Speeches
“We Will Continue to Help Our Youths Become Self-Reliant.”
Gov. Mai Mala Buni
Governor Buni’s Inaugural Speech
29th May 2019
PROTOCOLS
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Alaikum.
Today marks yet another milestone in the history of our dear State with administering of Oath of Office on my humble self as Governor and, His Excellency, Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana, as Deputy Governor of Yobe State. This day, marks the beginning of a new administration which you, the good people of Yobe State, conscientiously voted into office on March, 9th 2019.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE GOVERNOR-ELECT OF YOBE STATE
HIS EXCELLENCY, HONOURABLE MAI MALA BUNI
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS INAUGURATION AND SWEARING-IN CEREMONY
AT THE BANQUET HALL. GOVERNMENT HOUSE. DAMATURU
ON WEDNESDAY 29TH MAY 2019
Bismillahi-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wasallallahu Alan-Nabiyulkarim,
PROTOCOLS
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Alaikum.
Today marks yet another milestone in the history of our dear State with administering of Oath of Office on my humble self as Governor and, His Excellency, Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana, as Deputy Governor of Yobe State. This day, marks the beginning of a new administration which you, the good people of Yobe State, conscientiously voted into office on March, 9th 2019.
2. This is a new mandate that will enable us to continue with the implementation of far reaching policies and programmes towards making Yobe State achieve its full potentials to greatness through the policy of CONTINUITY AND CONSOLIDATION of legacy achievements recorded by the administration of His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam FCNA, FCPA.
3. In keeping with the Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance just administered on me, I seek the guidance of Almighty Allah (SWT) to enable us deliver on our promises and to abide by their tenets. I and my Deputy also pledge to citizens of Yobe State that, we will work to justify the confidence and trust reposed in us.
4. Your Excellencies, Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, you may recall that on 29th September, 2018, on the occasion of our courtesy call and thank you visit to His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam following my nomination and endorsement as the Governorship aspirant and eventually the APC candidate in our State, I pledge not to betray the trust and confidence, His Excellency and the people of Yobe State, reposed in me. I hereby renew the pledge to serve the State to the best of my ability and with utmost sense of responsibility.
5. There is no doubt that His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam, FCNA, FCPA, had placed Yobe State on the path of greatness. His leadership is a reflection of the thoughts of Muhammed Bello Ibn Usman Danfodio where he says "If the Almighty Allah wishes people good, He gives leadership in their affairs to the best of them. Such leaders would lead the community or State in the right path and put matters in correct places. They would seek the advice of people who have ideas that are handy in solving problems" His Excellency Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam had indeed proved to be the architect of modem Yobe.
6. While registering our profound appreciation and sincere gratitude to His Excellency, I wish to reassure him that, we would continue to draw inspiration from his wisdom and wealth of experience to sustain, deepen and widen the legacies of his administration. May I take the opportunity provided by this gathering to equally appreciate the National and State leadership of our great party, party elders, women, youths and indeed all supporters of our great party, the APC for their unprecedented support, guidance and wise counsel before, during and after the 2019 general elections. My debt of gratitude also goes to the Director-General and members of our State Campaign Organization for the 2019 general elections. I also thank notable individuals, groups and organizations at all levels for providing strategic direction which contributed towards ensuring total and land slide victory for all candidates fielded for elective positions by our great party. Their love and support for our party has clearly confirmed the fact that Yobe State is indeed the home of APC and this shall be maintained, In-sha Allah.
7. As the elections are over, and the mantle of leadership has at this occasion been bestowed on us through the Oath of Office we took just a while ago, we, the good people of Yobe State, have today commenced writing another chapter in the history of our State.
8. May 1 therefore, remind us all that, this is a collective project and responsibility. We should work together in making this administration to succeed in serving the State diligently and meritoriously, to make life more meaningful to our people and, to make Yobe State a better place for all.
9. I therefore solicit the support, cooperation and prayers of everyone in the State for our administration to succeed in serving the people better. We will also continue to tap from the rich experiences and successes of our past leaders, fellow politicians, seasoned bureaucrats and technocrats, the academia, the business community, farmers and indeed members of all trade groups to enable them contribute their quota to the building a virile and prosperous State for the benefit of all.
10. It is evidently clear, that a lot of efforts have been made to provide security, qualitative healthcare, improved education, massive infrastructural development especially road construction and agricultural development among others, to add value to the lives of the people. These laudable achievements had no doubt improved the quality of lives of the people.
11. Under the new administration therefore, these sectors will continue to be given the desired attention they deserve. The new government will explore and exploit new avenues and opportunities locally, nationally and, internationally, to improve and expand the existing structured policies and programmes for delivering maximum dividends of democracy to the people. We will take advantage of our State belonging to the ruling national government to make Federal presence more visible and efficient, to contribute to the development of the State, and improve the lives of the people.
12. Government will pursue every opportunity with high sense of responsibility to ensure that, what rightly belongs to the State in terms of appointments, projects and programmes are given to the state. This administration would partner with our national legislators to pursue our entitlements with vigor. We will ensure that our State's quota in Federal appointments are fully accessed and occupied by our people.
13. In this regard, a vibrant DESK OFFICE will be established at the Abuja Liaison Office to monitor and pursue our dues and entitlements. The era of short changing the State is over. I wish to reassure you that this administration will, In-sha Allah be responsive to the needs of the people. We will continue to pay special attention to security of lives and property, provide quality healthcare delivery, and improve education, agricultural production, infrastructural development, socio-economic development as well as youths and women empowerment.
SECURITY
14. Your Excellencies, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, our tragic and horrendous experience of the Boko Haram insurgency, which claimed many innocent lives, rendered thousands of people as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had also destroyed several public and private properties. We will continue to consider that as an attempt to shatter our collective dreams and hope for a prosperous future.
15. We the people of Yobe state are appreciative and remain immensely grateful to His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria armed forces, the security chiefs, officers and men of the security forces for the commitment to the war against insurgency and subsequent liberation of some communities hitherto occupied by the insurgents.
16. We are indebted to the efforts of our gallant officers and men of the Nigeria Army, Air force, the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security Service, Civil Defence, Vigilante and Hunter groups, some of whom paid the supreme sacrifice for the peace and security we now enjoy. May the souls of the departed officers and men of the various security organizations rest in peace.
17. Let me also appreciate the support rendered by the state government to the security organizations during this period, under the leadership of His Excellency, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam. The support has no doubt contributed to the success of the fight against insurgency in the state. Today, most of the displaced persons have returned to their communities and actively engaged in various socio-economic activities to rebuild their livelihoods.
18. Furthermore, I salute the courage, resilience and determination of communities affected by the insurgency and their commitment to resettlement and rehabilitation to pick up what remains of their lives once again. Although there are still pockets of security challenges on some soft targets, it is gratifying that there is general improvement in security situation across the State. We are confident that the efforts of our security forces will be crowned with more improved and sustainable peace and security in no distant future, In-sha Allah.
19. Let me use this opportunity to reassure the security agencies and our people that, this administration would no doubt build on the peace and security so far achieved. We shall also explore other avenues for a stronger cooperation, collaboration and synergy between government and the security organizations to be more proactive in tackling potential security threats and, to enhance sustainable peace and security across the state.
20. I therefore enjoin everyone to support and cooperate with the security operatives. You should endeavour to provide them with credible, useful and timely information to enhance proactive approach to security situation as we are all stakeholders in the security of our state.
EDUCATION
21. Education as we all know is the bedrock of any meaningful development in every society, State or nation. We have in the last 10 years, in spite of the security challenges, recorded tremendous improvement in educational development under the Ibrahim Gaidam-led administration. The efforts in improving primary education and upgrading facilities in the secondary schools are quite commendable. The Yobe State University, has also no doubt moved so fast, and moving so close to older Universities in terms of facilities, infrastructure and intellectual content.
22. Let me also state that, we are not unmindful of the over stretched facilities in our schools and, the need to provide more. We are conscious of the increase in population of some communities especially, where displaced persons choose to settle in such communities.
23. Our administration would strive to ensure prompt payment of counterpart funds to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), to enable the State access UBEC grants to improve primary education. We would equally build more schools classrooms, employ more teachers as well as improve teacher's incentives and provide additional instructional materials to meet the requirements of such communities.
24. This approach would be replicated in the secondary education sector, we will equally make teaching profession attractive and education more functional. The payment of examination fees by government to students in public schools would be sustained. Parents and guardians in the state would be free from the burden of paying school and examination fees for their wards. In order to improve and encourage pupil's enrolment in our schools, this administration will partner with the Federal Government for the implementation of the Home Grown Feeding Programme.
25. We will continue to support the state owned tertiary institutions such as Yobe State University, Mai Idriss Aloma Polytechnic, College of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Agriculture, College of Legal and Islamic Studies and, the College of Administrative and Business Studies, to be centres of academic excellence, and to produce adequate, trained and qualified manpower to serve the state and beyond.
26. Similarly, we would continue to provide scholarships to support and encourage research by our vibrant and resourceful intellectuals in the State University. We are a state with our peculiarities. This administration would support the conduct of research and development to proffer home grown solutions to the peculiar challenges faced by the State. This should be seen as a challenge to the management of the University and the academic community at large.
27. In view of the great loss suffered by the education sector from insurgency, the State Government would partner and seek for special intervention from the Federal Ministry of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET Fund), philanthropists and International Organizations to support us in our commitment to rebuilding education in the State.
28. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our administration is determined to move the State away from an educationally disadvantaged to an educationally prosperous one. This, we will, In-sha Allah, pursue with vigor, determination and the commitment it deserves. Accordingly, we will take proactive steps to rehabilitate and equip to standard at least one Science Secondary School in each senatorial zone in the State.
29. In line with our commitment to reform the education sector, I hereby declare a state of emergency on primary and secondary education in the state, to build a solid, vibrant and robust foundation for the development of education. Government would as a matter of deliberate policy continue to provide the necessary support to move education in the state to greater heights.
HEALTHCARE DELIVERY
30. Healthcare delivery is undoubtedly a key priority of this administration. We appreciate the solid foundation laid by the Ibrahim Gaidam administration and would work assiduously to improve on it.
31. In conformity with the principle of Continuity and Consolidation, the scope of the State Primary Healthcare Management Board will be repositioned to promote efficiency in primary healthcare delivery. Government would establish more health centers, maternity clinics and dispensaries; provide adequate drugs and facilities and employ more healthcare providers for accessible, affordable and efficient primary healthcare services at the grassroots. Our objective is to ensure establishment of at least one functional primary Health Care Centre in each of the 178 wards of the State. Similarly, General Hospitals will be established in the Local Government Headquarters where none exist to ease the burden of travelling long distances to access secondary healthcare services.
32. The Yobe State Teaching Hospital has no doubt made impressive mark as a tertiary healthcare institution, providing efficient services to the people. No wonder, the state has become a hub of medical tourism for patients in search of qualitative medical attention.
33. This administration considers it necessary to upgrade the capacities of health institutions in the State by providing state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment to provide the best services to the people. Government will continue to look into the welfare of healthcare providers to enhance healthcare delivery.
34. The Medical College established in the state university, will be nurtured and supported to provide a conducive learning environment for the training of manpower for our health institutions. As the saying goes, health is wealth; this administration is determined and committed to creating a healthy population for an economically prosperous State.
AGRICULTURE
35. Agriculture remains the major employer and mainstay of our people. This administration will soon unfold an agricultural blueprint to make agriculture attractive and profitable. The program is designed to empower our people to move away from subsistence farming to large scale production for food security and economic growth.
36. Government would as a matter of priority, support our farmers with timely provision of agricultural inputs mainly tractors, improved quality seeds, fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides to control the scourge of pests. In our drive to achieve food security and improved agricultural production, the State will procure more tractors, while every Local Government Council will also get 20 tractors each in the next one year.
37. We have mapped out plans and strategies to canvass for an extension of the Federal Government's Farmer Anchor Borrowers program to the State. Government will also collaborate with National and International Agricultural Organisations to support individuals, groups and farmer organizations, to expand and establish more farms.
38. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this administration is conscious of the threat posed by the existing environmental challenges in the state, and our share of the scourge of global warming and climate change. The combination of these factors would no doubt continue to have negative impact on agricultural production in the state.
39. In view of this therefore, government would encourage irrigation farming on the existing wetlands across the state. A survey would soon be carried out to identify areas where rain water will be harvested and harnessed for the purposes of irrigation. Accordingly, government will sponsor our youths for training on Agricultural extension services and modern agricultural technology within and outside the country
40. While acknowledging the efforts of the Gaidam administration in developing Irrigation farm in Ngum, Geidam and Jumbam, we shall consider establishing more irrigation sauces on Ngeji, Ngalda, Nyakire, Dokshi, Buni Gari, Buni Yadi, Gujba, Damagum, Jakusko, Gashua, Yunusari, Buduwa and Njamel wetlands. This will continue in other places as we progress.
HARNESSING NATURAL RESOURCE POTENTIALS OF THE STATE
41. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, it will interest you to note that Yobe state is endowed with huge agricultural resources as well as mineral deposits in commercial quantities that can support the establishment of industrial processing plants in the state. We shall fully harness the rich agricultural potentials in order to improve the economy, create jobs, reduce poverty as well as provide food security across the state. The agricultural potentials include:
GUM ARABIC
42. This economic tree is massively planted in Nguru, Bursari, Gujba, Tarmuwa and Jakusko local government areas. The product is in high industrial demand for pharmaceuticals and confectionary use in Europe, America, Middle East and Asia.
SESAME SEEDS
43. The Sesame seeds are produced in all the 17 local government areas of the state. There is increasing demand for the product across the world. Although many of our farmers are already engaged in cultivation of sesame seeds, government will provide the necessary inputs and make arrangements for markets to save our farmers from exploitation by shylock middlemen.
LIVESTOCK
44. Yobe state is undoubtedly a leading livestock producing State in Nigeria, with an estimated livestock population of over 2.7 million herds of cattle, 2.1 million sheep and 3 million goats being the highest in the country according to 2016 records of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
45. With these huge potentials, livestock farmers would be supported and provided with incentives to boost production. Government will continue to provide free Routine annual mass vaccination against trans-boundary diseases, establish clinics, water points and food supplements to boost production.
46. Accordingly, our administration intends to upgrade the Damaturu modem abattoir in Damaturu to process meat for local consumption and exports, enhance trade in hides and skin to fully exploit the livestock value chain production to improve the economy.
47. In line with the government industrial policy, our administration will provide a friendly investment climate with a view to promoting Public Private Partnership (PPP) and attract foreign direct investment to the State. Furthermore, Government will take advantage of the Damaturu Cargo International Airport when completed and the railway stations in Ngum and hopefully Buni Yadi to transport finished products and raw materials from and into the state. This we believe will improve the economy of the state and purchasing power of the people.
MINERAL DEPOSITS
48. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is on record that Yobe State is endowed with numerous solid mineral deposits in commercial quantities which were verified to be of high quality. These include:
LIMESTONE
49. This is found in Gulani, Gujba, Fune and Fika local government areas. The product is used for production of cement, tiles, glass and fertilizer. It is a product in high demand. An estimated 247 million tons of limestone is available in the state.
KAOLIN
50. The state has large Kaolin deposits in Gulani, Gujba, Fune and Fika Local Government areas with estimated reserve quantity of 231 million tons. Kaolin is used in the pharmaceuticals for production of drugs as well as drilling operations in the oil and water industries.
GYPSUM
51. Gypsum is found in large commercial quantity in Fune, Fika, Gujba and Gulani local government areas. An estimated deposit of 141 million tons is found in the State. It is used for the production of cement. Plaster of Paris, tiles and soil conditioning.
TRONA
52. The state is also blessed with large deposits of Trona, also known as potassium in Geidam, Bade, Nguru, Yusufari, Yunusari and Machina, This product is used in production of glass, paper, soap and detergents. The state boasts of 88.3 million tons deposit.
DIATOMITE
53. Diatomite is another mineral found in commercial quantity in Gulani. It is used in the production of paint, tiles, plastics, soap and detergents among others, with a reserve estimate of 152.8 million tons.
SILICA
54. This is found in commercial quantities in Geidam, Nangere and Fika local government areas with an estimated reserve of 1.9 million tons. This is a raw material for glass making. The aforementioned mineral reserves are in large quantities and of high quality and are in high demand for industrial use, locally and internationally. I therefore urge our local and foreign investors to take advantage of these opportunities, in view of the friendly investment climate in the State.
ECONOMY AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
55. The economy of our state is largely dependent on the Federal allocation with very low Internally Generated Revenue. However, harnessing the rich agricultural and solid mineral potentials in the state can turn around the economic fortunes of Yobe State for better.
56. In our bid to industrialize the state and create employment opportunities to stimulate the economy for improved revenue generation and wealth creation, our Administration in collaboration with the private sector will In-Sha Allah strive to resuscitate the following industries within the limit of resource at our disposal:
a) Potythene and Woven Sacks Company Limited, Damaturu
b) Dofarga Spring Water Company Limited, Dokshi
c) Yusufari Soda Ash Plant, Yusufari
d) Fertilizer Blending Plant, Gujba
e) Sahel Aluminum Roofing Sheet Plant, Potiskum
f) Yobe Flour and Feed Mills Company Ltd, Potiskum, and
g) Nguru Oil Mills Ltd which has been dormant.
57. Efforts will be intensified to put into better economic use all assets jointly owned by Borno and Yobe State for our mutually beneficial interest. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, in furtherance to our determination to industrialize the state, we will adopt a philosophy titled "Fast-tracking Industrial Development and Greening the Desert". This philosophy entails Identifying at least one natural resource or raw material in towns and local government areas in order to achieve our goal of "One-town-one-product (OTOP) or One-Local Government - One - Product" (OLOP).
58. The process of developing each product will require business plan, technology, production, storage and marketing. The success of this philosophy will lead to an industrialized economy with job creation and improved revenue.
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT
59. The feat achieved by the Ibrahim Gaidam led-administration in infrastructure development especially, road construction is worthy of mention and consolidation. This administration would continue and consolidate on the road projects to open up more communities through the construction of additional urban and semi urban roads and drainages as well as provide more roads to villages to ease movement of agricultural produce, livestock and other services to enhance economic development of the State.
60. In fulfillment of our campaign promises, government will construct Gujba-Ngalda road, Daura-Maluri-Maiduwa roads, Tikau-Jajere and, completion of the Yusufari-Machina Trans Sahel road. We shall extend this to many other communities as we intend to execute them in phases. We will also ensure completion and commissioning of the Damaturu International Cargo Airport.
61. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, you will all agree with me that the state lacks modem markets to promote commerce and trade. In realization of this therefore, Government will immediately embark on construction of Ultra Modem Markets and Vehicle Terminus in Damatum, Potiskum, Geidam, Gashua, Nguru, Buni Yadi and Ngalda.
62. Furthermore, government have observed with concern the lack of trailer parks in most towns in the state and accordingly will construct a befitting trailer park and modem mechanic village in Potiskum and other major towns in line with our administration's planed programme of decongesting our towns of heavy trucks and opening up the cities.
WATER SUPPLY
63. As part of measures to ensure adequate water supply to our people, the state government will partner with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and relevant agencies including the newly established North East Development Commission for the completion of the Damatum Regional Urban water supply scheme. A new reticulation of pipelines would be executed to ensure water supply to every nook and cranny of the state capital.
64. In addition, government will focus attention on the following water projects:
a) Potiskum water supply
b) Fika-Gadaka water supply
c) Nguru water supply
d) Gashua Water Supply
e) Geidam Water Supply
65. Similarly, government will also consider developing water sources from rivers Kumadugu-Yobe, Kumadugu Gana, Annuma as well as the Ngalda-Gongola Tributary to boost urban and rural water supply for human and livestock use and irrigation.
66. Additional boreholes would be drilled in the headquarters of the 17 Local Government areas to meet the water needs of the growing population. This is to be supported with new reticulation of pipelines to replace the old rusty and leaking pipes.
67 In our determination to improve water supply in the rural areas, government will construct motorized and solar powered boreholes in the rural communities where they are lacking and, additional boreholes in communities where they are inadequate.
68. The state would also ensure prompt payment of Counterpart Funds to our partners on rural water simply and sanitation, to enhance water supply and improved sanitation and hygiene in the rural communities.
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION
69. With the installation of the 330KVA transmission station in Damaturu, this administration shall strive to hook up our rural communities to the national grid to boost small and medium scale enterprises. Government would lighten up villages and communities to be in tune with changing times.
TOURISM
70. Tourism has become a major foreign exchange earner to many countries and a contributor to many national economies. The State boasts of beautiful cultural sites, artefacts, monuments and festivities of international standard that can attract local and international tourists to the state. Prominent among which includes the Machina annual cultural festival where horsemanship are colourfully displayed, in addition to traditional wrestling.
71. Yobe state proudly hosts Africa's oldest canoe and, the third oldest in the world, the Dufuna canoe. The radio-carbon dating conducted on the canoe in laboratories in Europe indicates that, it is about 8,000 years old. Government would expeditiously look into packaging this exquisite material for public display.
72. The state also has the Dagona fishing festival in Bade, Bulatura Oases in Yusufari, Goya valley in Fika and a host of others. Government would partner traditional institutions to develop these tourist sites and cultural festivals in their domains to attract local and international tourists. We will showcase these potentials to foreign embassies in Nigeria in order to encourage their nationals to visit and invest in our State.
RESETTLEMENT, RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION
73. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that our people have suffered grossly from the about ten years of devastating insurgency. We give glory to Allah (SWT) and express gratitude to the security operation for the improvement in the general security situation in our State. Most of the Internally Displaced Persons have returned to their communities and are trying to rebuild their livelihoods.
74. We shall partner with the newly established North East Development Commission, local and international humanitarian organizations in line with the government policy on Resettlement, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, for the people affected by insurgency to live a life of honour and dignity.
CIVIL SERVICE
75. The civil service remains the engine room of government and vehicle for development. Accordingly, this administration will provide adequate support training and retraining of the work force for capacity building to enhance efficiency and productivity. I am delighted to announce that government will soon put the machinery in motion toward ensuring implementation of the recently approved thirty thousand (N30,000.00) naira national minimum wage, for Yobe State is noted for its policy of prompt payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities and when it comes to this matter, we will not be found wanting.
76. In an efforts to align our manifesto, campaign promises and the visions and missions outlined here, a Committee will be formed to set out implementation priorities and strategies in the short, medium and long term basis covering each sector for Government intervention after proper assessment.
TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS
77. Our traditional rulers who are custodians of our cultural heritage, norms and values have a very important role to play in security monitoring and intelligence, peace building, community development and, socio-economic development of the state.
78. We shall continue to rely on their advice, guidance and fatherly dispositions while, they mobilize their subjects to embrace government policies and programmes, promote maintenance of law and order and peaceful coexistence.
79. Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, 1 wish to once, again remind us that, we will run an all inclusive government, with an open door policy for everyone with meaningful contributions to make in the interest of our dear state. Government will have listening ears to worthy advices and suggestions that will promote unity and people's interest.
80. However, let me quickly add that there will be no room for distractions or diversions and other sentiment or promotion of personal interests against the collective interest of the good people of Yobe State. I look forward to your support and cooperation in our collective drive to move Yobe State forward.
81. Finally, on behalf of the Government and good people of Yobe State, we thank Your Excellencies, distinguished invited guests too numerous to mention individually for honouring us with your esteemed presence. We wish you at the end of the occasion a safe journey back to your respective destinations and abodes. We also pray for the protection and guidance of the Almighty Allah (SWT) in the daunting task ahead.
Thank you. May the Almighty bless us all. Amin.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Ceremony for the Distribution of Strategic Constituency Empowerment Materials for Yobe Zone C
25th January 2020
PROTOCOLS
Assalamu Alaikum
I am delighted to join the multitudes of people gathered here for the flagging off of the distribution of strategic constituency empowerment materials by Distinguished Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, president of the Senate and chairman of the National Assembly.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency
Governor Mai Mala Buni
During Ceremony for the Distribution of Strategic Constituency Empowerment Materials for Yobe Zone C
by His Excellency Senator Ahmed Lawan,
President of the Senate and Chairman National Assembly
on Saturday 25th January 2020
in Gashu’a Town, Yobe State
PROTOCOLS
Assalamu Alaikum
I am delighted to join the multitudes of people gathered here for the flagging off of the distribution of strategic constituency empowerment materials by Distinguished Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, president of the Senate and chairman of the National Assembly.
This event today marks another milestone in the Senate President’s effort to empower his constituents across Yobe Zone C and to strengthen their capacity to make meaningful contributions to the socio-economic development of our state.
As we gather here today, numerous empowerment materials, including buses, ambulances, tricycles, electric power transformers, computers and computer accessories, text books, grinding machines, sewing machines, vulcanizing machines, fertilizers and water pumps, etc. will be given out by the Senate President to various beneficiaries across the constituency. In addition, a total of 300 people, 50 from each of the six Local Government areas of Yobe Zone C will receive a cash support of N250, 000 to enable them start or expand their businesses.
While this is commendable and exemplary, the gesture is a chapter in the long book of interventions by His Excellency Senator Ahmed Lawan in support of the people of his constituency.
We all know that the Senate President is at the forefront of ensuring that, in line with federal character, Yobe people, not just the people of Yobe Zone
C, have a chance to secure political appointments and jobs at the federal level. Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan also sponsors an annual animal vaccination campaign to complement the effort of the State Government in ensuring animal health. He has also provided solar-powered streetlights, boreholes, and roads, amongst other projects.
All of these redound to the cardinal principle of our great party, the APC, which is to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of the people, and a just and egalitarian society.
I want to say that, along with the government and people of Yobe State, I am personally proud of Dr Ahmed Lawan’s towering political career and his services to our nation and our democracy.
As Senate President and the Number Three Citizen of the country, Senator Ahmed Lawan is blazing the trail by ensuring an atmosphere in which the legislative and executive branches of the government work closely together for the security and progress of our nation.
His effort to restore the January to December budget circle and the passage of the 2020 budget in record time are examples of the point I am trying to make.
I make bold to say, therefore, that Senator Ahmed Lawan is a worthy ambassador and a proud son of Yobe State who is doing all of us across the state proud.
I want to assure Your Excellency the Senate President that we would continue to support you and partner with you and all our senators and legislators from the state. Together, we would work to ensure the full return of normalcy across our state after many years of the Boko Haram insurgency.
As one of the hardest hit states by the Boko Haram insurgency, let me also use this opportunity to reiterate my appeal to our development partners, and to all non-governmental and civil society organisations and philanthropists to scale up their interventions, and to work to combat illiteracy and alleviate poverty in the State.
Before I end my remarks, let me draw the attention of the beneficiaries of the support provided by the Senate President to make the best use of the support provided them.
This is a chance for all of you to improve your station in life and possibly even improve the economy of our state. If you make the best use of these materials, I assure you that your lives would be different and would be a lot better many months or years from now.
So, I wish you success and I hope that this would be the beginning of a new chapter in your lives and in the lives of your families.
To the Senate President, thank you once again. We are so very proud of you.
Thank you so much Yobe Zone C.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Presentation of Cheques to Beneficiaries of Community and Group Micro-Projects Under the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) YESSO Programme; Distribution of Empowerment Materials Under SDGs; and Trophies Won by the State Female Hockey Team
6th September 2019
We gather here today to celebrate the successes that our state has recorded over the recent period in the implementation of World Bank-Supported Projects.
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Presentation of Cheques to Beneficiaries of Community and Group Micro-Projects Under the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) YESSO Programme; Distribution of Empowerment Materials Under SDGs; and Trophies Won by the State Female Hockey Team on Friday 6th September 2019.
Protocols
Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
We gather here today to celebrate the successes that our state has recorded over the recent period in the implementation of World Bank-Supported Projects. We are also here for the presentation of trophies won by our state in the National Hockey Super League Championship 2019.
These successes show that with a little more effort individually and collectively, our state can rise higher and, together as a people, we can achieve our objective of a more peaceful and prosperous Yobe State.
I want to urge our people to dedicate ourselves once more to the values of hard work, truth, honesty and being our brothers’ keepers and our sisters’ keepers. Each of us can contribute to a greater Yobe where we are. Each of us can make a difference.
And now to the issue of the World Bank-Supported Projects. The presentation of cheques that we will do shortly will be to nine beneficiary communities for the implementation of group micro-projects and Public Work-Fare Programme under the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). We will also distribute empowerment materials and equipment to youth trainees under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The total cost for the implementation of the eight community and ten group micro-projects is N72, 245, 368.00 with 90 percent of the money being government contribution, and the benefitting communities contributing the remaining 10 percent. The projects to be implemented include construction of classrooms and staff rooms, provision of furniture, drilling of boreholes, tube wells and hand pumps; installation of transformers, and community housing, amongst others.
This is just a tip of the iceberg. Since its inception, the Community Social Development Programme (CSDP) has assisted in the implementation of 260 community micro projects worth over N1.1 billion. Over 500, 000 people in various communities across the state have benefitted directly and indirectly.
Under the Youth and Social Support Operation (YESSO), over N684 million was disbursed from May 2018 to date in the implementation of targeted cash transfers to Internally Displaced Persons, underprivileged youths and vulnerable households.
So far, a register of 31, 486 households made up of 162, 707 individuals has been cleared by the World Bank. Eleven more local government areas are in line for similar World Bank Support.
On an even happier note, our state has emerged as the first best performing state in the World Bank Portfolio among 19 northern states; it is also the first in the Northeast and the overall best in the federation in Investment Project Financing under the World Bank.
We are proud of these achievements and we are grateful to everyone who has helped to make them possible.
I am also happy to note that the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs in collaboration with the state government has trained 185 youths in digital photography.
In the age of social media and instantaneous communication, this training could not have come at a better time.
I am glad that the youths who participated in the training would be given the tools they need to translate their knowledge to practice. I want to encourage them to use the equipment that would be given to them judiciously and responsibly and tap from their training to make a difference in their individual communities.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am also pleased to note that the trophy won by our state female hockey team in the 2019 National Super League Championship is a measure of the team’s resilience, discipline and team spirit. Their success is a pride for us all.
I want to assure you that we shall continue to support sports development in the state by encouraging our talented sportsmen and women to compete in various sporting championships and competitions.
With these words, let us now go ahead with the distribution of cheques to CSDP beneficiary communities, the empowerment equipment and the presentation of the trophy won by our female hockey players.
Thank you so much
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of the First Yobe Agricultural Retreat
16th September 2019
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
As we begin this First Yobe State Agricultural Retreat, let me express my deepest gratitude to all the leaders and experts and other stakeholders who are gathered here today.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of the First Yobe Agricultural Retreat Taking Place at the Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu on 16th September 2019
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
As we begin this First Yobe State Agricultural Retreat, let me express my deepest gratitude to all the leaders and experts and other stakeholders who are gathered here today.
As in many states across the country, a majority of our people here in Yobe State engage in farming as a primary source of livelihood. Agriculture is the linchpin of our economy.
But at a time when our country continues to look for ways to diversify the economy, create more jobs and lift people out of poverty, it does not seem as if we are making the best of agriculture as the best alternative for wealth creation. Despite abundance of land and the energy of our people, agriculture here in Yobe State still remains largely subsistent.
And despite the commendable effort of previous administrations in the state, there are still challenges to be met. Low productivity of the traditional agricultural system, weak research and extension service, limited access to improved seeds, low level of agricultural mechanisation, poor access to credit facilities – all these are factors that hamper the flowering and development of agriculture in the state.
I believe that with a little more effort, we can do better. I believe agriculture holds the key to boundless opportunities that our people can tap into to significantly improve their living conditions. This is why we thought it is appropriate to bring together the cream of experts and professionals that we have here today to deliberate and chart the way forward for agriculture in the state under the theme “Enhancing Agricultural Activities for Food Security and Economic Growth”.
Our objective is to make sustainable agriculture, as an ‘integrated system of plant and animal production practices’, once more the engine of job creation and a path to sustainable development and prosperity in Yobe State.
We are hoping for this retreat to help shine the light for us for how we could best strengthen agricultural planning, how we could more effectively utilize research findings, and what new techniques to adopt to enhance agricultural production, processing and marketing in the state.
At the end of this four-day event, we will form an Expert Working Committee to thoroughly digest all the presentations and recommendations to be made so as to formulate implementation strategies for the State Government. The Expert Working Committee will be chaired by Professor Abba Gambo, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Yobe State University, Damaturu.
At my direction, the acting Secretary to the State Government will begin work immediately on the formation and membership of the Committee.
Let me end this brief remark by wishing all stakeholders and participants a fruitful retreat and memorable stay in Yobe State.
Thank you.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Presentation of Scholarship Award Letters and Computers to 69 Law Graduates Going for Bar Studies at Nigerian Law School Campuses
15th January 2020
Remarks Made by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Presentation of Scholarship Award Letters and Computers to 69 Law Graduates Going for Bar Studies at Nigerian Law School Campuses on Wednesday 15th January 2020
Remarks Made by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Presentation of Scholarship Award Letters and Computers to 69 Law Graduates Going for Bar Studies at Nigerian Law School Campuses on Wednesday 15th January 2020
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyil Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah
Let me begin by congratulating all the law graduates who are here today and who will soon take the next step in their academic career by joining the Nigerian Law School.
I want to congratulate you for all the hard work and all the dedication that have brought you to this day. And, as you go for your bar studies at the Law School, please be guided by the same spirit of hard work and discipline and commitment to your chosen profession that have defined your academic lives.
This is because the law school is your next step to a life of service as lawyers and solicitors and advocates.
To practice as a lawyer and to appear in any court as a legal counsel, it is a fundamental requirement that you pass your bar exams at the end of your one-year stay at the law school.
I therefore encourage you to dig in, and to study hard, and to roll up your sleeves. I encourage you to do you best so that one year from now, all of us here in the state will be so proud of you.
I am very confident you would do Yobe proud, and shine as examples for those behind you who are now pursuing their law degrees here in our state university and in other institutions of learning across the country and the world.
In order to support you to achieve, the Yobe State Government is taking responsibility for your registration and tuition fees and your wardrobe allowance. Our administration would also provide you with the books and computers that you need to study and to succeed. The sixty-nine beneficiaries will receive a cumulative package of about Thirty-Eight Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira.
As you may have noticed, education is one of our administration’s key priorities. A good education is the key to a decent, middle-class life. Education is what prepares you for a life of service and equips you with the capacity to contribute to the development of your state and your nation. As someone said, “knowledge is the currency of today’s economy”.
It is to re-position our education sector that our administration is taking various measures and committing so much resources so that our children in Yobe and our youths and all our people who want a good education can have access to it.
We have organised an education summit, and tomorrow the full report of the Summit Committee of Experts on Basic and Secondary Education will submit their report to me. I want to assure you and all the people of our state that we would implement and be guided by the committee’s recommendations as we implement the measures necessary to revitalize education in the state.
We have also split the ministry of education into the ministry of basic and secondary education and the ministry of higher education so that we devote the attention and resources necessary to make each function effectively. And we are taking other measures to improve education, including science education through the establishment of STEM Schools.
In short, our education sector is poised for progress as a result of the measures we have taken and the measures that we would continue to take.
In conclusion, I want to return to the issue I raised at the beginning of my speech, about the issue of responsibility and hard work. Please remember that you are Yobe’s ambassadors in the various campuses of the Nigeria Law School. This is a huge responsibility. I hope you would take it with broad shoulders and set good examples for others to follow.
Thank you. God bless you. And I wish you success in all your endeavours.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration and Launching of the Emblem Appeal Week
30th December 2019
PROTOCOLS
Assalamu Alaikum
Let me begin by welcoming you all to the flagging off of this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration and launching of the Emblem Appeal Week.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration and Launching of the Emblem Appeal Week on Monday 30th December 2019
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyul Karim
PROTOCOLS
Assalamu Alaikum
Let me begin by welcoming you all to the flagging off of this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration and launching of the Emblem Appeal Week.
This event is organized to acknowledge and commemorate the contributions of our gallant soldiers and veterans and to appreciate their sacrifices on behalf of our security and our collective wellbeing.
It is a known fact that the patriots that we are gathered here to honour and to remember have sacrificed their lives for us – to resolve conflicts and ensure peace not only in our communities, our state, or our country but even in different parts of the world. Many of those veterans fought during the First and Second World Wars, and during our nation’s Civil War to keep our country together. They have participated in peace keeping operations in different parts of Africa and in other parts of the World under United Nations Peace Missions.
They have also participated in internal security operations, particularly in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of criminal activities. They did all this in defence of our liberty, and the promotion of peace, unity and our collective security.
In everything they have done during their years of service, the ex-servicemen have exhibited a high degree of loyalty, courage and a selfless devotion to the nation they are so proud to defend. It is sad that some of these patriots have lost their lives in the line of duty and, as a result, have left behind defendants including wives, children, parents and other relations. Many others have lost a part of themselves in the battlefield and have returned disabled.
It is therefore fitting that we gather every year to show our respect to the gallant heroes and heroines who have sacrificed their lives for us and to honour their memory. That is why the launching of the Emblem Appeal Week has remained an avenue for us to reflect on the causes and consequences of war and conflict. In doing so, we bring to mind their sacrifices and resolve to ensure that their welfare is well taken care of.
We will also use the week-long celebration to offer special prayers for the repose of the souls of the fallen heroes and raise funds to assist those left behind by them.
Let me, therefore, use this medium to appeal to individuals and humanitarian organizations, corporate bodies and other stakeholders to donate generously to the coffers of the Nigerian Legion’s Welfare Fund.
I have also noted the requests made by the State Chairman of the Nigerian Legion in his speech a few moments ago and I want to say that they will be treated appropriately.
Let me reiterate my commendation to the officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigeria Police, other security agencies and the Vigilante Groups for the great role they have played and are continuing to play in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency. I want to assure that our administration will continue to provide all the logistic support that the security agencies need to achieve in order to our security objectives.
I wish to urge our people to continue to pray for the repose of the souls of the fallen heroes, improved security in our state, the North-East region and the country in general.
Before I end my speech, on behalf of the Yobe State Government, I wish to announce a donation of N…to the Emblem Appeal Fund for the welfare of our veterans.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech at Closing Ceremony of Six-Week Training for Youths and Women on Small-Scale Production of Text-Coat and Emulsion Paint
30th December 2019
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State’s Speech at Closing Ceremony of Six-Week Training for Youths and Women on Small-Scale Production of Text-Coat and Emulsion Paint at the August 27th Stadium, Damaturu on Monday 30th December 2019
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State’s Speech at Closing Ceremony of Six-Week Training for Youths and Women on Small-Scale Production of Text-Coat and Emulsion Paint at the August 27th Stadium, Damaturu on Monday 30th December 2019
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyul Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
I am delighted to address you today as you close the six weeks long training on paint production that was provided to 680 youths drawn from the 17 local government areas of the state.
I want to commend the local government councils for conceiving the idea to train these youths and for jointly funding the training. This is a commendable initiative which perfectly syncs with our administration’s policy to provide the skills and the training that our youths need to be able to stand on their feet and support themselves and their families.
Our administration recognises the fact that our youths are the building blocks of the brighter future that we desire, and so we must strive to spare no effort to prepare them for a life of responsibility and service, one in which they are gainfully self-employed and self-reliant.
I know that the distinguished resource persons and trainers who have been with these youths over the last six weeks have made remarkable impact on the trainees by imparting the skill of paint making. It is my expectation that, going forward, the beneficiaries will establish their own small-scale businesses and even become employers of labour in the years to come.
As the paint and emulsion making training for the youths has come to an end, I appeal to the trainees to make the very best use of the set-up packages given to them in the form of raw materials, equipment and accessories. Please do not sell them off. You need them to achieve the desired objectives for which the training was organized. This is one of the most effective ways in which the necessary avenues creating for small scale enterprises and start-ups in the state will be achieved.
I wish to further emphasise that a monitoring mechanism will be put in place to assess performance of the beneficiaries and we will reward the group or groups of trainees that excelled in managing the support given them.
I want to assure our youths in the state that other training programmes for job and wealth creation will be organized periodically to enable them to learn and become self-reliant. Similarly, as part of our administration’s resolve to explore avenues of economic empowerment for the people, I have approved the establishment of a jobs portal that will harmonise and unite our effort at providing job opportunities for our youths and our people generally.
In conclusion, I wish to urge the Local Government Councils to continue to explore other avenues of job creation to complement the efforts of the State Government for the attainment our goals. Our administration will also take the necessary steps to collaborate with relevant agencies and development partners including the National Directorate of Employment, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Investment Programme, Bank of Industries, among others, to achieve the overall socio-economic development objectives of our State.
We will also resuscitate and equip all the Basic Engineering Science and Technical Centres in the State to continue with the good work they have been doing in the area of skill acquisition for gainful self-employment.
With these few remarks, I now have the honour and privilege to declare the six-week training programme for youths on text-coat and emulsion paints making closed. I also wish to make symbolic distribution of some of the empowerment packages to select group of participants.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Ground-Breaking Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Potiskum Truck Transit Park
4th September 2019
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of Ground-Breaking Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Potiskum Truck Transit Park on Wednesday 4th September 2019
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of Ground-Breaking Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Potiskum Truck Transit Park on Wednesday 4th September 2019
Protocols
Ladies and Gentlemen
Assalamu Alaikum
We stand here today on the threshold of a historic new dawn in the socio-economic development of our state. As we all know, economies that do better are those that take investments in the wellbeing of their people seriously. Whenever the government and the private sector work harmoniously together, overall productivity among the populace tends to rise, and this always results in a prosperity that is widely shared.
I am therefore delighted to welcome you all to this ground-breaking foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of the Potiskum Truck Transit Park under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
I am especially delighted to welcome the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Alhaji Hassan Bello and members of his entourage who are partnering with us in this great effort.
The Potiskum Truck Transit Park is a key pledge that we made during the electioneering campaign. It was also a point I reiterated during my Town Hall Meeting here in Potiskum recently.
We reckoned that as the town with possibly the highest concentration of trailer trucks in the whole of northern Nigeria, Potiskum would be a lot better if we established a Park where the ever-growing trucking business is brought under one roof. If we did that, we believed Potiskum would be a lot cleaner and less congested.
As noted by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in his speech a few moments ago, we also reckoned that the Potiskum Truck Transit Park is going to support up to 5000 direct jobs. These jobs and their positive spin-offs will certainly transform wealth creation in Yobe State and improve the economy overall.
This is why I am thankful to Almighty Allah and proud to perform the foundation stone laying for this very important economic stimulus project today.
We are committed to ensuring the success of the project in every possible way. Consequently, we will ensure that clean, drinkable water, electricity and access road are provided to the site when completed, so that the Potiskum Truck Transit Park is ready for business from the very start.
I want to assure all our partners that the Yobe State Government will continue to take all measures necessary to provide a friendly investment climate in our state. Through the Public-Private Partnership and other such arrangements, we will intensify our effort to promote economic growth and provide more job opportunities for our people.
As I conclude this address, let me thank our partners, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the National Association of Road Transport Owners, for what they have done to make this event a success.
I am also hugely thankful to the people of Potiskum for your very rousing welcome. Your enthusiasm for this project is a clear demonstration of your support for the policies and programmes of our administration.
I urge you all to continue to give your maximum support and cooperation so that the construction of the Potiskum Truck Transit Park and its eventual take-off become a huge success.
With these words, it is now my singular honour and privilege to invite the Executive Secretary and members of the Board of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to join me to lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Potiskum Truck Transit Park today being Wednesday, the 4th of September 2019.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech at Graduation Ceremony of Set 2 Midwives and W4H Learning Event of Dr. Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery
19th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni at Graduation Ceremony of Set 2 Midwives and W4H Learning Event of Dr. Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery on Thursday 19th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni at Graduation Ceremony of Set 2 Midwives and W4H Learning Event of Dr. Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery on Thursday 19th September 2019
• The Speaker State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon. Grand Khadi
• The State Chairman All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Heads of Security, intelligence and law enforcement
• Members of the State Assembly
• Senior Government Officials
• Graduating students and other students of the College
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum
I am pleased to address you today as we mark the graduation ceremony of set 2 midwives and W4H Learning Event of the Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery.
All of the midwives who are graduating today should take enormous pride in what you have achieved so far. You should be thankful to Almighty Allah (SWT) that your hard work has paid off.
I therefore wish to congratulate you and congratulate your parents and husbands for the support they provided to you while you worked to become trained midwives.
As you step out of this institution to join our healthcare workforce, I want all of you to remember the lessons you have learnt here – that as midwives, your job
would be critical to saving lives, preventing maternal and child mortality and improving the health of women and children across the state.
You should therefore do your jobs with professionalism and with patience because our healthcare system needs you.
I want to assure you all that in keeping with our determination to sustain and build on the progress in our healthcare system, we will continue to support this College to meet all its accreditation requirements so that it is better positioned to meet the Human Resource for Health targets in our State.
We will also continue to ensure free maternal and child healthcare, regular supply of drugs and consumables to our hospitals and we will support all the active primary healthcare facilities in the State.
Let me use this occasion to once again thank all our development partners in the healthcare sector. We appreciate your support. We are grateful to you and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with you so that together, we can achieve universal healthcare for all.
I want to particularly commend the efforts of Women for Health (W4H) and the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI) for supporting the College to train its students. I was told that Women for Health would do an exhibition of Health Learning Resources and the PCNI would hand over some vehicles it has donated to the College. Thank you so much for what you are doing on behalf of our students and our healthcare system.
On the requests made by the College Provost in her speech a while ago, I want to assure that we will consider them within the limits of resources available to the state government.
But let me announce right here, right now that contract will soon be awarded for the construction of a girls’ hostel inside of the College campus. At my direction, the acting Secretary to the State Government will begin work immediately to ensure that the construction of the hostel begins in earnest.
I want to end this brief address by encouraging the College management, academic and non-academic staffs to continue to apply yourselves to ensure that our future nurses and midwives get the rigorous training and mentorship they need to be of service to humanity.
To the graduating midwives, Congratulations once again!!
Thank you so much.
ADDENDUM
Pls note that the governor has approved the recruitment into the state health service of all the 37 graduating midwives on the basis of the request from the provost of the College.
The governor has also approved a 100 percent increase in the monthly allowances of all the nursing and midwifery students of the College.
Pls also note that the new hostel to be built will be a two-storey 200-bed capacity hostel.
Governor Buni’s Speech at the Opening of Retreat Organised for Members of Yobe State Executive Council
26th November 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Signing into Law the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills at WAWA Hall, Government House Damaturu on Monday 30th December 2019
How We Can Write a New Chapter in Yobe State’s Development – Gov. Buni
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni at the Opening of Retreat Organised for Members of Yobe State Executive Council Designate at Porto Gulf Hotel, Kano on Tuesday 26th November 2019
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyul-Karim
Protocols
Let me begin by congratulating all our commissioners-designate for your nomination as members of the State Executive Council and also for your successful screening by the leadership and members of the Yobe State House of Assembly.
In less than two weeks from now, all of you would be deployed to your respective ministries of assignment and I do not need to tell you that our entire state is looking forward to that and anxiously waiting to see what you can do to help in improving the lives of our people.
There is a reason for this sense of anticipation. Since our administration came on board a little over five months ago, the actions we have taken so far have generated interest and rekindled so much hope among our people about the promise of our future. People across the state are very excited that our state is poised for progress. They are excited that we are exemplars of our own mantra of continuity, consolidation and innovation.
Just take a look at some of the data.
Since the commencement of our journey on May 29th, 2019, we have continued to fund and support our healthcare sector, strengthening its capacity to provide quality, affordable care for our people. We have maintained regular and timely payment of salaries, pensions, gratuities and other benefits to government workers. Today, Yobe is noted as one state where workers have the certainty of a dignified and peaceful retirement because they do not have to worry about getting their retirement benefits and other entitlements.
Since taking over the mantle of leadership, we have also moved farther along in completing the construction of our International Cargo Airport. This is a project that is certain to open up our state to the world and complement our effort at making Yobe State a hub for the export of agricultural produce. This is an issue to which we place a lot of importance.
While continuing with these projects that I mentioned, we have also begun to take steps to re-order our socio-economic priorities by placing our state firmly on the road to turning our abundant agricultural and solid mineral resources from potentials to actual prospects.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, as you are aware, the currency of today’s economy is knowledge. A society that gets its education right would always get its socio-economic development on the right path. This is true across the globe. This is why we strongly believe that it is important that we make education our number one priority in the state.
As our first order of business, therefore, we began taking the steps necessary to revitalize our education sector and provide the best possible opportunities for our people to have access to qualitative education. We organised and hosted an education summit – the first of its kind in the state, set up an expert technical committee on the revitalization of basic and secondary education and moved to ensure that only qualified teachers stand in front of the classroom to teach our children.
I am glad to inform you that we have already began to implement the recommendations of the Interim Report submitted by the Committee.
As part of this, I have approved for the establishment of a teacher training and curriculum development center. I have also approved for the establishment of three Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education schools, one in each of our three senatorial districts.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it would interest you to note that the expert technical committee for the revitalization of basic and secondary education has also identified well over 400, 000 out of school children in the state. I strongly believe that this is an issue that requires urgent attention through the integration of the Tsangaya/Qur’anic school system with the formal education system in the state.
Because Yobe is generally regarded as an agrarian state, we have also seized the moment to try to re-position the agriculture sector. To make meaningful progress, we brought together key stakeholders – experts, academics, farmers, farmer associations, oversight and regulatory agencies, and the private sector in an agricultural retreat to tap from their experience, knowledge and expertise to help us chart the way forward.
Today, as a result of the insights that have emerged from those deliberations, we are in a position to begin implementing the most ambitious agricultural renewal and development programme in the history of our state.
We have also made real our pledge to resuscitate some of our dormant, non-functioning industries in the state, including the Yobe Flour and Feed Mills, Yobe Woven Sacks Factory and the Yobe Aluminium Company. Bringing these industries back to production would provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs to people across the state.
As some of you might be aware, we have also stepped up our interactions and contact with our development partners. We are mindful of the fact that to fully recover from the devastating effects of the Boko Haram insurgency, we need an all-hands-on deck approach to development where the federal government, development partners and our state government pool resources together to help our people recover and rebuild their livelihoods.
The State Government has also demonstrated its commitment to empowerment and human capital development through the training that it is are currently providing in paint production to over 500 youths across the state.
We are demonstrating – with that training – that we are not just going to provide the proverbial fish to our youth. More importantly, we are going to teach them how to fish – so that they could have as much fish as they are ready to work for.
We have also begun the construction of an Ultra-Modern Market in Damaturu at the cost of N2.8 billion and set in motion the construction of a modern Trailer Transit Park in Potiskum in partnership with the Nigerian Shippers Council. When completed, the Park is projected to provide up to 5000 jobs for the people.
We have also commenced the construction of township roads and drainages in Bun-Yadi, Damagum, Babbangida and Jajimaji towns to make commuting in these towns easier for the people and guard against flooding.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen let me say, therefore, that we can take enormous pride in all the things we have accomplished so far.
It is also gratifying that the Progressives Governors’ Forum Secretariat, in a recent survey, has placed Yobe State as the second-best state in terms of new governance initiative among all APC-led states in the country. A recent survey also found that Yobe has the second highest allocation for education in the 2020 budget among all states of the federation. That shows that our development strategy is being recognised.
But that is just the beginning of the story. The full story is that we still have a long way to go; we have so much work to do to develop our state and improve our people’s living conditions.
This is the issue to which I now want to turn my attention.
I have said before that our administration is anchored on continuity, consolidation and innovation. This means that we are not here just to maintain what we have achieved in the past. We are here to renew our promise and to expand opportunities. We are here to build our state further. We are here to take Yobe firmly to the next level.
I don’t need to tell you that taking Yobe to the Next Level requires enormous sacrifices on your part. As members of the State Executive Council, you would be required to roll up your sleeves and to fully join in this effort.
It means that you would have to regularly think out of the box and try to do things a little differently. You should know that our administration would seek to steer clear of doing business-as-usual. Instead, we would consistently seek to adopt novel and effective ways of delivering service to the people.
At all times, I would expect you to be guided and to abide by the values that we all believe in – honesty, dedication, a sense of duty, and a sense of integrity.
I want you to remember that this administration rode to power on the crest of the support of the people who believed that their votes would translate into practical improvement in their living conditions. We must deliver on that. We must make our people proud of the choices they made during the election and even prouder of the administration they have in place in the state.
As politicians, we should also strengthen people’s confidence in government by keeping our doors open and by maintaining regular contacts with the people at the grassroots.
I am confident that, together, we would write a new chapter in the development of our state by working harder than ever to justify the confidence that the people have reposed in us.
Let me conclude by reminding us that we have so much work to do to move Yobe State forward. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get to work.
Thank you. May God bless us all. Have a fruitful retreat.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Signing into Law the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills
30th December 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Signing into Law the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills at WAWA Hall, Government House Damaturu on Monday 30th December 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Signing into Law the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills at WAWA Hall, Government House Damaturu on Monday 30th December 2019
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyul Karim
PROTOCOLS
Assalamu Alaikum
We gather here today at a time of great promise for our state. As we look to the New Year with the hope and determination to make it the year of Yobe’s socio-economic renewal, let me welcome all our dignitaries and guests who have joined us here today for the signing of the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills.
As you know, our budget is more than a collection of numbers or some statistics. It is our compass about where we are and where we want to go. It is a statement of our values – about the issues that are significant and integral to improving the lives of our people.
So, what we are doing here today is more than a ceremony. It is the first concrete step we are taking to continue along the trajectory of socio-economic development on which our state currently moves and consolidate on the gains we have made.
This was exactly the reason that on 13th November 2019 while presenting the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills on the floor of the State Assembly for deliberation and consideration, I named the 2020 Budget as the ‘Budget of Continuity and Consolidation’. I said its goal is to build on the momentum to revitalize our educational, agricultural and healthcare sectors and to upgrade our infrastructure and build the capacity of our youths to stand on their feet.
On that day as I addressed our honourable legislators, I also reviewed the performance of the 2019 Budget. I stated that the sum of N91.6 billion was budgeted to fund capital and recurrent spending.
As the 2019 fiscal year comes to an end, I want to report that of the N91.6 budgeted for the year, the actual receipts in the coffers of the state government from all projected revenue sources stood at N78, 185, 807, 438.95.
As at now, the total recurrent spending for the year stands at N47, 308, 084, 499.89, which represents 94.7% of the projected sum. The cumulative capital expenditure, on the other hand, stands at N28,732, 936, 853.86 which represents 69% of implementation success.
I am pleased to report that the total percentage of implementation success of the 2019 Budget now stands at 85.3%.
As we look to the New Year, therefore, and the opportunity to make even more impact in the lives of our people, I want to express my deepest appreciation to the Speaker and Honourable Members of the House of Assembly for the expeditious passage of the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills.
This is a significant step that would enable us to continue to execute numerous developmental projects in order to bring about a rapid socio-economic and infrastructural transformation of the state.
The 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills passed by the House and now presented for my assent provides for a total aggregate expenditure of N108, 314, 101, 082. This implies that having subjected our initial proposal of N108, 414, 101, 082 to legislative scrutiny, the budget size was reduced by the House of Assembly by N100 million or by 0.102%.
Out of the N108, 314, 101, 082 passed by the House, the sum of N50, 518, 800, 000.00 has been earmarked for capital expenditure while N57, 795, 301, 082 will be devoted to recurrent services.
I want to assure the Honourable House and the people of the state that our administration’s commitment to transparent, effective and accountable financial and resource management remains resolute. We will In-sha-Allah execute the projects and services appropriated for in the 2020 Budget to the best of our ability.
In keeping with our resolve to take our state to the Next Level of development, I hereby direct all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to renew their commitment to the determination and hard work and dedication needed for a successful implementation of the 2020 Budget.
I also direct the Chief Accounting Officers of the MDAs to uphold the provisions of the Budget and prepare implementation workplans that should and must align with those budgetary provisions. This should be undertaken in conjunction with,
and under the guidance of, the Office of the Secretary to the State Government and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
Let me conclude by speaking to the need to cut wasteful expenditure across our MDAs. In tight budgetary times such as now, we need every ministry and agency of government to be effective and to try to achieve more with less. We also need to implement every possible strategy we have to prop up the revenue we generate internally so that we have the capacity and adequate financial muscle needed to achieve the objectives of the budget.
With these being said, it is now my singular honour to sign into law the 2020 Finance and Appropriation Bills today being Monday 30th December 2019.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Meeting with officials of the World Bank, Country Office Nigeria
13th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During Meeting with officials of the World Bank, Country Office Nigeria Friday 13th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During Meeting with officials of the World Bank, Country Office Nigeria Friday 13th September 2019
The World Bank Country Director
Other Bank officials
Acting Secretary to the Yobe State Government
Senior Yobe State Government officials
Members of my entourage
Ladies and gentlemen
L
et me begin by extending my warmest greetings and regards to the Country Director and members of your staff and to thank you for receiving us here today.
My visit to your country office is also to express the deepest appreciation of the government and people of Yobe State for your support and assistance. Your support and assistance are so integral to our effort to rebuild and reconstruct, as we began seeing the end of the Boko Haram insurgency.
As a result of our partnership with you, we currently maintain eight World Bank portfolios tailored at enhancing our key policies and programmes. These portfolios have a total operational commitment of over 100 million dollars.
I am glad to report that the portfolios are being implemented successfully. I am also happy to note that they are contributing significantly to our recovery from our security challenges and improving the living conditions of our people.
However, I would like to observe that the eight portfolios have so far collectively disbursed just over 50 per cent of the total commitments. Some of them, like the
Nigeria State Health Investment Project (S-SHIP) which our state enjoyed for only two years, are ending soon.
We therefore appeal to the World Bank Country Director to consider extending the operational timespan of those portfolios that could not meet their target due to late commencement of activities.
We also want to be included in the Multi-Phased Approach (MPA) scheme, so that we could use the facility to make more progress in our education and healthcare sectors.
To fully achieve the objectives of the Saving One Million Lives initiative, we would also appeal for an upward review of the funds’ allocation threshold. Currently, the allocation flow does not allow us to make as much progress as we would like to.
Above all, we would like for the World Bank to key in and support our major areas of attention – education, agriculture, healthcare, and youth empowerment.
In education, we have declared a state of emergency and empanelled a technical committee to revitalize basic and secondary education. Based on the committee’s report, I have approved the establishment of three STEM education schools and a Teacher Training Centre to improve the capacity of teachers and enhance school administration.
We equally intend to upgrade the Tsangaya Schools in our state to address the problem of out-of-school children and its negative effects on the society. Both the Teacher Training Centre and the Schools require infrastructure, furniture and teaching equipment.
We would also like the World Bank to partner with us to revamp agriculture. Over 70 percent of Yobe’s people engage in mostly subsistence farming. But we know the potentials of our state for agriculture are much more than that. With your support, we can make Yobe the food basket of the nation.
As part our effort to make more progress in agriculture, therefore, we have concluded plans to convene an Agricultural Retreat from the 16th to 19th of September 2019 to tap from the views and opinions of experts and other stakeholders, and to get them to produce a blueprint for the revitalization of agriculture in our state.
If we succeed in agriculture - and we are confident we will succeed - we would be in a position to contribute to food security in the nation, and address youth unemployment and youth restiveness.
As for healthcare, our goal at this stage is to have at least one functional primary health centre in each of the 178 wards of Yobe State. Currently, 97 PHCs are being considered for upgrade. We will need support to upgrade the remaining 81
centres to enable us to reduce maternal and child mortality, especially in the rural areas.
I am confident that the World Bank Country office will continue to support us and partner with us to ensure that we recover and rebuild fully from the very devastating effects of the Boko Haram Insurgency that we suffered in Yobe State for many years.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Reception Organised in Honour of Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly and Engr. Abubakar D. Ali, Hon. Minister of State for Works and Housing
28th December 2019
Being Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Reception Organised in Honour of Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly and Engr. Abubakar D. Ali, Hon. Minister of State for Works and Housing at the Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu on Saturday 28th December 2019
Being Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Reception Organised in Honour of Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly and Engr. Abubakar D. Ali, Hon. Minister of State for Works and Housing at the Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu on Saturday 28th December 2019
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyul Karim
• Your Excellency Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan CON, President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly
• Your Excellency Hon. Idi Barde Gubana (Waziri of Fune), the Deputy Governor of the State
• Your Excellency Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Gaidam, the Chairman Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education and the Chairman of today’s occasion
• Your Excellency, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu, the Honourable Minister of State for Works and Housing
• Comrade Mustapha Salihu, the National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the APC
• Your Excellencies former governors and former military administrators
• Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly
• Your Lordships, the Honourable Chief Judge and Honourable Grand Khadi
• Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives
• Your Excellencies former Deputy Governors
• The Chairman APC Yobe State and leaders of other political parties present
• Honourable Members of the Yobe State House of Assembly
• Honourable Commissioners and Members of the State Executive Council
• Special Advisers
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
• Senior Government Officials
• Your Royal Highnesses Emirs and Mais
Distinguished Invited Guests
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu-Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu
I am delighted to welcome all our guests and dignitaries to Damaturu today as we celebrate and honour His Excellency the Senate President and the Honourable Minister of State for Works and Housing.
While this is a celebration of these two gentlemen for what they are doing to make our country better and make all of us proud, it is also a celebration of our democracy itself.
Relative to many other democracies around the world, our democracy here in Nigeria is young. It is consolidating only since the last two decades. But because of the determination and hard work of politicians and leaders like Senator Ahmed Lawan, our democracy – and many of its institutions – have continued to make remarkable progress.
Of course, this is not to suggest that there were no rough edges that have put a lot of stress on our democratic system of governance over the last 20 years. Over the last four years, between 2015 and 2019 for example, the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the government was anything but excellent. We all know that.
But that uneasy relationship – between the presidency and the senate – was what propelled many in the National Assembly and across party line to seek for a different and new approach after the 2019 general elections. It was what produced the forces and consensus that led to the emergence of a new national assembly leadership, under the Distinguished Senate President Ahmed Lawan, that believes in the significance of a cordial working relationship with the executive as the quickest and surest means of achieving national development.
Today, thanks to his robust leadership and the support of his 108 senate colleagues, the Senate President has restored that vital trust between the legislative and executive branches of the government. For the first time in a very long time, Senator Ahmed Lawan has also restored the January-December budget circle as provided for in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), giving the government the opportunity to more ably deliver on its mandate.
Within six months of becoming the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan has also recorded a slew of other accomplishments, justifying once more the need for a cordial, amicable working relationship between the legislature and the executive.
These include, but are not limited to, the speedy passage of the 2020 finance and appropriation bills, and the passage of the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Policy Paper.
Some of you here may recall that when President Muhammadu Buhari sent the list of his ministerial nominees to the Senate, the Senate President got his senator colleagues to cut short their recess in order to screen the nominees. It is a testament to his leadership that all the ministerial nominees were considered and passed in record time by the Senate.
There is something equally significant, if not more significant about the Senate President, that needed to be told. It is about his character and his vision for the country that he loves.
His entire life is a story of hard work, service and the quest for consensus and compromise. As a university lecturer, he was an inspiration to his students, and many of his former students are getting to the peaks of their careers today because of his mentorship and guidance.
As a scholar and a legislator for over 20 years, Senator Ahmed Lawan understands the need for congruence and harmony between theory and practice, between idealism and realism. He knows that part of the responsibility of the Senate as a co-equal branch of the government is to tamper the legitimate, unceasing demands of the people with the limits of what the government can and should do. That means that the Senate must always be a bridge for our democracy to thrive and our people to prosper.
This is a task to which the Senate President has set himself with remarkable success.
In doing so, he constantly works with his colleagues in the APC and across party line to ensure that the Senate speaks with one voice, and that its main focus remains to legislate for good governance and the security and wellbeing of the people of the country.
We also celebrate the Senate President today because he is from Yobe State. It is an honour that the number three citizen of the country is from our state. We are grateful to all the senators and to Nigerians for making this possible. We are also grateful to the people of Yobe Zone C. It is their support and their votes that made this possible; and this made Yobe State an integral part of the nation’s leadership.
For all this, we are so thoroughly grateful.
His Excellency our immediate past deputy governor and now Minister for State for Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar D. Ali, like the Senate President, is also a colossus of service to the people.
From his years as a civil servant to over ten years as a deputy governor, Engr. Abubakar D. Ali has demonstrated what service and respect and loyalty means. In these exemplary, praiseworthy values, he found his compass. And his life story will forever be shaped by them.
We celebrate Engr. Abubakar D. Ali for what he has achieved so far and for all the things that he will continue to do on behalf of the peace and progress of our nation.
We celebrate him for the example he sets and the inspiration he provides to so many young people who are mirroring and projecting themselves in him, and imagining themselves soaring to higher places if they commit to the values that define his life – loyalty, patience, and service to the people.
Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and ladies, there is no doubt that Yobe State and indeed Nigeria are a lot better today as a result of the services that the Senate President and the Minister of State for Works and Housing provide.
On behalf of the People and Government of Yobe State, I wish them success in their respective assignments. I have no doubt that they will continue to do our state and our country proud. I also have no doubt that they will use their influence to continue to support our effort to develop our state and help our youths to achieve their dreams.
As I end my remarks, let me also use this opportunity to call on Yobe people in every part of the country and in every part of the world to come and invest here in the state. We need Yobeans to set up new factories and farms that could recruit and engage our youths, we need new investments in education and agriculture and healthcare. As you know, these are things that government alone cannot do. The task of moving our state forward must be a collective one.
In conclusion, I have the pleasure to present to each of our honourees today a Sword of Honour, a symbol that as warriors from Yobe State, they will continue to fight towards improving the lives of the people of this country.
I wish all our distinguished visitors and guests journey mercies back to their respective destinations.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech During the Swearing-in of the Secretary to the State Government, Newly Appointed Permanent Secretaries and a Member of the State Pilgrims Commission
16th January 2020
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During the Swearing-in of the Secretary to the State Government, Newly Appointed Permanent Secretaries and a Member of the State Pilgrims Commission on Thursday 16th January 2020 at Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During the Swearing-in of the Secretary to the State Government, Newly Appointed Permanent Secretaries and a Member of the State Pilgrims Commission on Thursday 16th January 2020 at Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyil Karim
• The Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa, Hon. Speaker of the State Assembly
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon. Grand Khadi
• Alhaji Adamu Chilariye, the Chairman APC Yobe State
• Honourable Members of the State Assembly
• Honourable Commissioners and Members of the State Executive Council
• Special Advisers
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies
• Senior Government Officials
• Your Royal Highnesses, Emirs and Mais
• Community, Youth and Women Leaders
• Distinguished guests
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah
A few moments ago, the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Baba Mallam Wali, seven newly appointed permanent secretaries, namely Dr. Mustapha Abba Gaidam, Alhaji Lawan Kolo, Kasim Tijjani Kalli, Zanna Ali Ibrahim, Yakubu Dokshi, Abdullahi Musa Shehu and Engr. Usman Ahmed, and a member of the State Pilgrims Commission, Senator Adamu Garba Talba took their oaths of office and oaths of allegiance.
I want to congratulate all nine of them for their new appointments and join their family, friends and colleagues to wish them Almighty Allah’s support and guidance as they take on their new responsibilities.
The oaths of office and oaths of allegiance they have just been sworn to bind them – and all of us – to a set of values that we must live and exemplify in our public service careers.
These are the values of hard work, honesty, dedication to duty and a commitment to a life of service. These are values that we all believe in. And in places and societies where these values are duly and truly adhered to, they have served as the springboards to transformation and progress, and to practical, measurable improvement in the quality of life of the people.
This applies and should continue to apply to us here in the state as well.
As you all know, progress, in many instances, do not come quick. It requires patience and hard work, and the application of those values that I just mentioned.
So, if we are to make the progress that our state desires and our people deserve, then we have to continue to more carefully and more fully apply ourselves to our individual obligations and official responsibilities.
This is even more urgent right now when we have an array of challenges to meet. More recently, the challenge of the Boko Haram crisis has set back our progress by many years. It is a crisis that has affected our people in many ways and had sapped the very scarce resources that we could have used in more useful and more impactful ways to improve the living conditions of our people.
Because of this and many other challenges, we are required as government officials and public servants to always lead the way with new ideas and new initiatives that could address our challenges and bring about a qualitative improvement in the lives of our people.
I have no doubt that the officials who were sworn into office today would do us proud by joining in the effort to move our state forward.
The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Baba Malam Wali needs no introduction. He is a dedicated public servant who has served in many capacities over so many years, and who was my acting SSG for six months after I took office as governor.
I made the decision to confirm him as substantive SSG in recognition of his hard work and loyalty, and because he fully shares in my vision for the state, a vision borne of my total commitment to make Yobe a better place for all its people. As chief adviser to me and coordinator of government activities, this is a vision that he will work for and seek to accomplish every single day.
The newly appointed permanent secretaries and the member of the State Pilgrims Commission also possess outstanding qualities in their respective capacities as public servants. Their appointments are well deserved and, together with the SSG, I have no doubt they would strive to justify the confidence I have in them and that the people of our state have in them.
As we work to deliver on our commitments and make the people feel that their government is on their side, I call on all of us to re-dedicate ourselves to the task of creating a better Yobe for all its people.
I hope that long after the television cameras are gone when no one is there to report to the public about what we do, we would still stay true to the values we profess, knowing that history would pass a very favourable verdict on us if we served with truth and honesty and dedication and with all our hearts.
Thank you. May Almighty Allah bless our state and our country.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Courtesy Visit by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar
17th October 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Courtesy Visit by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar on Thursday 17th October 2019 at Government House Damaturu
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Courtesy Visit by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar on Thursday 17th October 2019 at Government House Damaturu
- Your Excellency, Hon. Idi Barde Gubana, Wazirin Fune, the Deputy Governor of Yobe State
- The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique B. Abubakar and members of Your Entourage.
- Hon. Speaker, Yobe State House of Assembly
- The Honourable Chief Judge and the Hon Grand Kadi
- The Chairman APC Yobe State
- The Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole
- Other Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
- Members of the State House of Assembly
- Senior Government Officials
- Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the People and Government of Yobe State, I am pleased to welcome the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and members of your entourage on your visit to us here in the state.
This visit is very significant. The Nigerian Airforce plays a very important role in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency. The men and women of the Nigerian Airforce are patriots who continue to do our country proud by undertaking those aerial campaigns to take out terrorist and insurgent camps. We are a lot safer today in Yobe State and the rest of the country because of the services of the Air Force and other branches of our military and para-military forces.
Your visit would therefore give us an opportunity to discuss further and strengthen our commitment to the protection of the lives and property of our people.
Let me use this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for his resolute commitment to fighting the insurgency and ensuring that our state emerges stronger from it.
From ensuring that the military gets the support it needs to the establishment of the North-East Development Commission, President Buhari has remained our strongest pillar of support and succour as we steadily match towards a post-insurgency era.
The Chief of Air Staff, and the Chief of Army Staff and other leaders of our security and intelligence community also deserve our commendation and our gratitude.
Under your able and capable leadership, the Air Force has continued to evolve as a formidable fighting force. Your leadership has ensured that today, we have female air officers and fighter pilots for the very first time in the history of the Air Force. Indeed, you have taken the Air Force to the Next Level. Congratulations for these and many other achievements!
As you continue the effort to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents, therefore, let me assure you that we would continue to strengthen the synergy, collaboration and exchange of information that are the hallmarks of our relationship with the Air Force and other security agencies. Let me assure you also that no sacrifice is too much to support and cooperate with the security agencies to help you to maintain law and order and ensure the security of life and property of our people.
We hope that the officers and men of the Nigerian Air Force will continue to develop new strategies for effective intelligence gathering and aerial surveillance of the vulnerable areas of our state so as to mop out any remnants of the insurgents.
Let me reiterate to our people across the state to remain vigilant and to continue to provide useful information to security agents whenever and wherever they notice any suspicious persons or movements. Security is everybody’s business.
And, considering the strategic position of our state in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents, and the fact that we are currently completing an international Cargo Airport here in Damaturu, I wish to request the Chief of Air Staff for the establishment of an Air Force Base in the state. I believe it would be faster and easier for the Air Force to take out Boko Haram bases and hideouts and strengthen our internal security system if we have an Air Force Base in place.
I also request for the establishment of an Air Force Command Secondary School in our State to enable our people benefit from the numerous services that such schools render.
On a final note, I wish to thank you once again for your visit. I wish you and members of your entourage safe journey back to your respective destinations.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the 2019 Cropping Season, Launching of Fertilizer Sales and Distribution of 103 Tractors Jointly Procured by the State and Local Government Councils
5th September 2019
Speech Delivered by Governor Mai Mala Buni on the 2019 Cropping Season, Launching of Fertilizer Sales and Distribution of 103 Tractors Jointly Procured by the State and Local Government Councils at the Damaturu Stadium on Thursday 5th September 2019
Speech Delivered by Governor Mai Mala Buni on the 2019 Cropping Season, Launching of Fertilizer Sales and Distribution of 103 Tractors Jointly Procured by the State and Local Government Councils at the Damaturu Stadium on Thursday 5th September 2019
Protocols
• Your Excellency the Deputy Governor Hon. Idi Barde Gubana (Waziri of Fune)
• The Speaker State House of Assembly Represented by the Deputy Speaker Muhammad Auwal Isa
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon Grand Ghadi
• The Chairman of our great Party, the APC Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Members of the National Assembly
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
• The Acting SSG and the Head of Service
• Permanent Secretaries
• Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Family Homes Funds Limited and his members of his entourage
• Senior government officials
• Local Government Chairmen
• Our Royal Fathers, Emirs and Mais
• Guests
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Four years ago, in 2015, member countries of the United Nations adopted a common blueprint for achieving peace and prosperity in the world. That blueprint resulted in the adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) which are targeted to be achieved by the year 2030.
Ensuring that there is ‘zero hunger’ through improved food production and sustainable food security is the second goal of the SDGs.
Research shows that one of the fastest ways of ensuring improved food production is the availability and use of fertilizers and farming inputs, such as tractors. As I noted here in a speech in this stadium recently, “mechanised agriculture is always more productive and more promising than agriculture that is done through manual labour”.
It is for this reason that I recently approved the procurement of 9000 metric tonnes of NPK fertilizer which is equivalent to 180, 000 bags or 300 truckloads at the cost of N1.71 billion to be made available to farmers across the state.
And it is why we are gathered here today – to launch the sale of these fertilizers and unveil a total of 103 tractors jointly procured by the state government and the 17 local government councils.
As the cost of fertilizer in the open market continues to rise for the average farmer every year, it is important that the state government wades in and provides some support so that farmers could have access to the vital product without much difficulty. Consequently, I have approved that the NPK fertilizers we procured be sold to farmers at the subsidised rate of N3, 000.00 per bag. I have also directed that each local government be given an initial allocation of 3000 bags for the current farming season.
The Fertilizer Distribution/Sale Committees in the Local Government Areas should ensure that there is fairness, transparency and accountability in the distribution process and that proceeds from sales are duly remitted to government coffers.
I want to urge our teeming practicing farmers to make good use of the commodity. Please ensure that you are not tempted by con middlemen who may entice you with the offer to buy at more than the officially approved price. You need the fertilizers. So, keep them and use them to improve your farming output.
As I noted earlier, we have also jointly procured 103 tractors at the total cost of N2, 271, 150, 000.00.
Five tractors will be allocated to each of the 17 local government councils. In each local government, two tractors should be allocated to young farmers, two to elderly farmers and one to women farmers. The remaining 18 tractors out of the total of 103 should be managed by the State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP).
To be effective and valuable, the tractors are to be managed by the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries should remit proceeds from the use of the tractors directly to government coffers. All of the tractors should be used strictly and exclusively within the state.
At my direction, the acting Secretary to the State Government, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs will work together to produce enabling agreements and guidelines for how to use the tractors, and the penalties for any violations of the guidelines.
I hope that our farmers will see increased productivity in this cropping season and in the years to come as a result of this intervention. I pray that we have bumper harvests all across the state.
With these words, I now wish to launch the sale of fertilizers for the 2019 cropping season and the 103 tractors procured by the state government and the 17 local government councils.
Thank you and may Almighty Allah bless our state and our dear country.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Foundation-Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Maternal, New-born and Child Healthcare Complex and the Launching of 28 Customised Tricycle Ambulances
14th January 2020
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Foundation-Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Maternal, New-born and Child Healthcare Complex and the Launching of 28 Customised Tricycle Ambulances at Yobe State University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH) on Tuesday 14th January 2020
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Foundation-Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Maternal, New-born and Child Healthcare Complex and the Launching of 28 Customised Tricycle Ambulances at Yobe State University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH) on Tuesday 14th January 2020
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyul Karim
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
It is fitting that we meet here today at the premises of our State University Teaching Hospital to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a Maternal, New-born and Child Healthcare Complex and to Launch 28 Customised Tricycle Ambulances.
This Teaching Hospital is the crown jewel of our healthcare system, a symbol of the significant progress that Yobe has made in providing accessible and affordable healthcare services to the people of the state.
As a government of Continuity, Consolidation and Innovation, we are determined to maintain and build on our progress in healthcare. It is a progress that is recognised and celebrated both here in the state and across the country. It was why the Federal Government and the World Bank recently approved a grant of 29 million US Dollars (or around N10.5 billion) to our state for emerging as the overall best among the 36 States of the federation in the implementation of the “Saving One Million Lives Programme”.
To make more progress in maternal and childcare and to improve the capacity of the State University Teaching Hospital to more effectively serve as a referral centre of excellence, we approved some funds for the construction of the Maternal, New-born and Child Health Complex for which we are gathered here at the cost of one billion, five hundred and eighty eight million, two hundred and fourty one thousand, five hundred and eighty three naira and thirty four kobo (N1,588,241,583.34). The objective is to strengthen maternal and childcare, thereby reducing the rates of maternal and child morbidity and mortality in the state.
Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as part of our desire to keep healthcare as a priority of our administration, we are working to meet the requirements of the core clinical departments of the State University Teaching Hospital and to ensure the commencement of the Housemanship training programme. This will help meet the human resource gaps in the hospital and achieve the minimum benchmark for accreditation by regulatory bodies.
Going forward, we will engage the services of more medical consultants, medical officers, various levels of nursing staff and other health professionals, including medical laboratory scientists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and radiographers, amongst others, to serve in the Teaching Hospital as senior level personnel.
We also plan to incentivise continuous professional development and provide other opportunities, such as staff housing, in order to continue to track and retain competent personnel working in the Teaching Hospital and the General Hospitals in the State.
Some of you here may recall that as part of our effort to meet and address the infrastructure gaps at Dr. Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, another important healthcare institution in the state, I recently approved the construction of a one-storey, 200-bed capacity female hostel at the cost of N216 million. This was a fulfilment of a promise I made to the students during a recent visit to the College.
Along with our effort to fast track universal health coverage through the rehabilitation and standardization of 53 Primary Health Centres in the 17 local government areas of the state at the cost of N4.1 billion from the Saving One Million Lives funds, it shows that our commitment to a modern and functional healthcare system is grounded in our desire to make Yobe a healthier society.
As you are aware, this ceremony will also mark the distribution of 28 units of tricycle ambulances, procured at the sum of eighty four-million, four hundred and fifty five thousand, five hundred and six naira and eighty eight kobo (N84,455,506.88) to be used to ease transportation for expectant mothers in labour or in emergency situations as a means of reducing maternal, pre-natal and child morbidity and mortality that may follow the complications of pregnancy, labour and delivery.
In keeping with our commitment to revitalize the healthcare sector and make our citizens healthier and capable of contributing to the socio-economic development of the state, we will continue to ensure the provision of free maternal and child healthcare services, regular supply of drugs and consumables to our hospitals, and we will also ensure adequate human resource for health in the State.
Let me use this opportunity to commend the effort of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Ministry of Health and World Bank for the grant approved for our state as a recognition of our achievements in healthcare and the implementation of the Saving One Million Lives Programme. We are also thankful for the support we enjoy from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, World Health Organisation; UNICEF; Department for International Development (DFID); Women for Health and the Society for Family Health.
We are also appreciative of the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Dangote Foundations, humanitarian agencies and other development partners.
I want to assure all our partners that we will continue to work with them to ensure the attainment of Universal Healthcare for all by the year 2030, In-sha Allah.
Let me conclude my remarks by saying that the requests made by the Honourable Commissioner of Health in his speech a short while ago for the recruitment of more healthcare personnel, equipping and furnishing of the Maternal and New-born Child Health complex, provision of medical laboratory and a lecture theatre for medical students and the extension of the owner-occupier housing scheme to medical doctors and other healthcare personnel are noted.
The requests will be attended to within the limits of our state’s budgetary provisions and existing government policies.
With these being said, I want to ask the contractor and supervising agencies for this Maternal, New-born and Child Healthcare Complex project to ensure compliance with specification and construction timelines. I also direct the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Management Board to ensure that monitoring mechanisms are put in place for the effective and efficient use of the customized tricycles ambulances.
It is now my honour to lay the foundation-stone for the construction of the Maternal, New-born and Child Health complex of the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital and also flag-off the distribution of the 28 customized tricycle ambulances.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Courtesy Visit by the Board and Management of the North-East Development Commission
20th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Courtesy Visit by the Board and Management of the North-East Development Commission on Friday 20th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Courtesy Visit by the Board and Management of the North-East Development Commission on Friday 20th September 2019
• The Speaker State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa
• The State Chairman All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Heads of Security, intelligence and law enforcement
• The Chairman of the Board of the North-East Development Commission, Major General Paul Tarfa (Rtd)
• The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Alhaji Mohammed G. Alkali and members of your entourage
• Members of the State Assembly
• Senior Government Officials
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum
It is now well over a decade since the insurgency of Boko Haram engulfed our region. It is now well documented that thousands of lives have been lost as a result. Thousands more have been displaced. For many people, especially in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, it is no exaggeration to say that life would never be the same again, at least for now.
But it is a measure of the concern that the federal government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has for the region that we now have the North-East Development Commission.
Along with the ongoing security effort to restore peace and secure the lives and property of our people, the North-East Development Commission is the clearest statement yet that though Boko Haram had inflicted harm, our resolve to rebuild and recover is unshaken.
I therefore want to express the appreciation of the people and government of Yobe State to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly for making the North-East Development Commission see the light of day.
I am also pleased to welcome the Chairman of the Commission Major General Paul Tarfa, the Managing Director and CEO Alhaji Mohammed G. Alkali and members of your delegation to Government House Damaturu today.
We are delighted to partner with you and work with you as you roll out your intervention programmes. I have no doubt that people all across the North-East are looking up to you and looking forward to hearing from you.
Here at the Yobe State Government, we continue to deploy resources to helping people affected by the insurgency to resume normal life as peace consolidates across the state. Alone and in concert with our development partners, we have begun to restore vital social services, such as potable water supply, electricity, healthcare, agric support to farmers, etc as internally displaced persons return to and settle back in their communities. This way, we have begun to rebuild their confidence and restore their hope of a better future.
But resettlement and reconstruction are some of the hardest fallouts of the Boko Haram crisis. They require huge resources and sustained effort to deliver. They are not things that the State Government can do alone. Resettlement and reconstruction, to rebuild lives and restore hope, necessarily require all-hands-on-deck.
This is why the North-East Development Commission could not have come at a better time. At this time of great need, we need you to come in forcefully; and we need you right now.
Let me now outline some of the key areas where we need you to push the effort to restore hope among our people and make life a little easier for them.
As you may be aware, we have declared a state of emergency in education and we are now at the stage of implementing the recommendations of a technical committee on basic and secondary education. Our objective of setting up the committee, following the education summit we convened recently, was to have a broad range of practical and actionable ideas to revitalise primary and secondary education and provide access to the best education possible for our children.
I have already approved the establishment of three STEM education schools and a teacher training center to both improve science education and the capacity of our teachers to become good mentors and good role models for their students. I have also approved the recruitment of additional qualified teaching personnel so that all of our schools have the teachers they need in all the subjects they offer.
But we need the support of the North-East Development Commission to get our education right. We need you to support capacity building for our teachers and principals. We need you to rebuild our classrooms that have been destroyed by Boko Haram and provide our students with access to new learning facilities. We need to make rapid progress in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics so that our students can have the confidence of becoming tomorrow’s leaders in scientific breakthroughs. We know they have the talent to become coders and even inventors. We just need to show them that it is possible. And we would need your support to that.
Mr Chairman may also be aware that we had convened a four-day agricultural retreat which ended only yesterday to generate the opinions of experts and stakeholders to revive agriculture in the state, incentivize farming and make Yobe the food basket of the nation that it can be.
Today, more than 70 percent of our population engages in agriculture. But most of it remains subsistent. With poor access to modern farming tools, poor access to improved seeds and almost zero access to credit facilities, our farmers have remained unable to upgrade their farming practices or compete with others in making agriculture the cash cow that it is.
It is therefore our hope that the North-East Development Commission would partner with us to accelerate agricultural mechanisation in the state and provide the support that our farmers so desperately need.
Mr Chairman and members of the Commission would also agree with me that both education and agriculture are sectors with the highest returns for job creation.
It is precisely for this reason that are we keen to integrate our youth empowerment effort with the possibilities in education and agriculture so that we provide the training and the skills necessary to make youths self-reliant.
The Yobe State Government reckons that youth empowerment is the necessary next step to take as we consolidate on the improved security situation in the state so that we are able to channel the energies of our youths into productive uses. The North-East Development Commission can help the process by working with us to provide skills training for our youths in key trades and crafts so that, going forward, these youths can set up their own businesses, make some money and help their own families.
And lastly, but urgently too, we would like the Commission to help build two key roads in the state to help the process of reconstruction and accelerate the return to full economic activity. These are the Gujba-Ngalda road and the Nguru-Kumaganam-Mayori road.
The Gujba-Ngalda axis is an area that had suffered so much disruption from Boko Haram’s ruthless insurgent activities. People in the area have now returned to their homes. But the difficult terrain has made a return to normalcy so difficult, as people cannot go to and return from their farms and markets easily. Building the Gujba-Ngalda road would surely make things a lot easier for the people and make it even easier for them to rebuild their lives.
Mr Chairman as we partner with you in these and other areas, I want to assure you that the Yobe State Government would give the Commission every support necessary to attain its objectives.
Thank you.
Governor Buni’s Speech Upon Receiving the ‘Torch of Unity’ From the Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Youths, Sports, Social and Community Development
11th February 2020
Brief Remarks by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni Upon Receiving the ‘Torch of Unity’ From the Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Youths, Sports, Social and Community Development on Tuesday 11th February 2020 at the Government House, Damaturu
Brief Remarks by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni Upon Receiving the ‘Torch of Unity’ From the Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Youths, Sports, Social and Community Development on Tuesday 11th February 2020 at the Government House, Damaturu
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyil Karim
• Your Excellency, Hon. Idi Barde Gubana, the Deputy Governor of the state
• The Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa, Speaker of the State Assembly
• Hon. Commissioners
• Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Youths, Sports, Social and Community Development
• Senior Government Officials
• Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to receive the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Youth, Sports, Social and Community Development who are with us here today to deliver the “Torch of Unity” as part of nationwide events preparatory to the 20th National Sports Festival tagged “Edo 2020” scheduled to hold in Benin City in April.
As you are possibly aware, Yobe State has always participated in different editions of the festival since 1991. In the 19th edition held two years ago in Abuja, for example, our state won nine medals in athletics, chess, hockey, judo and taekwondo championships.
The Yobe State Government recognises the role of sports in the promotion of unity and cultural harmony and the cultivation of friendships among the participating athletes and their various states. Sport is also a tool to advance and project our national image globally.
We would, therefore, continue to support our sporting contingents from Yobe State to ensure that they excel in all the sporting competitions that our state participates in, and that Yobe benefits fully from all the endowments of sports.
With these being said, it is a matter of a great pleasure for me to receive the “Torch of Unity” on behalf of the government and people of Yobe State and to return the Torch back to the federal delegation as they move to the next destination in continuation of their nationwide tour.
I wish you success, and Yobe looks forward to “Edo 2020” where our sportsmen and women are poised to bring back trophies and do us proud.
Thank you. May Almighty Allah’s blessings be upon us all.
Governor Buni’s Speech to Flag Off Construction of 3600 Housing Units Financed by Family Homes Funds Ltd Across Yobe State
5th September 2019
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni to Flagg Off Construction of 3600 Housing Units Financed by Family Homes Funds Ltd Across Yobe State on Thursday 5th September 2019 in Damaturu
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni to Flagg Off Construction of 3600 Housing Units Financed by Family Homes Funds Ltd Across Yobe State on Thursday 5th September 2019 in Damaturu
Protocols
• Your Excellency the Deputy Governor Hon. Idi Barde Gubana (Waziri of Fune)
• The Speaker State House of Assembly Represented by the Deputy Speaker Muhammad Auwal Isa
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon Grand Ghadi
• The Chairman of our great Party, the APC Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Members of the National Assembly
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
• The Acting SSG and the Head of Service
• Permanent Secretaries
• Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Family Homes Funds Limited and his members of his entourage
• Senior government officials
• Local Government Chairmen
• Our Royal Fathers, Emirs and Mais
• Guests
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum
We gather here today to push forward one of the key development goals of our administration, that is to provide safe and affordable housing to our people on a mass scale.
I want to thank Family Homes Funds Limited, a subsidiary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, for this partnership to provide 3600 housing units across the state.
As we all know, shelter is a basic human need. Everyone needs a roof over their heads, a place they can call home. Along with other important human needs such as clean water and sanitation, healthcare, security, etc., shelter plays an important role in achieving peace and prosperity. This is why the Yobe State Government is keen to ensure that on a continuous basis, our people have access to safe and affordable housing.
As we flag off the construction of these housing units today, I am pleased to note that the payment of compensation for land acquired for the execution of the project would be shouldered by Family Homes Funds Limited. The value of the land being acquired in each beneficiary local government is currently being assessed.
The 3600 houses to be built under this initiative would be spread across the state, with each of our 17 local government areas benefitting. The houses will be built in two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Each three-bedroom unit will occupy 800 square meters of land while each two-bedroom unit will be allocated 600 square meters of land.
We also plan for schools, health facilities, places of worship, police outposts, fire service stations, mini-markets and children’s playgrounds to be provided within the housing units.
I want to note that over the course of many years, previous administrations in the state have worked to deliver on the housing needs of our people. We will work even harder to ensure that more of our people can have access to houses at affordable rates.
I want to stress, however, that as we work to meet this goal, we would pursue a Yobe First policy, where we will strongly emphasise on local content and local resources to deliver on our development effort.
So, while I urge the Yobe State Housing and Property Development Corporation and the Ministry of Land and Housing to effectively supervise the contractors that will handle the project, I also urge the contractors and suppliers to ensure modest and competitive pricing so that all materials needed are sourced or supplied locally within the state. This way, our businesses will benefit and prosper, the local economy will be boosted, and more job opportunities will be created.
I conclusion, I want to assure our people once again that we will stay focussed on taking every step necessary to improve your living conditions.
Let me now invite the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Family Homes Fund Limited to join me to flag-off the construction of the 3600 housing units in Damaturu and the other 16 local government areas of our state.
Thank you so much.
Speech by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Presentation of Cheques to Beneficiaries of Community and Group Micro-Projects Under the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) YESSO Programme; Distribution of Empowerment Materials Under SDGs; Trophies Won by the State Female Hockey Team; and Implementation of Saving One Million Lives on Friday 6th September 2019.
Your Excellency the Deputy Governor Hon. Idi Barde Gubana (Waziri of Fune)
• The Speaker State House of Assembly Represented by the Deputy Speaker Muhammad Auwal Isa
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon Grand Ghadi
• The Chairman of our great Party, the APC Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Members of the National Assembly
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
• The Acting SSG and the Head of Service
• Permanent Secretaries
• Senior government officials
• Local Government Chairmen
• Your Royal Highness Emir of Damaturu Alhaji Shehu Hashemi II Ibn Umar El-Kanemi
• Beneficiaries of the Empowerment Materials and Equipment
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
We gather here today to celebrate the successes that our state has recorded over the recent period in the implementation of World Bank-Supported Projects. We are also here for the presentation of trophies won by our state in the National Hockey Super League Championship 2019.
These successes show that with a little more effort individually and collectively, our state can rise higher and together as a people, we can achieve our objective of a more peaceful and prosperous Yobe State.
I want to urge our people to dedicate ourselves once more to the values of hard work, truth, honesty and being our brothers’ keepers and our sisters’ keepers. Each of us can contribute to a greater Yobe where we are. Each of us can make a difference.
And now to the issue of the World Bank-Supported Projects. The presentation of cheques will be to nine beneficiary communities for the implementation of group micro-projects and Public Work-Fare Programme under the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). We will also distribute empowerment materials and equipment under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The total cost for the implementation of the eight community and ten group micro-projects is N72, 245, 368.00 with 90 percent of the money being government contribution, and the benefitting communities contributing the remaining 10 percent. The projects to be implemented include construction of classrooms and staff rooms, provision of furniture, drilling of boreholes, tube wells and hand pumps; installation of transformers and community housing, amongst others.
This is just a tip of the iceberg. Since its inception, the Community Social Development Programme (CSDP) has assisted in the implementation of 260 community micro projects worth over N1.1 billion. Over 500, 000 people in various communities have benefitted directly and indirectly.
Under the Youth and Social Support Operation (YESSO), over N684 million was disbursed from May 2018 to date in the implementation of targeted cash transfer to Internally Displaced Persons, underprivileged youths and vulnerable households.
So far, a register of 31, 486 households made up of 162, 707 individuals has been cleared by the World Bank. Eleven more local government areas are in line for similar World Bank Support.
On an even happier note, our state has emerged as the first best performing state in the World Bank Portfolio among 19 northern states; it is also the first in the Northeast and the overall best in the federation in Investment Project Financing under the World Bank.
We are proud of these achievements and we are grateful to everyone who has helped to make them possible.
I am also happy to note that the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs in collaboration with the state government has trained 185 youths in digital photography. In the age of social media and instantaneous communication, this training could not have come at a better time.
I am glad that the youths who participated in the training would be given the tools they need to translate their knowledge to practice. I want to encourage them to use the equipment that would be given to them judiciously and responsibly and tap from their training to make a difference in their individual communities.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am also pleased to note that the trophy won by our state female hockey team in the 2019 National Super League Championship is a measure of the team’s resilience, discipline and team spirit. Their success is a pride to us all.
I want to assure you that we shall continue to support sports development in the state by encouraging our talented sportsmen and women to compete in various sporting championships and competitions.
With these words, let us now go ahead with the distribution of cheques and the empowerment equipment.
Thank you so much
Governor Buni’s Statement on Bayelsa, Kogi Election Results
18th November 2019
Bayelsa, Kogi Election Results: History is Made – Gov. Buni
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni, who has been following the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States since people began piling to the polling stations to cast their votes on Saturday, has described the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the two states as historic and a watershed.
YOBE STATE GOVERNMENT
Office of the Director-General for Press Affairs
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release Monday 18th November 2019
Bayelsa, Kogi Election Results: History is Made – Gov. Buni
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni, who has been following the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States since people began piling to the polling stations to cast their votes on Saturday, has described the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the two states as historic and a watershed.
The governor congratulates His Excellency President Muhammad Buhari GCFR and the APC for the massive endorsement that the people of Bayelsa and Kogi states gave the party and the trajectory of the APC-led leadership under the president.
Governor Buni heartily rejoices with Governor-Elect David Lyon and with the people of Bayelsa State for proving that change was possible and that Bayelsa is poised for meaningful socio-economic progress after having been left behind for many years under successive PDP-led administrations.
The governor also rejoices with Governor Yahaya Bello for his re-election in Kogi State. He describes the victory of the APC in Kogi as an endorsement of the policies and values of the party and the work that Governor Bello has started to move the state forward.
As former national secretary of the APC, Governor Buni salutes the electorate in the two states for their resilience and active participation in the elections despite pockets of untoward incidence, describing the voter participation in the two states as testament to the growth and flowering of democracy in the country.
The governor also commends the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for holding their own feet to the fire to ensure that the elections have been conducted successfully.
Governor Buni prays Almighty Allah (SWT) to grant the two governors-elect the strength and wisdom to successfully steer the affairs of their states for the next four years.
Signed
Abdullahi Bego
Director-General for Press Affairs to His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni
Governor Buni’s Christmas Message
25th December 2019
Gov. Buni Rejoices with Christians on Xmas
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni has expressed his congratulations and best wishes to the Christian faithful across the state and the country as they mark Christmas today.
YOBE STATE GOVERNMENT
Office of the Commissioner for Information, Home Affairs and Culture
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release Wednesday 25th December 2019
Gov. Buni Rejoices with Christians on Xmas
His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni has expressed his congratulations and best wishes to the Christian faithful across the state and the country as they mark Christmas today.
The governor notes that Christmas is a time of worship and coming together of family and of stock taking and looking to the future with hope and determination.
The governor therefore rejoices with Christians on this festive occasion and prays for a peaceful and memorable Christmas celebration across the state and the country.
His Excellency Governor Buni also urges Christians, at this pivotal moment in the life of the nation when all hands must remain on deck to move the country forward, to use the occasion to pray more for peace, security and the progress of our state and our country.
Signed
Abdullahi Bego
Commissioner for Information, Home Affairs and Culture
Governor Buni’s Remarks During North-East Security Summit
5th November 2019
Remark by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During North-East Security Summit Holding at Government House, Maiduguri on Tuesday 5th November 2019
Remark by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During North-East Security Summit Holding at Government House, Maiduguri on Tuesday 5th November 2019
• Your Excellencies Governors from the North-East States
• The Inspector-General of Police and other senior security, intelligence and law enforcement officers
• State Assembly Speakers and legislators from across the North-East
• Other distinguished dignitaries and luminaries
• Ladies and Gentlemen
It is now nearly a decade since Boko Haram insurgents launched their first attack in Yobe State.
Over the last eight years, our people have borne the brunt as the insurgents attacked towns and villages, set schools, public and private buildings on fire, and caused hundreds of thousands of people to become internally displaced.
These are statistics we are sadly familiar with. But Boko Haram is by no means the only security challenge we currently face as a state.
As we transit to a post-insurgency era with the relative peace that our state now enjoys, there are emergent security threats that we are equally very concerned about. The rising cases of rape, kidnapping, robbery, homicide, conflict between farmers and pastoralists, and cattle-rustling are challenges we have to confront seriously.
The Yobe State Government believes that we, as a people, cannot make meaningful socio-economic progress while these security challenges persist. We have to confront them.
Now, it is true that the army, police, civil defence, and other security agencies have done – and still continue to do – their utmost to contain and tackle these security challenges. For this, they have our gratitude and our respect. They also have our unflinching moral and material support, as we have demonstrated on countless occasions, including yesterday when we provided 30 additional new Hilux vehicles for security operations.
But given the unique opportunity that this summit provides, it is pertinent to pause and reflect on how our collective journey has been in addressing our security challenges, and what new ideas we can test in order to fully restore peace and secure the lives and property of our people.
First, we strongly believe that while the military effort to contain the insurgency is necessary, we must actively explore and engage in dialogue. As records show, no conflict of this nature anywhere in the world has ever been resolved solely by military means.
We therefore suggest that we should seek – and use – back channels to open communications and contacts that both sides could trust as credible. Such communications and contacts should necessarily lead to something meaningful.
Second, we also hold the view that the military should open – or reinforce – a ‘safe haven’ for insurgents who desire to defect from the insurgency or repent from their demonstrably evil ways.
Third, we should more forcefully seek to engage the general public in the quest for lasting peace. This is something that we are already doing in Yobe State.
Through deliberate public information and enlightenment campaigns, we should work to make members of the public active partners of our security agencies, by getting them to pass useful information whenever they noticed any suspicious persons or movements.
The security agencies, on the other hand, should show a more friendly disposition to the public who come forward to pass or share information. They should regard every information reasonably provided as useful. They should chase down leads and give members of the public the confidence that their participation and contributions are factored and appreciated.
Security is an all-hands-on-deck affair. Our states in the North-East and our country as a whole would be a lot better when security agencies and the general public work together and remain on the same page against any individuals or groups who threaten our collective security.
Finally, let me reiterate that the Yobe State Government will continue to support, collaborate and partner with our security agencies and with the federal government to ensure that peace is fully restored in the state and across the North-East region.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Remarks During interactive/Familiarization Meeting with Officials of the Saving One Million Lives Program for Results (SOML PforR)
11th July 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Ultra-Modern Market Damaturu on Friday 18th October 2019
1. Entrance gate of the new Yobe State University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH) Damaturu
1B. Front view of YSUTH
2. Reception area of YSUTH
2B. Outpatient section of the State University Teaching Hospital
3. Laundry and restaurant section of the YSUTH
4. A section of the staff housing built at YSUTH
5. Another view of doctors’ quarters at YSUTH
6. Part of the housing accommodation provided at YSUTH
7. A 64-Slide Computerised Tomography (CT) Scan Machine
8. A Fluoroscopy Machine installed at YSUTH
9. A 1.5 aStronic Carl Novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Machine provided at YSUTH
10. Gov. Gaidam (right) looking at photo-therapy machines while listening to an explanation from Health Commissioner, Dr. Muhammad Bello Kawuwa (left)
11. A Boyle’s Anaesthetic machine installed in one of three theatres at the State University teaching Hospital
12. A Mammography machine installed at YSUTH
13. Digital X-Ray Machine
14. A dental unit at a dentist office at YSUTH’
15. A look at one of the YSUTH wards
15B. A nursing station in the hospital
16. Another ward in the hospital
17. Infant warmers at YSUTH
18. A yet another medical ward at YSUTH
19. Orthopaedic beds installed at the teaching hospital
20. Obstetric delivery beds
21. An ophthalmoscope machine in one of the doctors’ offices at YSUTH
22. Gov. Gaidam (left) listening as Health Commissioner Dr. Kawuwa explains a point during the governor’s inspection visit to YSUTH
23. Gov. Gaidam in one of the medical wards at YSUTH’
24. One of the theatre rooms at YSUTH installed with a ceiling theatre lamp
25. Modern hospital beds at YSUTH’
26. The entrance gate to the newly built College of Medical Sciences at Yobe State University (YSU)
27. The Medical College entrance gate from the inside
28. A view of the College of Medical Sciences
28B. Another view of the College of Medical Sciences, YSU
29. Medical biochemistry department of the College of Medical Sciences
30. Department of Human Anatomy at the College of Medical Sciences
31. A view of one of the departments at YSU’s College of Medical Sciences
32. A view of the twin theatres at YSU’s Medical College
33. Medical Sciences College Library
33B. Office of the Provost, College of Medical Sciences
33C. Animal House at the Medical Sciences College
34. Two 250KVA Power Generating sets and water system installed at the Medical College
35. Gov. Gaidam (second left) listening to comments from the Head of Department of Human Anatomy, Prof. Ahmad Sonhalla Mohamed Khalifa (third left) during the governor’s visit to the Medical College recently
36. One of the human anatomy department’s laboratories at the Medical College
37. Newly built Accident and Emergency unit at State Specialist Hospital, Damaturu
38. Newly built radiology department at State Specialist Hospital Damaturu
39. One of the walk-ways provided at the State Specialist Hospital Damaturu
40. Part of the newly built staff offices at Gaidam General Hospital
41. A medical ward in the totally rebuilt Gaidam General Hospital
42. Main administrative office building provided by the Gaidam administration at State Specialist Hospital Damaturu. It is one of 13 new ward and office buildings at the hospital
43. A view of one of the medical wards at State Specialist Hospital Damaturu’
44. Gov. Gaidam and other officials during one of his inspection visits to State Specialist Hospital Damaturu
45. A view of one of the new housing units built by Gov. Gaidam at Specialist Hospital Damaturu
46. Another view of new staff housing at Specialist Hospital Damaturu
47. A view one a living room in one of the doctors’ quarters at State Specialist Hospital, Damaturu
48. Main entrance of Gaidam General Hospital totally rebuilt by Gov. Gaidam
49. One of the walkways at Gaidam General Hospital
50. Gov. Gaidam administering the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) on a child during one of the Immunization Plus Days in the state capital
50A. Gov. Gaidam washing off after administering OPV during one of the immunization rounds in Damaturu
51. A view of a section of staff housing at the totally rehabilitated Gaidam General Hospital
52. A view of a Special Care Baby Unit built at Gaidam General Hospital
52B. One of the renovated senior staff quarters at Gaidam General Hospital
53. A view of the rehabilitated and upgraded Damagum General Hospital
54. Gov. Gaidam looking at the drugs inventory at Damagum General Hospital during his inspection visit to the hospital
55. Gov. Gaidam in a theatre room at Damagum General Hospital when he visited to inspect newly installed equipment there
56. Gov. Gaidam (middle) in a chat with hospital and ministry of health officials during his visit to Damagum General Hospital
57. Front view of General Hospital Gashu’a which is currently undergoing total renovation by the Gaidam administration
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Ultra-Modern Market Damaturu
18th October 2019
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Some of you may recall that on May 29th, 2019 during our inauguration, we made policy pronouncements that our administration will embark on the construction of modern markets across the state.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for the Construction of Ultra-Modern Market Damaturu on Friday 18th October 2019
• Your Excellency Hon. Idi Barde Gubana, Waziri of Fune
Deputy Governor Yobe State
• The Rt. Hon Ahmed Lawan Mirwa
Speaker Yobe State House of Assembly
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon. Grand Khadi
• The Chairman APC Yobe State Alhaji Adamu Chilariye
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement
• Hon. Members of the State Assembly
• Senior Government Officials
• Chairmen of Local Government Caretaker Committees
• Our Royal Fathers
• Officials and members of Marketers’ Associations
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Some of you may recall that on May 29th, 2019 during our inauguration, we made policy pronouncements that our administration will embark on the construction of modern markets across the state.
The foundation-stone laying ceremony we are marking today for the construction of the Damaturu Ultra-Modern Market clearly demonstrates our commitment to the economic development of our state.
I want to thank the people of Damaturu for the enthusiasm you have shown for the project and the generous welcome you have accorded us.
As you all know, markets are an important building block of any prosperous economy. Buying and selling - the exchange of goods and services – always generates the momentum that results in more economic growth.
With the new markets we are building in Damaturu and other towns across the state, we hope to unleash the power of the market to accelerate economic growth, provide jobs for the people and encourage the private sector to produce and to innovate.
The Damaturu Ultra-Modern market will be built by EURO AFRIC ENERGY LTD at the cost of two billion, eight hundred and thirty-seven, six hundred and ninety-seven, five hundred and fifty naira and twenty-five kobo (N2, 837, 697, 550.25). The project will entail the construction of open and lock-up shops, administrative building, wall fencing, exit gates and gate houses, concrete pavements, mosques, roads and drainage, electrification, water supply, parking lots, toilets, and fire service and police outposts, amongst others.
The market, according to our agreement with the construction company, will be completed within a period of 12 months.
It used to be that the running of the Damaturu Sunday Market was vested in the Damaturu Local Government Council. That was the case since the creation of our state over 28 years ago. But times have changed. With the dilapidated and inadequate structures in the market and the urgent need to boost economic growth, we thought it is necessary for us to intervene at the state level; and this is exactly what we are doing right now.
We are confident that this would ensure that we have in place here in the state capital a standard and appropriate business environment and a one-stop location for all kinds of items and products.
I want to stress that in keeping with our determination to further develop the state, we would continue to provide incentives for individuals and organisations to invest and to launch new business ventures and to grow the economy.
I want to urge the people of Damaturu, particularly the traders and marketers who are the major beneficiaries of this project to cooperate with the construction company and with all relevant officials to ensure adherence to specifications and timely completion of the modern market.
To ensure that the objectives for which the market is built are fully achieved going forward, we plan to incorporate it as a Limited Liability Company. At my direction, the acting Secretary to the State Government will therefore immediately commence work for the drafting of the enabling law for the establishment, powers and functions of the market.
With these being said, it is now my singular honour and duty to flag off the construction of the Ultra-Modern Market, Damaturu today Friday 18th October 2019.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Board Meeting for the Stabilization Project
20th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State Represented by His Excellency Deputy Governor Idi Barde Gubana During Board Meeting for the Stabilization Project at UN House, Abuja on Friday 20th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State Represented by His Excellency Deputy Governor Idi Barde Gubana During Board Meeting for the Stabilization Project at UN House, Abuja on Friday 20th September 2019
Protocols
Your Excellencies the Governors of Borno and Adamawa States
Your Excellency the Resident Representative of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
Representatives of Security and Law and Enforcement
Other UNDP Officials
All our Development Partners
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning.
As His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni has said during his meeting with the UNDP Resident Representative Mr Mohammed Yahaya on Tuesday 10th September 2019, the Regional Stabilization Facility launched in Niamey, Niger Republic in July 2019 demonstrates the commitment of the United Nations and other development partners “to support our country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to meet the security challenges in the North-East”.
We are therefore pleased to note that concrete steps are already being taken to ensure the Stabilization Facility is deployed to achieve the purposes intended.
His Excellency Governor Buni has outlined four key areas where the Stabilization Facility would make the most impact in Yobe State. And these are education, healthcare, agriculture and youth empowerment.
The disruptions to social and economic life of the people of Yobe State by the Boko Haram insurgency were so massive and so severe that these four areas the governor has mentioned have been rendered so weak and so ineffective.
As we rebuild and reconstruct, we are certain that the Stabilization Facility would complement our effort to provide a sense of hope once more to our people. We are confident that we would be in a position once again to provide the education that our children need, the healthcare that is so vital to the wellbeing of the people, the agricultural support that would boost food security and the empowerment that our youths need to become responsible citizens.
I am also pleased to note that the selection of Kanamma Town in Yunusari Local Government area and Buni-Yadi in Gujba Local Government area for the first phase of the Stabilization Project represents a good start. Both of these towns have been hit hardest by the Boko Haram insurgency. The populations in these towns are some of the worst affected by deadly Boko Haram attacks.
Let me end this brief remark by conveying the gratitude and assurances of His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni to the UNDP and to all our development partners as we work together to implement the Regional Stabilization Project.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Presentation of Final Reports by the Technical Committee on the Revitalisation of Basic and Secondary Education and the Committee on Agriculture
16th January 2020
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Presentation of Final Reports by the Technical Committee on the Revitalisation of Basic and Secondary Education and the Committee on Agriculture on Thursday 16th January 2020 at Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu
Text of Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State on the Occasion of Presentation of Final Reports by the Technical Committee on the Revitalisation of Basic and Secondary Education and the Committee on Agriculture on Thursday 16th January 2020 at Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyil Karim
• The Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa, Hon. Speaker of the State Assembly
• The Hon. Chief Judge and Hon. Grand Khadi
• Alhaji Adamu Chilariye, the Chairman APC Yobe State
• Honourable Members of the State Assembly
• Honourable Commissioners and Members of the State Executive Council
• Special Advisers
• Heads of Security, Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies
• Senior Government Officials
• Your Royal Highnesses, Emirs and Mais
• Community, Youth and Women Leaders
• Distinguished guests
• Extremely Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah
We are gathered here to mark two key milestones in our match for a better, more prosperous Yobe State.
Over the recent period, the gentlemen and women empanelled to strategize on how we could best reform and revitalize our education and agriculture sectors under the State Technical Committee on the Revitalization of Basic and Secondary Education and the Technical Committee on Agriculture have spent countless hours doing their work.
As experts and stakeholders, they have discussed extensively, did thorough reviews of documents, undertook visits, compared notes, and drew from their commendably wide-ranging and vast experiences to suggest ways for how administration could take the best possible measures to put education and agriculture on the front burner of our developmental drive and use them as catalysts for the progress that we seek.
Today, after so much hard work, the two committees have concluded their assignments and have presented their full and final reports to government.
I want to thank the chairmen and members of the respective committees for your sacrifices, patience, and contributions. I want you to know that the Yobe State Government and indeed the entire people of the state are deeply grateful for your individual and collective contributions and for all the sweat and toil that have brought us to this day. I want to assure you that these reports would be our guide as we take the most comprehensive and far-reaching measures ever in the history of our state to re-position our education sector and modernise and enhance our agricultural practices.
Accordingly, I want to announce that, at my direction, the administration would immediately constitute Implementation Task Forces comprising of the relevant agencies and stakeholders to begin to implement, without delay, all the recommendations of the two reports.
This is because given the fierce urgency of the tasks at hand, we have no time to waste. We need to have schools that equip our children from the earliest ages with the skills they need to succeed in today’s very competitive world. We need to have an education system that could unleash our children’s power of imagination and give them the capacity to be who they want to be in their lives. There are so many children in many communities across the state who wake up every day thinking and dreaming to become doctors, and engineers, and nurses, and teachers and architects. There are so many of them who dream big dreams but who always wonder whether it is possible at all to make those dreams a reality.
This is our chance to turn the tide. After so many attempts in the past, this is our opportunity to give our education sector the highest priority it deserves and provide access to the best possible education for our children.
I know that this is a goal we can achieve together. I believe this to be possible from the insights, and guidelines, and timelines contained in the report submitted by the Technical Committee on the Revitalization of Basic and Secondary Education.
Some of you may recall that from the interim report earlier submitted by the education technical committee, I have approved the appointment of Teacher Auditing and Verification Committees, establishment of Science, Engineering and Mathematics schools in Damaturu, Nguru and Potiskum towns, and I have also approved the establishment of a Professional Teacher Training Centre to be located in Damaturu to improve the capacity and professional development of teachers and school administrators. As a result, about 2,200 teachers have received additional training so far.
So, we have to keep the momentum going and we have to begin right now.
Using the report that has been submitted, it is also our chance to transform, modernise and enhance our agricultural sector.
Today, as shown by the actions of the APC-led federal government under the leadership of His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, agriculture is the most potent and effective means to bring about change in the lives of the majority of the people in the country.
Across the world, nations are increasingly turning to, and strengthening their agricultural sectors, to diversify their economies and build the foundations for a more sustainable, long lasting growth. As agriculture gains prominence, nations are also cutting back on their dependence on oil and other fossil fuels which are now increasingly considered unsustainable and dirty sources of energy.
Our president has shown that our country would not be left behind in the race to achieve global food security. With unprecedented support to farmers, Nigeria is already poised for progress.
Here in Yobe State, we would key into this forward-thinking mantra of His Excellency President Buhari. We will work to contribute immensely to the food security of the nation and thereby lift hundreds of thousands of our people out of poverty through agriculture.
As you all know, we already have the competitive advantage. We have vast and fertile agricultural land for rainy season and dry season agriculture. We have many ponds, streams and rivers to support irrigation farming and, more significantly, we have an enterprising and agriculturally active populace. We will harness these resources and turn them into real advantages.
Going forward, the Yobe State Government will increase even further our budgetary allocations to education and agriculture in order to underpin and underwrite the steps we will take to implement the recommendations made in the two reports that have just been submitted.
Our administration will also continue to collaborate with our development partners so that together, we would continue to implement the measures necessary to achieve the results we desire.
Let me conclude by thanking, once again, the chairmen and members of the two committees for their work.
I want to assure our people in all the nooks and crannies of the state that we are resolute in our determination to ensure that reform happens. And with their support and participation, this is what we have set out to do, beginning today from the reports that have been submitted.
Thank you. May Almighty Allah’s blessings be upon you all.
Governor Buni’s Speech on Meeting with Resident Representative of the United Nations Development programme
10th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on Meeting with Resident Representative of the United Nations Development programme on Tuesday 10th September 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on Meeting with Resident Representative of the United Nations Development programme on Tuesday 10th September 2019
Your Excellency Mr. Mohammed Yahaya, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Nigeria
The Acting Secretary to the Yobe State Government
Chief of Staff
Other Senior Yobe State Government and UNDP Officials
Ladies and Gentlemen
Let me begin by expressing my appreciation and gratitude for the visit by Your Excellency Mr. Mohammed Yahaya.
The United Nations Development programme (UNDP) has been our partner since Yobe State was created 28 years ago. During those years as we navigate through different development challenges, you have stood by us and our country as a whole. We are therefore better as a result of our partnership.
Over the recent period, Yobe State and other states in the North-East have seen even greater challenges with the devastating insurgency by Boko Haram.
This is why we are especially grateful to the UNDP for the Regional Stabilization Facility that was launched in Niamey, Niger Republic in July 2019.
The Stabilization Facility demonstrates the commitment that you expressed during your meeting with our country’s foreign affairs minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyema “to support the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to meet the security challenges in the North-East”.
With our country earmarked to receive over 36 million dollars from the Regional Stabilization Fund during the first two years of implementation, we would like for the UNDP to key in and support the implementation of key development programmes that we have initiated in our state.
First, given the urgency to revitalize our education system and help our children get the best education possible, we have declared an education emergency to address low enrolment levels, poor school infrastructure and issues with the capacity of our teachers to deliver.
We are working on setting up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools and a Teacher Training Centre to improve science education and equip our teachers to be good mentors and good role models for our children.
Second, we are set to upgrade our primary healthcare centres across the state to reduce maternal and child mortality and make it easier for people at the grassroots to access quality medical care.
Third, despite our effort to improve water supply and sanitation, there are still gaps that need to be filled. There are communities, for example, that still have challenges with open defecation that must be addressed in order to take them away from the health challenges that may result.
We have also rolled out youth empowerment programmes, especially through agriculture. Our objective is to significantly reduce unemployment and accelerate job creation. For this reason, we plan to hold an agricultural retreat between the 16th and 19th of this month to bring together stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to help us produce a blueprint and chart the way forward for reviving agriculture.
We would like the UNDP to partner with us and intervene in all the areas I have stated using the regional stabilisation facility that was launched.
Let me also say that as the security situation continues to improve in Yobe State, people who have fled their communities because of the Boko Haram insurgency
have been returning to those communities. We would like the UNDP to work with us and support our effort to rebuild those communities, and reconstruct public and private infrastructure, such as schools, clinics and houses that was destroyed by the insurgents.
I wish to thank Your Excellency once again for the visit. I look forward to working with you and your team at the UNDP as we deepen our effort in addressing our development challenges in Yobe State and improving the quality of life of our people.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech During Meeting with Charge d’ Affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria Kathleen FitzGibbon
13th September 2019
Remarks Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Meeting with Charge d’ Affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria Kathleen FitzGibbon on Friday 13th September 2019
Remarks Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Meeting with Charge d’ Affaires of the US Embassy in Nigeria Kathleen FitzGibbon on Friday 13th September 2019
Your Excellency the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy, Kathleen FitzGibbon
Mission Director for USAID in Nigeria, Stephen M. Haykin
Senior Embassy Officials
The Acting Secretary to the Yobe State Government
Senior Government Officials on my Entourage
Ladies and Gentlemen
B
ilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States go back several years. Our two countries stand together as our leaders work to build and strengthen a democracy that works for all Nigerians.
I want to thank Kathleen FitzGibbon and others on your staff for working with our state, in particular, in our effort to rebuild and reconstruct following the devastating Boko Haram Insurgency.
I also want to express our profound appreciation to the US for the development assistance given to us through the Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiative. The assistance, rendered through the North-East Regional Initiative, aimed to mitigate the conditions that allow for violent extremism to flourish in North-Eastern Nigeria.
This meeting today is an opportunity to discuss other key issues relating to post-insurgency resettlement, reconstruction and peace building in Yobe State and to seek for more US participation in our development efforts.
As Your Excellency is aware, the security situation in our state has improved significantly. We would therefore like for the US and its agencies to scale up your interventions to help us achieve our post-insurgency development goals.
Our major focus now, in addition to rebuilding communities affected by the Boko Haram crisis, is on education, healthcare, agriculture, youth empowerment and infrastructure.
To revamp education and accelerate growth in the sector, we recently convened an education summit which brought together experts, educators, teachers, and parents to brainstorm on the way forward. We have also empanelled a technical committee to revitalize basic and secondary education. The committee has submitted its report and we are currently working to implement its recommendations.
As part of that, I have approved the establishment of three Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics schools to be established in Damaturu, Nguru and Potiskum towns of our state. I have also approved the setting up of a Teacher Training Center to retrain teachers who fall short and to improve their capacity and continuous professional development. We also intend to upgrade our Tsangaya Schools.
The Tsangaya Schools and the Teacher Training Center would do with some support from you, especially through capacity building and the provision of furniture and equipment.
We have also concluded arrangements to host the first Yobe State Agricultural Retreat, which is scheduled for 16th to 19th of September 2019. The objective of the initiative is to enable us to build a strong and robust economy in our state by tapping into the opinions and experiences of stakeholders to move agriculture forward.
I hope you will identify areas of interest through which you would support Yobe State for enhanced agricultural development.
In addition, we require your support to rehabilitate some of the remaining health facilities destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in our state. Improved access to quality healthcare would help reduce maternal and child mortality and help our people live happier, healthier lives.
Your Excellency may also be aware that youths form a significant percentage of our population in Yobe State. We are currently doing a lot to help them get good education through scholarships and become self-reliant through skills training. We hope you will partner with us to ensure that our future leaders get the support and mentorship they need to become useful and responsible citizens.
I want to end by expressing my deepest appreciation to Your Excellency Mr Ambassador for the warm reception and hospitality for me and members of my entourage.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech at the Swearing-in of New Commissioners and Special Advisers
6th December 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni at the Swearing-in of New Commissioners and Special Advisers at the Banquet Hall, Government House Damaturu on Friday 6th December 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of Presentation of Security Surveillance Vehicles Donated by the Yobe State Government to Security Agencies in the State on Monday 4th November 2019
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum.
Let me begin by saying this upfront: The officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are making huge sacrifices on behalf of peace and security in our state and our nation.
They continue to work so hard so that we could sleep with our eyes closed. And in moments of disaster or emergency, they are always the first to rush to the scene, working to save lives.
The people of Yobe State are therefore the better for all the work that our uniformed men and women are doing on our behalf.
I want to thank the Inspector-General, Muhammad Abubakar Adamu for your visit today and for the leadership that you provide for the Nigerian Police. Under your leadership, the police have remained ever committed to the maintenance of law and order, crime detection and prevention, and the protection of people’s lives and property.
However, even with the improvement in security across the state, there is still so much work to be done.
As we all know, insurgents still periodically infiltrate from neighbouring states to carry out attacks against our people. Other criminals also commit other forms of crime, including armed robbery and cattle rustling.
As we move to a post-insurgency era, we also face emergent and continuing security challenges, such as incidences of rape, kidnapping, homicide, and conflict between farmers and pastoralists.
It is clear – we cannot make meaningful socio-economic progress while these security challenges persist. We have to confront them.
It is for this reason that we thought it was necessary to work together with the Nigerian Police to set up a rapid response squad that could deploy anywhere in the state to tackle these challenges and threats.
We are naming this rapid response squad as ‘Haba Maza Squad’.
We know that the officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are gallant men and women who are working so hard. Haba Maza is a mantra that charges them to surge forward and to go after criminals relentlessly. Haba Maza is saying that the gallant officers and men would not allow any breathing space for criminals anywhere in our state.
To achieve the overall objective of ensuring peace and security across the state, the Yobe State Government will today provide a total of 30 Toyota Hilux vehicles procured at the cost of N720 million to the Nigerian Police and other security agencies.
Many of you would recall that over the last seven years, the state government has procured and donated over 400 vehicles as logistics support to the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police, and other security agencies. The 17 Local Government Councils in the state have also been very helpful to them on a regular basis.
At this juncture, I want to call on the Inspector General of Police to establish more police outposts in the state and deploy more officers and men to further enhance security and the maintenance of law and order.
The Police in Yobe State also need more barracks, information and communication equipment, and other forms of operational support. I hope that under your leadership, the capacity of the police in the state would be further strengthened to enable them to perform their duties well.
Let me also request the Inspector General to kindly give special consideration to Yobe State in the recruitment of officers and men into the police force. We have many young men and women who have the desire and qualification to join the Nigerian Police.
Let me end my remarks by reiterating the determination of the state government to continue to do everything necessary to ensure that Yobe remains peaceful and safe for all its people.
And while we are on it, I wish to appeal to our people to continue to support and cooperate with the security agencies by providing them with relevant and timely information whenever and wherever they notice any suspicious persons or movements.
With these being said, I wish to once again welcome the Inspector General of Police on your visit to Yobe today. I will soon make a symbolic presentation of the keys to one of the vehicles for the operations of the Haba Maza Squad.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of Presentation of Security Surveillance Vehicles Donated by the Yobe State Government to Security Agencies in the State
4th November 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of Presentation of Security Surveillance Vehicles Donated by the Yobe State Government to Security Agencies in the State on Monday 4th November 2019
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of Presentation of Security Surveillance Vehicles Donated by the Yobe State Government to Security Agencies in the State on Monday 4th November 2019
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum.
Let me begin by saying this upfront: The officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are making huge sacrifices on behalf of peace and security in our state and our nation.
They continue to work so hard so that we could sleep with our eyes closed. And in moments of disaster or emergency, they are always the first to rush to the scene, working to save lives.
The people of Yobe State are therefore the better for all the work that our uniformed men and women are doing on our behalf.
I want to thank the Inspector-General, Muhammad Abubakar Adamu for your visit today and for the leadership that you provide for the Nigerian Police. Under your leadership, the police have remained ever committed to the maintenance of law and order, crime detection and prevention, and the protection of people’s lives and property.
However, even with the improvement in security across the state, there is still so much work to be done.
As we all know, insurgents still periodically infiltrate from neighbouring states to carry out attacks against our people. Other criminals also commit other forms of crime, including armed robbery and cattle rustling.
As we move to a post-insurgency era, we also face emergent and continuing security challenges, such as incidences of rape, kidnapping, homicide, and conflict between farmers and pastoralists.
It is clear – we cannot make meaningful socio-economic progress while these security challenges persist. We have to confront them.
It is for this reason that we thought it was necessary to work together with the Nigerian Police to set up a rapid response squad that could deploy anywhere in the state to tackle these challenges and threats.
We are naming this rapid response squad as ‘Haba Maza Squad’.
We know that the officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are gallant men and women who are working so hard. Haba Maza is a mantra that charges them to surge forward and to go after criminals relentlessly. Haba Maza is saying that the gallant officers and men would not allow any breathing space for criminals anywhere in our state.
To achieve the overall objective of ensuring peace and security across the state, the Yobe State Government will today provide a total of 30 Toyota Hilux vehicles procured at the cost of N720 million to the Nigerian Police and other security agencies.
Many of you would recall that over the last seven years, the state government has procured and donated over 400 vehicles as logistics support to the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police, and other security agencies. The 17 Local Government Councils in the state have also been very helpful to them on a regular basis.
At this juncture, I want to call on the Inspector General of Police to establish more police outposts in the state and deploy more officers and men to further enhance security and the maintenance of law and order.
The Police in Yobe State also need more barracks, information and communication equipment, and other forms of operational support. I hope that under your leadership, the capacity of the police in the state would be further strengthened to enable them to perform their duties well.
Let me also request the Inspector General to kindly give special consideration to Yobe State in the recruitment of officers and men into the police force. We have many young men and women who have the desire and qualification to join the Nigerian Police.
Let me end my remarks by reiterating the determination of the state government to continue to do everything necessary to ensure that Yobe remains peaceful and safe for all its people.
And while we are on it, I wish to appeal to our people to continue to support and cooperate with the security agencies by providing them with relevant and timely information whenever and wherever they notice any suspicious persons or movements.
With these being said, I wish to once again welcome the Inspector General of Police on your visit to Yobe today. I will soon make a symbolic presentation of the keys to one of the vehicles for the operations of the Haba Maza Squad.
Thank you so much.
Governor Buni’s Speech on the Occasion of the Signing of Agreement Between Yobe State Government and Family Homes Fund Ltd for Construction of 2600 Housing Units in Yobe State
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of the Signing of Agreement Between Yobe State Government and Family Homes Fund Ltd for Construction of 2600 Housing Units in Yobe State
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Occasion of the Signing of Agreement Between Yobe State Government and Family Homes Fund Ltd for Construction of 2600 Housing Units in Yobe State
Hon. Members of the House of Representatives
The Chief of Staff
The Managing Director Family Homes Fund Ltd Mr Femi Adewole
Other Management Staff of the Fund
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I am pleased to welcome you to this historic signing of agreement between our state government and Family Homes Fund Ltd for the construction of 2600 urban and rural housing units in Yobe State at the total cost of N10, 830, 339, 654.00.
This event reflects our policy to provide quality and affordable housing to the people of our state.
In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we believe that affordable housing is a key marker of social progress. When people have comfortable accommodation, they are more likely to have the right frame of mind to engage in meaningful socio-economic activities.
Our plan is to spread the housing units to be built under this agreement so that all parts of the state benefit from them.
Accordingly, we will build 500 units in Yobe Zone A with Gaidam and Buni-Yadi Towns each having 250 units. In Zone B, we will construct 250 units in
Potiskum and 200 units in Damagum Town of Fune Local Government area. In Zone C, we will cite the houses in Gashu’a Town with 250 units, Nguru with 200 units and Machina with 150 units.
The State Capital, Damaturu will have 1000 units of the houses. Of this number, 500 will be cited along Potiskum road, 250 along Maiduguri road and the remaining 250 units along Gujba road.
When completed, the houses will be sold to civil servants and other interested people across the state at affordable rates.
As part of marking our first 100 Days in Office, we will hold a ground-breaking Foundation Laying Ceremony for the construction of these 2600 housing units in Damaturu on 5th September 2019.
With these few words, I want to thank Family Homes Fund Ltd most sincerely for this partnership.
Thank you so much.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu
21st February 2020
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu on Friday 21st February 2020 at Council Chamber, Government House Damaturu
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu on Friday 21st February 2020 at Council Chamber, Government House Damaturu
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyil Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum
I am pleased to address you on this occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the Governing Council of our State University, the Yobe State University Damaturu.
Since its inception, the Yobe State University has been undergoing phenomenal transformations, including massive infrastructural developments, especially under the last administration of Distinguished Senator, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam.
These developments have undoubtedly put the University at the forefront in terms of a good and conducive teaching and learning environment. Let me reiterate upfront that our administration would continue to maintain and improve on the quality of infrastructure at the university in line with the priorities and needs of the institution. This will pave the way for the University to offer new courses, especially those that we need most for scientific, technological and socio-economic development of our dear state.
The composition of the Governing Council as provided by Law consists of members appointed by the Government to represent public interest; ex-officio members and representatives of the Senate of the University. The membership of the new Governing Council of the Yobe State University is, therefore, as follows:
a. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri Esq. - Pro-Chancellor and Chairman
b. Prof. Mala M. Daura, Vice-Chancellor - Member
c. The Deputy Vice-Chancellors (Admin and Academic)
d. Four persons representing variety of relevant interest
of the State to be appointed by the visitor - “
i. Hon. Baba Bukar Machina - “
ii. Arch. Musa Usman - “
iii. Hon. Zakariya Maimalari -
“
e. One person to be appointed by the Congregation
from among the members of the body conversant
with the institutional proceedings;
f. One appointed by the convocation from among the
members of that body;
g. A representative of Ministry of Higher Education
h. A representative of Ministry of Justice;
i. Four persons appointed by the Senate from among the
members of the body;
j. A representative from National University Commission
k. Representative Min. of Education - “
l. Representative Min. of Justice - “
m. Representative National Universities Commission
The Governing Council is the highest policymaking and governing body of the University. It has the powers to control the policies, finances and physical planning of the University; the Council directs policies on the appointment of staff including the Vice Chancellor and other principal officers.
Among others, the functions of the Governing Council are to provide general guidelines for policy, structure powers, financing, public relations, property and general management of the University. It also exercises control and superintend over finances, promote and discipline of staff, determines the terms and conditions of appointment of Vice-Chancellor, principal officers and other staff. It further considers annual report, approve external auditors, and ensure official production and regular publications of audit reports, among others.
I am confident in the membership of this Council in their ability to deliver. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri Esq. was the last Attorney General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice who made meritorious service to the State under that capacity for over a decade. He even represented the State in many national and international fora thereby bringing so many advantages to the State in the legal and administrative fields.
Similarly, Hon. Baba Bukar Machina, Arch. Musa Usman and Hon. Zakariya Mai Malari have served the State diligently in various capacities ranging from representation in the National Assembly, membership of the State Executive Council, Local Government Chairman to many other posts.
I, therefore, enjoin you to cooperate with one another and work in unity to ensure remarkable successes in the discharge of your duties during your tenure in office. I assure you that we will give you all the necessary support to succeed. Your functions are clearly spelt out in the Law establishing the University and therefore, we expect no conflict between the Council and the Senate of the University in the discharge of academic matters. I wish to congratulate you all on your well-deserved appointments. May the Almighty Allah guide you in carrying out this very important assignment.
Finally, in conformity with the powers conferred on me as Visitor of the University by Part III, 9(I) and Part V 22(I) of the Laws establishing the Yobe State University and other matters related to that, it is my honour and privilege to inaugurate the Governing Council of the Yobe State University today Friday, 21ST February, 2020.
Thank you and Allah bless. Amin.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During the Commissioning of Babbangida Township Roads and Drainage Project Executed by the Administration
11th March 2020
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During the Commissioning of Babbangida Township Roads and Drainage Project Executed by the Administration on Wednesday 11th March 2020
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State During the Commissioning of Babbangida Township Roads and Drainage Project Executed by the Administration on Wednesday 11th March 2020
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyil Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
We gather here today to mark another milestone in the steady march of our state to lasting socio-economic transformation. The commissioning of the Babbangida Township Road and Drainage Project, which we will do shortly, speaks to the progress we continue to make across Yobe State despite current security and fiscal challenges.
As I said three weeks ago in Buni-Yadi during the commissioning of a similar road project there, roads are signifiers of mobility and economic advancement. Across the world, they are considered as part of the infrastructure necessary for a lasting socio-economic growth.
This is why our administration considers the construction of roads and concrete drains within and between our major towns as an important part of our post-insurgency recovery and reconstruction effort, and a significant step in making life more meaningful for our people.
The Babbangida Township Road and Drainage Project that we are here for the ribbon-cutting today covers a total of one and a half kilometres of road and three kilometres of concrete drains. The project was awarded in October 2019 to
Elegance Construction Nigeria Ltd at a total cost of N492,691,106.30. The project was jointly funded by the State Government and Tarmuwa Local Government Council at a 30 and 70 percent ratio.
I wish to commend the contractors for timely execution of the project according to contract specifications. I also commend the Ministry of Works for their professional oversight and supervision.
To the people of Babbangida town, let me say this: Our administration is committed to taking all the steps necessary to improve your living conditions and the living conditions of all the people across the state.
But we need you as partners in the effort. These roads and concrete drains have been built for you so that you could commute easily from one part of the town to another. The lifespan and long-term usefulness of the project, however, depends on how best you put the roads and concrete drains to use. If you convert the concrete drains into refuse dumbs and block the roads and do not allow for free flow of traffic, then you would create the conditions whereby rainwater may flood the town and possibly cause destruction during the rainy season. That is not something we should allow to happen.
I therefore urge you to consider this project and all other government projects and services as your own, to guard them jealously, and to use them responsibly. This way, our hope of a better, more prosperous Yobe State would be realised.
Let me end my remarks by thanking all the people of Tarmuwa Local Government for your enthusiasm and support for our administration. I want to assure you that together, we would succeed in writing a new chapter in the history of our state where peace and prosperity and economic opportunity shall abound for all.
Thank you so much.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni During Flag off of the Distribution of Livelihood Support Materials to Returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) From Gaidam, Yunusari, Gujba, and Gulani Local Government Areas
20th February 2020
Speech Delivered by His Excellency
Governor Mai Mala Buni
During Flag off of the Distribution of Livelihood Support Materials to Returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) From Gaidam, Yunusari, Gujba, and Gulani Local Government Areas
on Thursday 20th February 2020 at Buni-Yadi Town
Speech Delivered by His Excellency
Governor Mai Mala Buni
During Flag off of the Distribution of Livelihood Support Materials to Returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) From Gaidam, Yunusari, Gujba, and Gulani Local Government Areas
on Thursday 20th February 2020 at Buni-Yadi Town
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyil Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum
I am pleased to address this gathering today on the occasion of the flagging off of the distribution of livelihood support materials to returnee Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Gaidam, Gujba, Gulani and Yunusari Local Government Areas donated by the Yobe State Government in conjunction with the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project.
As you all know, in the effort to fully recover and rebuild from the effects of the Boko Haram Insurgency, our administration considers partnership and collaboration with domestic and international organizations as important ingredients.
Prior to – and even with – the outbreak of the Boko Haram Insurgency, our people are known for their industry and productivity, especially in the area of agricultural productions.
During the last decade, however, attacks on communities by the insurgents have resulted in the destruction of public and private property worth billions of naira, and the killing, maiming and displacement of many innocent people. There is no question that the people of these four local government areas are among the worst-hit by the senseless Boko Haram Insurgency in the whole of the North-East part of the country.
As peace steadily returns across the state, I want to commend the African Development Bank and the implementers of the APPEALS Project as well as other development partners for their thoughtfulness in integrating various livelihood support packages in their programmes of activity.
It is gratifying to note that the livelihood materials we are gathered here to witness their distribution consist of 300 animal traction packages; ram fattening; goat breeding; fish farming items; chicken production materials; artisanal fishing materials; improved seeds package, and dignity kit packages. It is important to note that one set of animal traction kit per two persons, three rams per person as well as four goats per person will be distributed.
In all, 5, 293 people from the four local government areas will benefit. For the purpose of achieving the desired goals, it is significant for me to enjoin beneficiaries of these livelihood and empowerment packages to avoid selling the materials off under whatever pretext. They should ensure that the materials are put into proper use for their own maximum benefits.
It is also a matter of appreciation to note the significant achievements recorded by the APPEALS project and commend them for their initiatives to complement our efforts in the combating desertification by proposing livelihood support items in Abaridi town and Bukarti of Karasuwa and Yunusari Local Government Areas respectively.
Similarly, I have noted the comments made by the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources a few minutes ago, including his request for more funds to get the project to cover additional local government areas of the State. I want to say that we would work with the African Development Bank to ensure the expansions needed to cover more areas.
Let me reiterate that our administration is committed to uplifting the welfare of our people. We will, therefore, continue to collaborate with all our partners towards the attainment of our goals.
I wish to emphasize that no meaningful development could be achieved without peace. In this regard, I would like to reiterate my deep appreciation on the renewed determination of His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari to end the Boko Haram Insurgency, kidnapping and other security challenges bedevilling the country. I would also like to commend the gallantry of the men and women of our armed forces and other security agencies.
I enjoin the all the people of our state to continue to pray to Almighty Allah for the full return of peace in the state and the country in general.
With these few remarks, I now have the honour to flag-off the distribution of the livelihood support materials to IDPs in Gaidam, Gujba, Gulani and Yunusari Local Government Areas.
Thank you so much. May Almighty Allah (SWT) bless us all.
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu
21st February 2020
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu on Friday 21st February 2020 at Council Chamber, Government House Damaturu
Speech Delivered by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni on the Inauguration of the Governing Council of Yobe State University, Damaturu on Friday 21st February 2020 at Council Chamber, Government House Damaturu
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Wa Sallallahu ala Nabiyil Karim
PROTOCOLS
As-Salamu Alaikum
I am pleased to address you on this occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the Governing Council of our State University, the Yobe State University Damaturu.
Since its inception, the Yobe State University has been undergoing phenomenal transformations, including massive infrastructural developments, especially under the last administration of Distinguished Senator, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam.
These developments have undoubtedly put the University at the forefront in terms of a good and conducive teaching and learning environment. Let me reiterate upfront that our administration would continue to maintain and improve on the quality of infrastructure at the university in line with the priorities and needs of the institution. This will pave the way for the University to offer new courses, especially those that we need most for scientific, technological and socio-economic development of our dear state.
The composition of the Governing Council as provided by Law consists of members appointed by the Government to represent public interest; ex-officio members and representatives of the Senate of the University. The membership of the new Governing Council of the Yobe State University is, therefore, as follows:
a. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri Esq. - Pro-Chancellor and Chairman
b. Prof. Mala M. Daura, Vice-Chancellor - Member
c. The Deputy Vice-Chancellors (Admin and Academic)
d. Four persons representing variety of relevant interest
of the State to be appointed by the visitor - “
i. Hon. Baba Bukar Machina - “
ii. Arch. Musa Usman - “
iii. Hon. Zakariya Maimalari -
“
e. One person to be appointed by the Congregation
from among the members of the body conversant
with the institutional proceedings;
f. One appointed by the convocation from among the
members of that body;
g. A representative of Ministry of Higher Education
h. A representative of Ministry of Justice;
i. Four persons appointed by the Senate from among the
members of the body;
j. A representative from National University Commission
k. Representative Min. of Education - “
l. Representative Min. of Justice - “
m. Representative National Universities Commission
The Governing Council is the highest policymaking and governing body of the University. It has the powers to control the policies, finances and physical planning of the University; the Council directs policies on the appointment of staff including the Vice Chancellor and other principal officers.
Among others, the functions of the Governing Council are to provide general guidelines for policy, structure powers, financing, public relations, property and general management of the University. It also exercises control and superintend over finances, promote and discipline of staff, determines the terms and conditions of appointment of Vice-Chancellor, principal officers and other staff. It further considers annual report, approve external auditors, and ensure official production and regular publications of audit reports, among others.
I am confident in the membership of this Council in their ability to deliver. Ahmed Mustapha Goniri Esq. was the last Attorney General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice who made meritorious service to the State under that capacity for over a decade. He even represented the State in many national and international fora thereby bringing so many advantages to the State in the legal and administrative fields.
Similarly, Hon. Baba Bukar Machina, Arch. Musa Usman and Hon. Zakariya Mai Malari have served the State diligently in various capacities ranging from representation in the National Assembly, membership of the State Executive Council, Local Government Chairman to many other posts.
I, therefore, enjoin you to cooperate with one another and work in unity to ensure remarkable successes in the discharge of your duties during your tenure in office. I assure you that we will give you all the necessary support to succeed. Your functions are clearly spelt out in the Law establishing the University and therefore, we expect no conflict between the Council and the Senate of the University in the discharge of academic matters. I wish to congratulate you all on your well-deserved appointments. May the Almighty Allah guide you in carrying out this very important assignment.
Finally, in conformity with the powers conferred on me as Visitor of the University by Part III, 9(I) and Part V 22(I) of the Laws establishing the Yobe State University and other matters related to that, it is my honour and privilege to inaugurate the Governing Council of the Yobe State University today Friday, 21ST February, 2020.
Thank you and Allah bless. Amin.
