ZULUM IS A NIGERIAN PROJECT

 

Gov. Zullum 

By Yakubu Ahmed-BK

There has never been anytime in this dispensation or at any other in modern Nigeria when any Governor has, in so short a time, captured the imagination of all Nigerians. No one Governor has ever enjoyed this bi-partisan and all-encompassing popularity as current Borno state Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum. 

So, when news filtered out that an attempt was in the offing, to impeach the Professor by the legislature in Borno, I took it with a pinch of salt. How can any right thinking person ever contemplate such a suicidal misadventure? 

I know Borno very well and I know its political dynamics having lived there for upward of forty years and having worked there as a journalist for over three decades. 

The chemistry between the Governor and members of the state Assembly was one factor that should have rendered any machination to that effect almost an impossibility. The towering influence of former Governor and now Senator Kashim Shettima whose support for the Governor and over bearing influence on the politics of the state was one bulwark of titanic base that will surely be solid wall of support to ward off any interior motive. 

Very importantly, Professor Zulum has, very quickly warmed himself, through his personal commitment to good governance, into the hearts of all Nigerians and thus any attempt to touch him, will surely meet the disapproval of the Nigerian people. 

I wonder, if there is any Nigerian today, who is oblivious of the fact that Zulum is, as it stands today, a Nigerian National Project. There is no Nigerian politician today, not even President Buhari himself, who command a truly national solidarity and sympathy of the Nigerian public as much as the Borno Governor does. 

And he has all factors going for him. He is below fifty years of age. He is a Professor who had been a teacher all his life until some six years ago when former Governor Kashim Shettima discovered him and dragged him into the murky waters of politics and leadership. He is the kind of accidental politician who does not have the temperament to tolerate the kind of shenanigans of our clime. 

He is straight forward and truthful to a fault. He is also fearless and calls a spade by it's very name. I doubt, if any person, other than Kashim Shettima would have taken the risk associated with surrendering power to an unassuming and independent minded, no nonsense and unpredictable man like the Professor. He is the type that you invest money on to get into office at your own risk. 

Luckily, Shettima was willing to risk it because he had made up his mind not to, on the crest of  wanting to call the shots, compromise on the standards he set out, for the kind of man of character and capacity he wanted to bequeath power to. He knew, that Borno will go down if he elevated mediocrity over substance. He knew too, that with the challenges of insecurity pervading the horizon in Borno, any silly mistakes in selecting a successor was bound to have far-reaching implication for Borno. 

If there is anybody in Borno who, therefore feels that Professor Babagana Umara Zulum is his or their own only, such thoughts should be dispensed with promptly. Again, if any House of Assembly thinks it can activate it's constitutionally provided powers to, whimsically take out a Nigerian National Project, then it better be told that the national opposition it will face, as a result, will so much overwhelm it, that the constitution will just not be of any help to it.

In any case, how do you start the process of impeachment against such an over-performing Governor who has spinned the heads of all Nigerians? His popularity is borderless, his reach too has transcended the Nigerian frontiers and his charm has enveloped the world, such that he has become one of the few reasons politics in Nigeria has remained captivating and interesting.