Armed men attack cattle herders, one killed, one kidnapped in Bauchi

By: Zagazola Makama

An adult man was killed and a 12-year-old boy kidnapped after unidentified armed men attacked cattle herders in Yankari bush, Alkaleri Local Government, on Sunday morning.

Alhaji Ibrahim of Kunkar village reported that at about 7:20 a.m., while his family members were tending to cattle, the assailants approached and demanded to know who was the son of the owner. During the confrontation, 35-year-old Adamu Ibrahim attempted to flee but was shot in the left leg.

The injured man was rushed to the Primary Health Centre in Gar, where he was pronounced dead. The assailants subsequently kidnapped Sule Ibrahim, aged 12, before fleeing the scene.

Local hunters and community members have intensified search efforts in the area to rescue the boy and apprehend the attackers. Investigations are ongoing.

Armed men attack cattle herders, one killed, one kidnapped in Bauchi

The Pathfinder Clocks 56

Zulum’s age showcases life in years, not years in life

By Dauda Iliya

What matters in the life of a man is not the number of years in his life but the quality of life in those years. This should even be more applicable to leaders than to the led in all aspects of human affairs.

Every person entrusted with the responsibility of political cum public office should be rich in the capacity to uphold the trust reposed in him by his people, and discharge the concomitant duties and responsibilities to them according to their needs and aspirations.

As he ages on in life, counting the number of years he has lived on Earth, should savour satisfaction from, and build his inner peace with, his accomplishments that purposefully and qualitatively impact the life of the people whose affairs he, by sheer divine providence, has been entrusted with the management of.

How rich is he in the capacity required for the discharge of his political cum public office duties and responsibilities to the people? How much has he accomplished in the discharge of those duties and responsibilities on the scale of the resources made available for the purpose, surmounting all towering challenges, and how has he converted challenges to opportunities, obstacles to stepping stones, in the course of service to the people?

How has he towered above board in the conduct of public service? How much enviable value has he added to the service of the society according to the needs and aspirations of its people? How well has he performed in building and sustaining his personality as a compass in the search for guidance towards purposeful and qualitative public service?

How high and remarkably does he stand out among all other leaders, in person and personae, before and after him in the history of purposeful and prosperous service to the humanity?

All these considerations factor vitally in determining the quality of life in the years he has lived on Earth, not merely the number of years he has lived in life.

It is pertinent to weigh the present Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, on the scale of these vital factors in determining the quality of leadership and public service to his beleaguered Borno State and its peoples, as he attains the age of 56 in life on Earth, Monday, August 25.

As a pacesetter, Zulum is the first Professor to govern the state in its history. To some, this historic educational attainment may not be striking enough to warrant any spectacular recognition that should enviably stand him out of all other personalities that governed the state before him.

However, to others, this educational attainment is remarkably striking, because it serves as the most-desired foundation for him to conceive, craft and efficiently coordinate the deployment of the most-relevant, most-potent and, indeed, cutting age programmes and projects desired for the rescue of an entity out of its epochal humanitarian crisis which, hitherto threatened to crush it out of existence.

Gifted with rare foresight and proactivity, Zulum has governed a Borno ravaged in all sectors by a global-scale terror and its attendant humanitarian crisis over the last fifteen years, steering it out of the global-scale turbulence it has been floundering in, and repositioning it for comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction for a prosperity that fast restores its pre-Boko Haram/ISWAP terror glory.

The pathfinding Zulum has purposefully and efficiently deployed his intellectual prowess to craft and drive sustainable reforms for the rapid resuscitation of Borno. The Borno Model of societal recovery he crafted earned him dazzling praises from the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

Most-spectacular of such reforms are the 25-year Development Plan, Borno State Strategy for Durable Solutions to Internal Displacement, the Borno Model for Peace, Reconciliation and Development, Transitional Justice Framework, under which he has closed all IDP camps that has littered Maiduguri over the last fifteen years, and returning the IDPs to their ancestral lands to rebuild their lives, with the prime purpose of fast-tracking the reconstruction and rapid growth of the state economy.

Faced with the stark reality that there is certainly no shortcut to the desired comprehensive restoration of the state in all sectors from the crisis, and such restoration cannot be achieved with hundreds of thousands of IDPs surviving on handouts from international donors and food palliatives by government, the Professor of Agricultural Engineering carefully coordinated the relocation of the entire IDP population to their ancestral communities to resume their farming, fishing and trading activities that built and sustained an enviable economy for Borno over the ages.

His foresight and vision led him to invest in the health sector, building quality healthcare delivery institutions, most notably the Borno State University Teaching Hospital, Orthopaedic Hospital, Dental and Eye Hospitals, and scholarship for hundreds of the state indigenes to train as medical doctors and other health related personnel.

Zulum’s six years as Borno State Governor are six years of purposeful leadership that reshaped state’s economic, social, and infrastructural landscape from the epicentre of insurgency to a hub for viable economic investments. Consequently, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) ranks Borno among the top 10 ranking states in the federation on ease of doing business.

This remark is contained in a presentation on ” Sub national ease of doing business report” by the project manager SABER secretariat Abuja Ms Aimeya Okpebholo.

His humility, generosity, perseverance, simplicity, resilience and, uncommon commitment to justice and fairness in the distribution of development across Borno State and, above all, his impeccable passion for good governance to rescue the state from the sticky humanitarian crisis breathe bubbling life to the years he has lived on Earth.

His exemplary passion for service to humanity has enabled him to write his name in gold in the pages of history with regard to leadership and good governance in Nigeria.

At 56, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State proudly exhibits that what should matter in one’s age is the quality of life he has lived on Earth in his given capacity, rather than the mere number of years he has lived.

Happy birthday, Your Excellency

The Pathfinder Clocks 56

Zulum swears in 2 commissioners, judicial council member

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, presided over the swearing in of the two recently appointed commissioners and a member of Borno State Judicial Council Commission.

Justice Kashim Zannah, the Chief Judge of Borno State, administered the oath of office and allegiance in an event held on Wednesday at the Government House in Maiduguri.

The sworn-in officials include Engr. Mohammed Habib and Ibrahim Hala Hassan as commissioners, while Alhaji Abba Sadiq was sworn in as a member of Borno State Judicial Council Commission.

In his address, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum warned against complacency in discharging their duties.

“Let me remind the new commissioners that your appointments to the State Executive Council is a testament to your exceptional capabilities and the immense value we place on your expertise. With this honour, however, comes a profound responsibility to deliver on our promises to the good people of Borno State. We trust that you will bring your wealth of experience, knowledge, skills and innovative thinking to bear in your new roles”, Zulum said.

He added, “as Honourable Commissioners, you shoulder a weighty mandate. The formulation and effective implementation of Government policies and programmes rest squarely on your leadership. To succeed, you must embrace an inclusive approach, fostering collaboration, building strong teams and recognizing the contributions of every stakeholder.”

According to the governor, “the people of Borno State rightfully hold high expectations for your performance. Mediocrity or low quality output will not be tolerated. In service to our dear state, personal affiliations must never overshadow our commitment to excellence.”

“You must formally work in line with the Borno State 25-Year Development Plan and 10-Year Strategic Transformation Initiative. Your performance will be rigorously assessed against measurable benchmarks and accountability will remain non-negotiable. Suffice to say that you have my full assurance that this administration will provide you with the necessary support, resources and tools to excel in your duties.”

Meanwhile, Governor Zulum has commended the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Hon Abdulkarim Lawan, and the Chief Judge of Borno State, Kashim Zannah, for maintaining cordial relationship with the executive arm.

“let me extend my sincere appreciation to Mr Speaker and Honorable Members of Borno State House of Assembly for the cordial and productive relationship between the Executive and Legislature. Your dedication to the principles of good governance and collaborative leadership has been instrumental in advancing our collective vision for a prosperous Borno State”, Zulum said.

“I also wish to express my profound gratitude to the judiciary for the existing harmonious relationship with the executive arm of government. Your commitment to justice, fairness and the rule of law has strengthened our democracy and reinforced the confidence of our people in the institutions of governance”, the governor stated.

Speaking earlier, Secretary to Borno State Government, Hon. Bukar Tijani, noted the tremendous achievements and progress of the Zulum administration in transforming the lives of Borno people.

Also speaking on behalf of the sworn-in colleagues, Engr. Mohammed Habib expressed gratitude to the governor while giving assurance of their commitment towards achieving the administration’s goal.

Zulum swears in 2 commissioners, judicial council member