Opinion: Zulum’s zigzagging inconsistencies

By Onoshe Nwabuikwu

Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the Borno State governor is in the news again. A few days ago, on December 6, 2020, Gov. Zulum reportedly declared that the security in Borno State is the best it has ever been, certainly better than before President Buhari came to power in 2015.

We’ve definitely become used to hearing about everything being better since 2015. Gov. Zulum was talking to some members of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The short of what he said: “The security situation in Borno state and indeed that of the entire North-East sub-region is still far better under Buhari, and this is based on records.” How can anyone dispute this?

Zulum is the governor. I have never been to Borno State and any chance of my going there in the immediate future is slim.

As an Abuja resident, I can’t even travel to Kaduna which used to be a leisurely drive because kidnappers have driven people off the road, with trains as the only recourse of those who can afford it.

However, even though I cannot judge the security situation in Borno State or claim to know it better than its governor, I can look back at a diary of certain incidents involving the good governor which he himself brought to public attention.

It also happens that these incidents are fairly recent-all happening in the last five or six months. Would these happenings match Governor Zulum’s latest assertion?

Let’s begin from July 29, 2020, when Gov. Zulum was allegedly attacked by gun men suspected to belong to Boko Haram near Baga town, Borno State.

In that attempted attack, the governor escaped unharmed and in the immediate aftermath of the attack, Gov. Zulum engaged in a heated conversation with the Army commanding officer according to a Channels TV report.

He queried the commanding officer’s claim that there were no Boko Haram terrorists in Baga: “You people said there’s no Boko Haram here, then who attacked us?

You have been here for over one year now, there are 1,181 soldiers here; if you cannot take over Baga which is less than 5km from your base, then we should forget about Baga.

I will inform the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy the men to other places that they can be useful.” On September 25, 2020, suspected Boko Haram members attacked Gov. Zulum convoy again while he was travelling near Lake Chad.

This time around, although the governor was not hurt, some members of his convoy were not so lucky.

There were up to 30 dead bodies including 12 policemen, 5 soldiers, 4 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and 9 civilians.

This attack was condemned by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Yet again, 2 days later on September 27, 2020, Governor Zulum survived another attack on his way back from resettling IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons).

As usual, there were condemnations from the usual suspects: Governors’ Forum, traditional rulers, etc. Bear in mind that none of these attacks involving Gov. Zulum and his security aides include other attacks in Borno State.

Even if I had the heart, it’s impossible to do a detailed cataloguing of all the Boko Haram operations because information about these attacks is suddenly hard to come by as there appears to be a deliberate lid on them.

Suffice it to say that on February 12, 2020, Gov. Zulum, visited the Shehu of Borno’s palace in Maiduguri to commiserate with the Auno community, about 25 kilometres from Maiduguri.

On February 9, 2020 over 30 passengers caught at a military checkpoint on the Auno Highway (as a result of the curfew) were killed, vehicles were burnt and some passengers were reportedly kidnapped.

This is different from the July 22, 2020 murder of aid workers by people claiming to be Boko Haram.

And that is of course very separate from the attack on August 18, 2020 when suspected Boko Haram terrorists overran Kukawa, kidnapping at least 100 residents.

These Kukawa residents who fled two years ago in 2018 had only just returned home barely two weeks earlier on August 2, 2020.

As Borno State suffered all these attacks, there was increasing sympathy from all parts of Nigeria especially towards Gov. Zulum because he was seen as bold and taking the fight to the insurgents. Unlike some Northern governors accused of remaining in their airconditioned government houses.

On July 27, 2020, Col. (rtd) Stan-Lubo while speaking on Channels TV on the Southern Kaduna killings praised Gov. Zulum for moving from one hot point to the other, trying to get the support of the security operatives.

Nevertheless, after the September 25, 2020 deadly attack on Gov. Zulum’s convoy, not much was heard from the governor until November 6, 2020.

After a meeting with President Buhari in Abuja, he spoke with reporters and addressed the #EndSARS protests: “On the issue of #EndSARS, I am calling on all Nigerians, especially the youths to be very careful.

The whole Boko Haram saga started as a result of the protests by some youths in Maiduguri against the use of helmets by motorcycle riders. You have seen the situation now.”

READ ALSO: Zulum insists terrorists attack in Borno have reduced under Buhari’s govt.

[This is curious and a rather abridged version of the history of Boko Haram]. Gov. Zulum did manage to spare some words for victims of the Lekki toll gate massacre of October 20, 2020 which he condemned but also condemned “the excesses of some of our Nigerian youths in taking the laws into their hands by destroying some of our infrastructure in attempt to support the legitimate demands of #EndSARS protesters.”

On September 18, 2020, while meeting with the House of Reps Committee chaired by Hon. Khadija Bukar, Gov. Zulum lamented that “the insurgents are recruiting many of our children into (Boko Haram) sect because of increasing unemployment rate.”

In response, Hon. Bukar said they were “not oblivious of the frustration in an environment of constant threat.”