Yobe and gains of strategic partnerships
By Aliyu Dambatta
Mai Mala Buni, Yobe State governor, has continued to elicit interests among different social strata in recent months for the manner he has comported himself as the leader of a comparatively small northern state.
Buni has been governor of Yobe since May 29, 2019 and in a little over five years, he has imprinted a new vista of opportunities in the state. And this he has been able to do amid a halo of insecurity casting its ghoulish shadow in the northern part of the country and these days in some parts of southern Nigeria.
Yobe is noted for agriculture and fits as one of the food baskets of the country. Buni at inauguration did not promise to re-invent the wheel.
He pledged to boost agriculture, agrarian and pastoral, in the state. He pledged improved healthcare, quality and accessible education, among others, including empowerment of the youths to enhance their productivity and creativity.
To make good his promise, he has modernised and changed the way the people practise agriculture. The state procured 7,500 metric tons (250 trucks) of NPK 15:15:15 fertiliser during the 2019/2020 cropping season and sold to farmers at highly subsidised price of N5,000 per bag.
To enhance production, the government placed emphasis on dry season cultivation of crops. Buni’s futuristic disposition also made his government to procure 1500 metric tons (50 Trucks) of NPK 20:10:10 fertiliser to support 2022/2023 irrigation farming in the state.
These fertilisers were distributed and sold at a subsidised rate of N13,000 per bag through open market sales to the general public and allocation to LGAs, ministries, agencies, farmers’ cooperative societies, large scale farmers, among others. These efforts were complimented with the procurement of tractors to boost commercial farming. The endpoint of this has been the steady supply of farm produce from Yobe to the rest of the country despite the threat of insecurity.
Like a sculptor who has set out to carve a masterpiece, Buni has been chiselling the basics and fundamentals for the ultimate transformation of Yobe in the 21st century. One of the latest strategies for the transformation of the state was consummated recently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after a meeting between officials of the state and officials of Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA). The mutual agreement between the state and the bank was intended to foster growth in energy and agriculture development.
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Inking a partnership with BADEA was both strategic and smart and it indexes the governor’s strong desire to advance Yobe economically. BADEA, coined from its French initials (Banque Arabe pour le Development Economique en Afrique) is a development bank owned by Arab League especially founded to provide development financing to African countries.
The bank was established following a resolution of the 6th Arab Summit Conference at Algiers on November 28, 1973, but commenced operations in 1975. Ever since, BADEA has played critical roles in fostering economic, financial and technical cooperation between the Arab world and African nations. It has morphed into a strong development bridge, cementing Arab-Africa relations.
The bank’s experience in helping to reflate economies of African nations will help to fire up Yobe economy. It’s a win-win partnership that would create jobs for the state’s teeming youths as well as enhance security and infrastructure in Yobe.
The partnership will cover a wide spectrum of endeavours including agriculture, vocational training, infrastructural development, education, healthcare delivery, energy and security. Until the recent attack on Mafa by insurgents, Yobe has remained comparatively peaceful. That is not to say it has not suffered the scourge of insecurity as has its neighbouring states in the northeast. The deal with BADEA will help Yobe recover from the ruins rendered by insurgency in some parts of the state especially the rural communities where the main preoccupation of the people, agriculture, has suffered bouts of disruptions.
