our present hell. Ojukwu studied history at Oxford. He must have known what befall a people who lose wars. Instead of negotiating for ceasefire in Aburi, he came with a team of lawyers to rewrite a constitution of Nigeria in another land. We had a constitution which was overthrown in a coup by Igbo officers. Why is it difficult for the Igbos to understand that Ojukwu had no means to enforce any agreement? This is the core issues that the Biafrans have refused to understand to this day. I have always said these actors were very young. It is not out of place to ascribe some of their actions to youthful exuberance. The more I read about Aburi, the more I find out that Ojukwu was more interested in headlines and his Oxford credentials which were impressive and were highly blown in foreign newspapers. The foreigners were not going to fight his war. What Ojukwu and his lawyers demanded at Aburi were not anything within the power of Gowon. All the things Ojukwu asked for can only be addressed in a parliament of the Nigerian people. There was no parliament. Those who were in the know when Gowon returned made it clear to Gowon that what he negotiated with Ojukwu were not within his powers. Any attempt to make the Igbos to understand that what Ojukwu got from Aburi is not tenable and will not be accepted by the rest of Nigeria fell on deaf ears. Since then they developed the Mantra, “On Aburi We stand “. I will repeat, no one sent two soldiers to another country to rewrite the Nigerian constitution. Nigerians refused to succumb to this blackmail by the Igbos.

There were other negotiations. There was Arusha and there was Kampala. Biafra had no legitimacy and wherewithal to enforce their one-sided accord. The rest is history. In the overall scheme of things, Aburi is a non-issue. Did Ojukwu have any negotiations with Adaka Boro who declared Niger Delta Republic? Boro was captured and sentenced to death. Why was this so? It was so because Ojukwu and Ironsi had the power to nullify Boro’s Niger Delta Republic, and they did. If you juxtapose this, we can say Gowon had the power to nullify Biafra and he did. The myopia of the Biafrans is a deliberate affliction. Let us move forward.

DR AUSTIN A. ORETTE IS A FAMIL MEDICINE DOCTOR IN HOUSTON, TEXAS. HE RECEIVED HIS MEDICAL DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

WALL OF HATRED, EMBELLISHED BIAFRA STORIES AND LIES

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Special feature: Chief Lanre Obadiah bows out of Government house Maiduguri

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Special feature: Chief Lanre Obadiah bows out of Government house Maiduguri

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Very few residents in Borno state, north east Nigeria can say they do not know Chief Lanre Obadiah, the official master of ceremony (MC) of Governor Babagana Zulum. This is because he has been the master of ceremony for two Governors. Senator Kashim Shettima now Vice President and Professor Babagana Zulum who is the incumbent Governor of Borno state. Obadiah’s dexterity with the microphone has worked well for him in public functions where he had a singular duty of introducing these two gentlemen and their activities and is now bowing out of the publicity machinery of the Government House maiduguri.
“Oga Lanre” as he is known by some contemporaries virtually assisted their excellencies enjoy the limelight by laying down the required basis for the gathering of the day after which he conducts the ceremony sequentially till the final prayers are said and everyone dispatches. No wonder it was shocking to Borno Governor Professor Babagana Zulum that he made such a sudden decision to leave after the demise of his dear wife this year.

Transition from the theatre to the government house protocols and perception

Having studied Theatre Arts from the University of Jos and later adding a Masters in Public Administration (M.P.A) from the University of Maiduguri, Oga Lanre is definitely not a typical broadcaster by training but his command of the microphone using three languages actually stood him out as a rare gem in public speaking. And that obviously was what attracted him to their excellencies. He displayed rare dexterity in Kanuri, Hausa and off course the English language during public functions which made him to become highly sorted for by even non governmental functionaries as an extraordinary anchor of important programs. The job became his second calling because he had a unique style of doing the needful and responding to issues as they popped up or as directed as the civil servants would say.

Introducing their excellencies and the numerous reasons which usually brings them out of their comfort zones to meet the people of Borno state was his calling and he woke up daily with a hope of performing better than the previous day.

First he was the special assistant on state and national welfare/social media. And that entails a lot of activities beyond keeping the optics around the former Governor kashim Shettima now Vice President top notch. When Governor Shettima was going to the Senate, Oga Lanre, felt it was time to go private so he left to join a non-governmental organization (NGO) “Save the Children” .
From my interaction with him, he really felt he was going to have a quiet life away from the public podium where he had become known for. But his foray into that sub sector did not last long. He was summoned by Governor Zulum to return to the government house to do the same job he did for his predecessor. And that was where his cherished relationship with Zulum grew stronger. The entire press crew of Governor Shettima including the late director of press, Isaiah Ndahi and Isa Gusau continued as a team for Zulum and he joined long before the enhanced media aids were appointed.

Stabilization factor in the government house media team

His work entailed working with Isa Gusau, the late Special Adviser on Public Relations and strategy and their team was the envy of other Governors in the country. The death of Isa Gusau however became a big blow to the entire media team. But that did not deter Oga Lanre from continuing with his job and off course serving as a major stabilization factor within the entire team in the government house. This balancing act started from the moment the Governor announced the team till this week that his three months notice of pulling out expires. His stabilization mechanism went beyond the small office, were all of them managed upstairs to the make shift newsroom used by the press crew in which we all used to sit down and banter whenever there was nothing to do or the Governor was not around. He was always at hand to give advice and assist warring factions to mend fences.

His stabilization role actually started during Senator Kashim Shettima’s era while he was Special Assistant on state and national welfare programs/ social media whereas with Zulum when he became Senior Special Assistant on publicity and official Mc to the governor his role increased as he was given a unit under the press department in which all the instruments that had to do with the projection of the governors programme were under him. His transition from a civil servant where he rose to the rank of executive secretary to a political appointee was seamless because he had indeed mastered the art of being a technocrat by all standard.
Hear his comments about his transition from a civil servant to an appointee of Government after his retirement from the Borno state service: “I retired in 2014, not as Director but as Executive Secretary of the Borno State Council for Arts and Culture, a position which I was appointed to by Governor Ali Modu Sheriff on April 19th 2006. Governor Kashim Shettima invited me from retirement in 2017 as a Special assistant and I served in that capacity till May 2019, 2 years”

A detribalised man of many parts who came to Borno in 1982 and had not looked back since then.

Oga Lanre actually started his National Youth Service Corp (Nysc) year in Cross river state in August 1981, but got redeployed to Borno in August 1982 and he completed the service on November 7 1982 and was immediately employed by the Borno state Council for arts and culture on 1st Dec 1982. He coordinated the entire arts council and produced several mentees during his tenure in the service before taking a political appointment.

His final bowing out of the service as the senior special advisor to the Governor of Borno state is a big shock to a lot of people. However it was necessary because he had just lost his wife and needed to go care of himself as a retiree.
While appreciating his service, the secretary to the state government SSG Alhaji Bukar Tijani said the the state was grateful for his dedication, patriotism and service to the state.

Contribution to the traditional institution

Chief Lanre Obadiah is a peaceful Nigerian of yoruba ancestry so he never relegated his duties towards his traditional institution. As a man of culture, he contributed immensely to the yoruba community in Maiduguri. Attesting to the that, the Kabiyesi of Yorubas in Borno state in an interview described him as a peaceful man. “His leaving Borno means a lot to me. He has been a major stabilizer here. As a matter of fact , I made him Otumba in 2014 and since then he has contributed immensely to the growth of our people in the state.

” To me, as he goes home, i would be missing a very nice person. He was a pace setter even in the arts council where he served “

The Kabiyesi, Oba Hassan Yusuf, who is the chair of the non indigenous forum in the state, said he was equally a major contributing factor to the forum. He has always played a major role towards the traditional council and yoruba family in general. He is a family man and I wish him all the best as he traverses home to rest.

Apart from holding the title of Otunba of the Yorubas in Borno, Oga Lanre was also coronated in 2023 as the “Bobadamoran” of Adanla Irese his home town in Kwara state.

Special feature: Chief Lanre Obadiah bows out of Government house Maiduguri

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