Hope Meets Hope, As Yobeans Welcome Mr President

Hope meets Hope, As Yobians welcome Mr President.

By Usman Bello, Damaturu.

Call it a rendezvous between the Renewed Hope Agency and the Sustained Hope Enterprise, and the hope-packed presidential visit to the “Pride of the Sahel” (as Yobe state is christened) falls into a picturesque perspective.

Let me attempt an explanation. The common denominator held dear by the visitor and the (would be)visited, is the HOPE both believe in with innermost conviction. While Mr President popularizes and mainstreams the Renewed Hope Mantra across all his policies and programs of governance to inspire rebirth of national pride and conviction in the promise of greater Nigeria, the architect of modern Yobe, His Excellency Mai Mala Buni has ab initio, made hope the centerpiece of his government that is now into its sixth year. This Hope in reference does not mean such abstract phenomenon that only philosophers know better how to explain, and in so doing end up confusing their unfortunate audience. Hope here entails validating believability in tomorrow, through deliveries of multi sectoral development legacies that in practical terms, give the citizens a ride away from hopelessness to faithfulness. I will still explain further in more concrete terms, but let’s contextualize the hope we intend to dwell on more elaborately. Franklin D. Roosevelt sums it up this way: “We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”

It takes a hope centered government to convince the citizenry that there is tomorrow after that prolonged and protracted Boko Haram Insurgency that took a swift dive across especially Borno and Yobe states, leaving in its trail, destruction, blood and death of magnitude hitherto never imagined.

Now let’s take a mental ride with the president on this august visit. If for instance, the president decides to come with large entourage in all aircrafts in the presidential fleet, there is a befitting airport to land in Yobe. That hope conceived for a future oriented, business minded international cargo airport in Yobe state was neither aborted nor deferred. It’s a hope kept alive with all its envisaged inter generational benefits that are far reaching, beyond the shores of the state. I once opined that, this governor loves the word FUTURISTIC. Let me say now, he actually lives the word.

If perchance, Mr President may have time for state wide visit, a smooth drive is guaranteed across beautifully tarred roads in urban centers as well as inter community roads that are a testament that Buni truly means business.

As the president arrives in town, I learned from the papers, he will lunch Agricultural Empowerment scheme for youth. I once asked the governor about palliative intervention he rolled out in the state. He took me through a labyrinth of interrelated sustainable development projects in education, healthcare system, employment programmes, commerce, agriculture and women and youth development and explained the components of palliatives and empowerment embedded in each, and on sustainable basis. In other words, palliative intervention is not a one off thing if it most wear a human face. I saw in all those continuum of activities real hope and futuristic vision typical of Governor Buni.

With what I know, I’m thus elated by what I heard will be the mission of the president in Yobe. I bet to be let down, but I believe strongly, agricultural empowerment from the architect of modern Yobe must be such that has been thoroughly thought-out and tailored to explore and exploit maximally, the entire length of the agricultural value chain. Nothing short of multiplier effect of efficiency is to be expected therefrom. Now look at the timing. Nigeria has just announced a new policy to let in food free of tarrif through the borders. It was in response to a loud bang of public outcry as hunger looms due to throat-slitting prices of essential commodities. We are once more taking the business of agriculture outside the country. Any investment on the sector at the moment guarantees prosperity. I always know there are two sides to this trajectory. The purchasing consumers cry, the selling producers laugh. Any leader that so strives to usher his people, youth especially, to the laughing side of the devides deserve a presidential pat on the back.

If Mr President pays meticulous look at the youth as he empowers them courtesy of the governor, I believe he will see hope inspired able-bodied healthy youth that are strong and ready. This speaks volumes of the elaborate healthcare system in Yobe state that I wish the president will spare time to familiarize himself with. At least the ultra modern Child and Maternal Healthcare Center that boasts of being the biggest and the best of its type in the nation and the facilities in the state University Teaching Hospital deserve a glance. Beyond the facilities is the compassion infused system of delivery. I once asked the governor about some critical interventions like free dialysis services, which he made me understood that such services are not limited to Yobians, they are extended to all without such considerations for what and what define a patient.

For sure as Mr President crisscrosses the state capital if time warrants, he will not see any relics of the 13 years of Insurgency that wrecked havoc on especially education infrastructures. No action could have been louder than this. Recouping the lost glory of the education system is the icing of the cake of hope in Yobe state. The alluring beauty of school infrastructures and instructional facilities, the heightened spirit of teachers, the aroused enthusiasm of pupils and students, the exploits in tertiary institutions occasioned by conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning and bursary support to students especially medical oriented students are all glaring evidences of systems that work to sustain the hope. From declaration of emergency on education, to hosting of an all stakeholder summit on education, to the lunching of the Yobe education development endowment fund to massive deliveries of infrastructures across the state especially the mega and special schools, all point out to one direction. The direction of systematic recouping of hope through collective ownership and collective action, with a governor imbued with correct dose of humility and clairvoyant vision opening up the space of governance for all citizens with meaningful contributions to come on board for the overall prosperity of the Pride of the Sahel.

I’m a proud friend of Yobe state and a curious observer of the development strides in the state. The summary of my takeaway on Yobe under His Excellency Mai Mala Buni CON is, a justification to the adage that, we should not be great to begin, we should rather begin to be great. Mr President, a warm welcome to Yobe state.