How Zulum Signposts Borno Renascence

…_Accomplished more than 20 Impact-driven Engagements in One Month._

Global testaments: Zulum’s policies, programmes and projects are credible milestones to Borno rebirth

By: auda Iliya

Often, the beginning of the year is typically devoid of splendour and fanfare following the festive season.

However, this was not the case for the Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, as he began the New Year in his vintage tradition of trotting around the state, delivering service to the various communities according to the state recovery policies and programmes.

Governor Zulum had registered nearly 30 high-impact, people-centred accomplishments, covering various parts of the state and extending beyond the country’s shores, in the month of January 2025.

On the 1st day, the Governor delighted pensioners in the state with a New Year gift, announcing the allocation of 8 billion naira for the payment of outstanding pensions and gratuities for retired primary school teachers and other civil servants.

Zulum plays no politics with the issue of education and its providers – the teachers, serving or retired, to whom he accords critical recognition, as he lays the sound foundation for the state’s rapid recovery, stabilization and growth, with education as the springboard.

Therefore, to spur all serving teachers to offer their best services and assure them of an economically-secure retirement life, Zulum, for a spectacular instance, announced that backlog of liabilities in pensions and gratuities be cleared for retired primary school teachers and other civil servants that have worked with the government between 2019 and 2021, promising: “I will clear all liabilities before I leave office in 2027.”

In a striking move, Zulum spent his first official working day of the year in Bama, with a daring and historic visit to Abbaram, a community in the outskirt of Bama town, in a bid to advance recovery and resettlement efforts in the region.

Since 2019, Zulum has been trotting around the state, clearing all encumbrances in the resettlement and rehabilitation of the returnee communities and ministering to their needs.

“Our goal is not just to rebuild what was lost but to lay a foundation for a sustainable future. We will assess communities for IDP relocation, reconstruct critical infrastructure, and establish educational facilities to serve the people of Bama,” he said.

Similarly, during his 2-day working visit to Bama, he announced the spectacular gesture of subsidizing the price of petrol to N600 for farmers in communities affected by insurgency and his simultaneous distribution of farm inputs to 5,000 returnees.

While a litre of petrol sold between N1,000 and N1,200 in Maiduguri and surrounding LGAs, it was subsidized to the farmers for N600. This was aimed at alleviating the financial burdens faced by farmers in communities that have suffered economic and infrastructural destruction due to years of conflict.

Zulum recalled that a similar initiative implemented in Damasak, Mobar Local Government Area, last year has significantly increased food production and improved livelihoods.

Consequently, on the 6th day, the governor signed the 2025 appropriation bill of N615.8 billion into law. Zulum presented the budget estimate of N584.76 billion on the 9th of December, 2024, passed by the State Assembly on 24th December with a marginal increase of N31 billion after extensive deliberations by members of the House.

“This year is very important for me because I want to complete all my promises I made during 2023 electioneering campaigns,” Zulum said.

On the same day, Zulum presided over the maiden state executive council meeting for the year 2025, where 42 memos were considered.

Some of the far-reaching decisions made included the approval to rename Borno State University to Kashim Ibrahim University Maiduguri, streets naming and house numbering, the dualisation of Airport road, and other projects in the health and education sectors.

Relatedly, on the 7th day, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum delivered the 20th-anniversary lecture Al-Hikmah University in Ilorin, Kwara State, themed “Two Decades of Excellence: Al Hikmah University’s Impact on Scholarship and Educational Development in Nigeria “.

On 8th day, the Governor visited N’djamena, Chad republic for the 2025 MNJTF, Operation Desert Sanity 2 medal award.

In his usual benevolence, Zulum donated N300 million to the families of troops who lost their lives in the ongoing battle against Boko Haram insurgents.

He said the donation would be disbursed through the “Tribute to Our Troops Charity Foundation,” which aims to honour the fallen heroes, celebrate serving men and women who fight endlessly to keep Nigeria’s territorial integrity intact and reach out to the families they left behind.

On the 9th day, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum inaugurated 3 boards in an efforts to bolster the healthcare delivery service in the state. They are, the Kashim Ibrahim Teaching Hospital management board, the Hospitals Management Board and the State Primary Healthcare Development Board.

On the same day, Zulum commissioned some projects executed by the management of Borno Geographic Information Service (BOGIS) where the he commended the Executive Secretary, Engr. Adam Bukar Bababe for transforming land administration in the state.

On the 10th day, the Governor played host to the Director General, Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Dr. Auwal Mustapha Imam at the Government House. Zulum expressed commitment to revitalizing the leather and hides and skin industry to drive economic growth.

Zulum on the 11th day launched Nigeria’s first-of-its-kind livestock ranch at Ngarannam, Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Delivering his address, Governor Zulum noted that Ngarannam Livestock Improvement and Ranch Settlement is a 4-square km project built for 461 nomadic families from eighteen communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency.

On the 13th day, the Borno State governor launched a free eye surgery programme for 10,000 residents suffering from various visual impairments, including cataracts.

As part of his agricultural production resuscitation drive in the Lake Chad shores, Governor Zulum on the 15th day, inspected the 2,000-hectare solar-powered surface irrigation system being used for the cultivation of wheat and cassava in Mile 3, Baga, Kukawa local government.

The governor emphasized that this irrigation project marks a significant milestone in efforts to enhance farming activities and achieve food security not only in Borno State but across the nation.

Another gleaming signpost to Borno renascence is Zulum’s mass housing units and ICT centre at Monguno.

The German Ambassador, Annet Gunther on the 16th day unveiled the resettlement houses for internally displaced persons (IDPs), Nigeria’s UNDP Country Representative, Elsie Attafuah conducted the commissioning of a 100-person capacity ICT centre to facilitate digital education.

Zulum announced that these accommodations will play a crucial role in the voluntary decongestion and eventual closure of some IDP camps in Monguno, ensuring a smoother transition for resettling families.

So exceptionally well, Governor Zulum seems to have performed in signposting a renascent Borno that the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP) on the 20th day, decorated the Governor with a fellowship and announced a plan to commission a study on the positive impact of his administration.

EU has joined supra national agencies in the race to praise Governor Zulum Borno Post-Conflict recovery efforts.

On the 24th day, the European Union noted with fascination the Muna Vocational Training Institute, which trains youth, particularly those affected by the over one-decade-long Boko Haram insurgency.

Similarly, on the 27th day, the Governor opened the Banki International Cattle Market in the border town of Banki, Bama local government.

On the 28th day. Zulum joined the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima to officially open the 6th Expanded National MSME Clinics and Fashion Hub in Maiduguri, where an unconditional grant of N300,000 was given to participating entrepreneurs.

On the 29th day, Zulum participated in the 5th edition of the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum meeting in Maiduguri.

Zulum emphasized during the 3-day meeting that his administration has prioritized agricultural transformation as a key pillar of our recovery strategy, with a focus on irrigation systems, resilient crop production and support for smallholder farmers to ensure food security for the people.

He called for the establishment of large-scale irrigation farms as key solution to addressing the escalating food insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin region.

The adoption of the Borno Model of societal recovery by the governors of the eight terror-troubled states of the Lake Chad Basin at the end of the fifth edition of their Forum’s meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State, Friday, January 31, 2025 delivered two salient messages about the rebuilding and stabilization of a region pummeled for a decade and a half by a global-class terror and its concomitant humanitarian crisis.

Global and regional agencies and personalities have delivered lavish testament to the fact that every policy, programme and project by Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration in Borno State is a signpost to a post-terror renascent Borno bubbling with possibilities, potentials and opportunities for a sustainable prosperity.

Indeed, the month of January had been full of engagements, as Zulum signposts Borno renascence.

Dauda Iliya is the Special Adviser on Media/Spokesperson to Borno State Governor.

How Zulum Signposts Borno Renascence