For a man who doesn’t talk much, it is worth listening when he finally speaks out. Mai Mala Buni has been Governor of Yobe State for five and a half years, was previously a National Secretary of APC and for two years was in fact the ruling APC’s Caretaker National Chairman. In all those roles he was not known to be given to boasts and brags. His personal motto, apparently, is that action speaks louder than words and that it is empty drums that make the most noise.
As the year 2024 is drawing to a close however, Governor Buni chose to speak out at a press briefing in his state capital, Damaturu. Most certainly he succumbed to the pressure of aides, who know that words travel farther when the boss utters them himself. At the briefing, Buni reflected on the seven big goals that his Administration scored within the year, all of them against the backdrop of insecurity threats in the state’s northern parts, including the blowing up of electricity towers by Boko Haram agents.
Buni landed his first, first-minute in the match goal in the area of Humanitarian Support. Yobe State government under his leadership provided ₦3.9 billion in multi-purpose cash assistance to 52,000 households and over 200,000 individuals. Add to that 974,220 individuals who got food and non-food assistance items within the year.
Buni’s second score, in the first half of the match, was an expert header into the net of Agriculture. He launched an agricultural empowerment programme and spent ₦15.3 billion to support 5,340 farmers across the state, in addition to ₦1.7 billion that YBSG spent this year to procure grains for strategic reserves.
Buni’s third goal was a hat trick in Healthcare. Yobe State even won $500,000 in the North-East Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge this year, because it recruited 311 healthcare workers, adjusted health workers’ salary scales, provided free dialysis programs, invested heavily in hospital renovations, supplied ample medical equipment and expanded contributory healthcare schemes. These solidified advancements in healthcare delivery netted the Leadership Prize for Yobe.
Buni scored another goal, his fourth, this time with a bicycle-kick into the net of Infrastructure. His Administration completed and initiated numerous road projects across the state, including the 76km Gujba-Ngalda road and urban road networks in major towns. Solar-powered boreholes and streetlights were installed in rural and urban areas to improve water supply and energy access.
Straight from a corner, Buni scored his fifth goal, this time in Education. Significant strides were made in basic and higher education, including teacher recruitment and training, infrastructure upgrades and enhanced student feeding programs. Buni spent ₦2 billion on tuition and exam fees for secondary school students in this year alone, a mighty fillip for a state that has been lumped among the educationally disadvantaged.
Mai Mala Buni’s sixth score, from the penalty spot, was in Economic Empowerment. In 2024 his Administration unrolled programs that included cash grants to micro and small entrepreneurs, vocational training for youths and distribution of tools and equipment to beneficiaries. Modern markets and processing facilities are under construction to boost commerce and industry.
Buni’s seventh goal was scored from a corner kick. This time, it was in Environmental Protection. Yobe is a Sahelian state with a fragile environment, and Governor Buni undertook major efforts to mitigate environmental challenges including erosion control projects, reforestation programs and provision of solar-powered cooking stoves, all within the year 2024.
This affable gentleman did not arrogate all credits for the good deeds to himself. At the press briefing, he said civil servants, traditional rulers, military, police, local vigilantes, mass media and all other stakeholders played important roles in driving progress across multiple sectors. In other words, it was not him as the Center Forward’s efforts that scored all the goals. Other strikers, wingers, center half, defenders and the goal keeper all helped a lot. In the incoming year 2025, he said, YBSG would double down on service delivery towards consolidating on infrastructure and all other facets of socio-economic development. In other words, there will be a goal feast in Yobe in 2025.