Why Zulum is visiting tough terrains in Borno — Spokesperson

Contacted for reaction on the repeated attacks on Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, his spokesperson, Malam Isa Gusau, in this interview with Daily Trust Saturday, explained the rationale behind his boss’s visit to tough terrains in the state. He also spoke on why the IDPs are being resettled.

Many are of the opinion that Governor Zulum is too involved in insecurity issues and should limit his involvement. Do you think so?

Saying Zulum is too involved in issues of insecurity is like saying he is too focused on doing his job.

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Borno’s most pressing problem is the existence of Boko Haram.

If Zulum doesn’t deploy all his energy to worrying about Boko Haram, it would amount to abdicating his core responsibility.

Whatever the governor has to offer to Borno people, whether on the over 6,000 resettlement houses he is building or the dozens of schools and hospitals he has so far built, citizens, need to stay alive to benefit from them.

The governor is simply worried and doing whatever he can to focus on addressing Borno’s number one problem, and that is the Boko Haram.

Zulum has had more than five or six one- on-one meetings with President Buhari.

He has had more than 20 one-on-one meetings with the Chief of Army Staff, met other service chiefs and has had more than 100 meetings with successive heads of the military in all the components in the fight against Boko Haram.

The governor gives overwhelming support to the military, other armed forces and volunteers.

There is also this notion that if his convoy could be attacked on three different occasions,what is the guarantee that the resettled IDPs would be safe?

Professor Zulum served as Borno’s pioneer commissioner for reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement, so he understands post-conflict issues very well.

Before all resettlement programmes, the state employs some steps.

The first is to evaluate the security of that place, using local intelligence.

By that I mean people who are in position to know the ground realities based on their local knowledge.

Then, the state engages the military, who give clearance to certify that insurgents are not around the community.

The state undertakes reconstruction works to fix basic facilities like water, hospitals, schools, homes and markets for access to livelihoods.

The state takes measures to institute civil authority like the return of policemen and the establishment of volunteer units to hold ground.

The state then monitors for a while before resettlement is done.

As a policy, no one is forced to return.

Importantly also, there is agitation from citizens to return to communities when they establish issues of safety through their local intelligence.

We had in previous years, instances in which IDPs protested violently, seeking a return to Bama.

Some people exercised fears when people were being resettled in Bama, but today, Bama is picking up.

And this is by God’s grace. So measures are normally taken before resettlement is facilitated.

There are places the government will not even allow citizens to return to now, even if they protest to any stage.

Is he not afraid of the sect? People also say he should govern the state from Maiduguri, instead of exposing the security operatives attached to him to danger.

The governor is human.

It is human nature for anyone to smell danger and  fear harm.

So, Zulum’s daring visits to tough terrains is not due to the absence of fear but because he believes the weight of the responsibility he owes the people of Borno is greater than those fears he should have as human.

I will like to refer you to the public comments made by the governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi on Wednesday in Maiduguri when he led a delegation of four governors to Borno.

Fayemi said himself and other governors had raised issues of safety with Zulum, on the need for to slow down, but on each occasion, he would reply them with a question on what happens to the people of Borno, who are in need of help from him.

This is Zulum’s concern.

He is worried about the people he swore to protect and defend.

That is his motivation, and because he is genuine about this, Allah will always protect him.

People are praying for him all over the country, but of course, this doesn’t mean that the governor won’t take measures to strengthen his safety.

Just like he owes Borno people an obligation to serve, he also owes an obligation to remain safe.

They didn’t elect him to be on a suicide mission.

They elected him to serve them and he needs to be alive to serve.

And the governor knows and respects this.

Definitely, measures are being taken, if not by the governor himself, it is to be expected that his trained security details would take measures on their own.

With his request that Chadian soldiers should be invited, what does he hope to achieve? Does he mean that the Nigerian soldiers have failed?

On the Chadian issue, what Zulum clearly said was the need for stronger multinational collaboration on the shores of Lake Chad, such that the border areas through which Boko Haram take advantage of international waterways would be more protected by both Nigerian military and multinationals.

The headquarters of the Multinational joint Task Force is in Chad, and it is headed by the Nigerian military.

The governor simply called for greater participation of multinationals, especially now that IDPs have returned to Baga, where the Multinational JTF used to have its headquarters due to the strategic nature of Baga.

Boko Haram has so much interest in using Baga as a transit point for commercial trade in fish, tax administration and ferrying of arms from other countries through international waterways

in Baga and some areas of the Lake Chad shores. Zulum simply wants more robust collaboration.