The day Gov. Bukar Abba endorsed my “Breach of protocol”, by Abdullahi Salihu
First, the news filtered into the state in the form of ‘fake news’, and then gradually started to spread like bushfire. With most people already familiar with the unwholesome tradition of mischief-makers concocting all sorts of stories online, either to gain popularity or generate some stipends, the initial response of Yobelites was to dismiss what they heard. In the end, the people of state had to contend with the sad reality – their amiable first democratically-elected Chief Executive, Alhaji Bukar Abba Ibrahim, had passed away on Feb.4, in far away Madina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Out of the 35 years of my journalism career starting from 1988, ten of those years were spent in Yobe, with BAI, as we fondly referred to him in our circle of journalists, steering the ship of the state as the Chief Executive, for six and half of those years.
First elected in 1992 as the pioneer democratically-elected Chief Executive of the then newly created state, BAI was to stage another come-back in 1999 after the five years disruption of civilian administration by the military. Although his popularity had manifested glaringly during his first one and half years tenure that was disrupted, the magic wand in him as an astute politician was to manifest in his second coming in 1999. A man of high principles whose resoluteness in sticking to same tended to give the erroneous impression of a rigid character, his somewhat ‘shy demeanor’ and welcoming posture often left friends and foes confused as to where to place him. This sterling quality of ‘unpredictability’, which is a key element in ensuring good governance by all those at the helm of affairs, was a major contributory factor to the achievements recorded during his tenure as the governor of the then ‘infant’ state of Yobe.
Till date, the number of infrastructure put on ground by his administration, is, arguably, unequalled.
Apart from the fact that such infrastructures are people-oriented, long-term plans were initiated to ensure ownership of basic necessities of life by the down-trodden. An example of shelter will suffice.
In 1992, his administration initiated and completed the construction of no fewer than 750 low cost houses, distributing same to mostly lower class people, majority of whom, civil servants.
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In 1999 when he was elected Governor of the state for the second time after the return of democracy upon the death of Gen. Sani Abacha, he decided to create landlords out of tenants by selling off the houses he had hitherto allocated during his first tenure, to lower and middle cadre citizens of the state.
His commitment to the bond of ‘social contract’ between him and the less-privileged in the state, was legendary, and he could go to any length to defend same. An example will suffice. When he initiated the House-Owner-Occupier arrangement, attempts were made to scuttle same by some privileged individuals. Grapevine privileged information from the then State Assembly had filtered into the ears of journalists that the legislators were willing to approve the sales of the houses only if theirs (Legislators Quarters) would also be sold to them.
The Governor became livid with anger, wondering why Legislators that had a lot of houses would scuttle efforts at empowering the poor with shelter of their own. In a brilliant display of diplomacy (since he wanted to maintain cordial relation with the legislators), he then played his joker by indicating his willingness to sell the Legislators Quarters to them on the condition that the lawmakers would also approve his request that his residence at “Government House” Damaturu, be sold to him too. The lawmakers got the message (or joke) and sanity prevailed. That was how majority of low and middle cadre civil servants in Yobe secured their own houses, a dream which would have been very difficult to fulfill thereafter.
Throughout his two tenures, the Governor remained a humble and de-tribalised leader. Another example will suffice. The committee established to work out modalities for the implementation of the Owner-Occupier policy had recommended that the houses be sold to ‘indigenes’ of Yobe only. This recommendation, along with others, were discussed and approved by the State Executive Council. Yours sincerely, an indigene of Biu in Borno, and an occupier of one of the houses in Damaturu, was devastated.
Just about nine years ago, I was bearing the same state with Yobians, but now being tagged a ‘non-indigene. To make matters worst, my Local Government headquarters is even closer to Damaturu, capital of Yobe (just 129 km drive), whereas I will need to cover 185km from Maiduguri, my State capital, to get to Biu.
After taking an initiative to bulldoze my way to his resident one night and was lucky to have audience with him, I narrated how even the so-called non-indigenes (especially Federal civil servants) made sacrifices for Yobe when the state was newly created, with some sleeping under trees as a result of paucity of accommodation. BAI, as passionate as always, slept over my submission and subsequently issued a waiver. That was how non-indegines benefitted from the gesture, and some of them have since made Yobe, their homeland.
The simplicity of BAI knows no bound. I recall during one of his tenures, a tour of Federal Ministries and parastatals was initiated to enable him have first hand information on those parastatals. When the itinerary of the visit was released, the name of my organization, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was not included. A long term disagreement on matters of principle between me and a prominent staff of Government House was responsible for the omission. I could not bear such treatment to NAN, being the second Federal Government-owned media outfit to register its ‘physical presence’ in Damaturu, the Yobe capital. I decided to fight back!.
Waiting patiently on the D-day at Phase One Secretary, as the Governor and his entourage came close to my office on their way to the office of the Federal Ministry of Information, I went straight to him, extended my hand for a greeting, and upon being granted the hand-shake, dragged him (by force, if you like) straight to my office. Whereas his other aides down-played the ‘drama’, the culprit responsible for the omission of my office in the itinerary, was livid with anger.
Any other Governor ‘full of himself’ would have reacted with anger too, and probably blacklisted me for my ‘unruly’ behaviour. The issue of following me ‘sheepishly’ to my office ought to be out of contention. But I had already made up my mind about the likely consequence of my action. Allowing the foe responsible for the removal of NAN from the list to succeed, portends more dangers ahead to me and my office, the consequence being that I would continue to miss out on important engagements at the Government House. I had, therefore, decided to fight it out in the presence of the Governor, if only to draw his attention to the matter to avert reoccurrence.
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To my greatest astonishment, the Governor followed me to the office coolly despite my ‘breach of protocol. After listening to my unscheduled welcome address, in which I apologised for my action but explained why I had to ‘hijack’ him, he delivered his verdict on the drama that took place, describing my action as a “legitimate hijack”. Not only did I receive a favourable judgement from him, all my requests put to him during the visit, were approved, much to the chagrin of my foe at the Government House.
I am narrating the two aforementioned incidents as few examples to portray the high level of justice, tolerance and compassion typical of BAI.
To crown it all, late Abba Ibrahim ensured that his good work was never rubbished upon his leaving office, and therefore ensured that a person of equal commitment succeeded him as the Governor. Late Mamman Ali, continued with the good, instilling sanity in all sectors of the state, much more than even his predecessor did.
The people of Yobe, and indeed the Federation, will continue to mourn the passing of former Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim (FNIQS), a debonair gentleman who planted smiles on the faces of the down-trodden during his years of stewardship.
