Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Jirgi, who is a former Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to former governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim, is a respected Yobe state indigene and journalist. In this interview with Daily Trust, he speaks on the insurgency in the state known as “The Young Shall Grow” and the ongoing effort to tackle various challenges among other issues.
Yobe state has been besieged by a decade old insurgency which has made development in the state very difficult. Do you have confidence in the state leadership to build on the progress made already?
It will interest you to note that Yobe is a very lucky state. It is true that the state has gone through a decade of insurgency that has set the clock of its progress backward. I also agree that quite a lot needed to be done to extricate the state from the damage done to its psyche, development and security.
I said the state is lucky because the immediate past Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has been very selfless in the choice of a successor. Mai Mala Buni is a modern man with one of the best and the right connections in the right places in the country and beyond. Since he became the National Secretary of the ruling APC, he has proved to be an asset for the party. His performance in office, even as APC state Chairman in Yobe state earlier on, he has earned for himself the respect, trust and confidence of the leaders and people of the state.
In what ways can you say these records of performance will impact in the running of the state?
He has already given the right signals of the type of leader he will be. Yobe has never been as united and as development driven state as it is today. You can see the direction his government is taking, regarding the policies and programs of the government directed at economic transformation, empowerment, infrastructure development, enhancing security and confidence building in the state. There is an apparent effort aimed at building collapsed infrastructures in order to develop capacity for educational, agricultural, economic and political institutions. There is an effective and visionary leadership at work in the state.
You spoke about former governor Gaidam making the right choice of a successor. To what extent has this choice helped the state?
The insurgency that has set the state back has its roots in the corruption of the system beginning from the creation of the state in 1991. This corruption led to serious inequality, injustice and unfair distribution of resources and opportunities. The insurgency, to some extent, exploited these unbalanced narratives, created the monster that was intended to consume all of us and radicalized a burgeoning population of unskilled and uneducated youths. I think the development policies of the Buni administration as it relates to provision of critical infrastructure, equitable distribution of wealth, human capacity building initiatives and economic empowerment of the populace are what Yobe needed to address the root causes of the problems. Governor Buni has hit the ground running and his engagements, policies and actions so far have all pointed to the very basis of our malaise as a people.
Can you tell us more on these development drives?
There are many of them. The proposed Potiskum Truck Transit Park which was planned to create up to 5000 direct jobs and programmed to add significant value in the growing trucking business of Potiskum is about the best initiative aimed at empowering the same group of vulnerable youths whose comfort and economic wellbeing is critical to the peace of the state. The foundation laying ceremony has already been laid by the Governor and work has started in earnest. It is noteworthy to say that Potiskum, with the highest concentration of trailer trucks in the whole of Northern Nigeria will have its economy and that of the whole state re-jigged and 5000 jobs created, with their spin-offs which will transform wealth creation in the state and improve the economy overall.
Again, within this short period of time, the Governor has also laid the foundation of the construction of 3600 housing units in collaboration with the Family Homes Funds Limited, across Yobe state. The Governor described the event as one of the key development goals of his administration.
What is your assessment on the state’s present agricultural revival strategy?
It will interest you to know that the Governor himself is a farmer and is therefore in the know of how important that sector is to the development of the state. Yobe’s economy is largely agriculture based and no effort that does not factor this will ever succeed. One of the first engagements of the Governor was the flagging-off of the sale of fertilizers to farmers for the 2019 farming season where he directed that a bag of the NPK variety which used to sell at N10,000 a bag in the open market, be sold at the subsidized rate of N3,000. He also unveiled 103 Mercy Fergusson tractors to be used by farmers associations to boost food production and food security.
The Governor disclosed at the flagging off event, that 9000 metric tons of fertilizer, which is equivalent to 180,000 bags were procured at the cost of N1.71 billion. On top of that, the governor had announced the readiness of his government to support and collaborate with the federal government to fully implement the Ruga Settlement program in the state. He told a delegation of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association which paid him a courtesy call in Damaturu that if any state in Nigeria will adopt the Ruga settlement policy, Yobe will be the first. From this insightful understanding of the Ruga policy as a driver to robust agricultural development, you can deduce that Yobe is in the hands of a man with his sight fixed at giving the state the push it needed to boost its economy and empower the people.
The governor has made several pronouncements and has taken many actions that have left us Yobians in no doubt that there is indeed a new dawn in our state. He understood that with more efforts and investment. Agriculture can transform the economy of the state and significantly improve the people’s living conditions. I am confident that with Buni as Governor, Yobe is on the threshold of fighting its way out of the challenges brought about by the insurgency. Don’t forget that the first ever agricultural retreat, which held for four days and where experts, farmers, extension and crop specialists and other stakeholders were brought together to chart a more sustainable way of improving agriculture took place in the early weeks of the administration.
Donor agencies and other nongovernmental organizations are also critical in the effort to bring the state back. How will you want to see the relationship with them in the state?
A number of donor agencies, international bodies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have, for many years, been around the state and indeed other flash points of the insurgency. And I must acknowledge the importance of their roles in providing succor to the people and in joining the state government to advance the source of relief to the people. You are aware that the federal government too has initiated many other reliefs, through the establishment of special intervention organs that have also impacted positively in this regard. I understand that Governor Buni has interfaced with many of these organs with a view to maximizing the support these organs provide.
In one of such stakeholder engagements, the Governor had hosted members, Board and Management of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) led by the Chairman, Major General Paul Tarfa (rtd) in Damaturu recently. At the meeting, Governor Buni listed key areas he wanted the NEDC to intervene in. He singled out education, agriculture, healthcare, youth empowerment and road construction as areas where Yobe will appreciate NEDC intervention. Yobe under Governor Buni is not in any doubt about its desires, needs and priority areas. Every single effort is geared towards addressing the huge deficit in all areas of infrastructure needs, economic opportunities and growth in the human capacity areas as well as providing the stimulus for sustainable variables.
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