This article was first published in November 2021 on Governor Mai Mala Buni’s 54th birthday. No doubt the state, friends and well-wishers are preparing to celebrate his 59th birthday in a few days, on the 19th of this month. However, since this may be the last time Governor Buni will celebrate his birthday as the Chief Executive of Yobe State, after a successful two-term tenure, it is worth revisiting the remarkable leadership of a governor who not only steered Yobe State out of years of insecurity and uncertainty but also recorded significant achievements in education, healthcare, youth and women empowerment, and agriculture.
Hence, we are repeating this article with minor changes to reflect the change in time. As a way of celebrating him, we will repeat another write-up next week, if Allah permits.
A tireless leader who is now preparing to represent the people of Yobe East Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections, Buni’s transformational efforts remain a defining part of his public service. His commitment to bringing relief, development and progress to his people continues to shape his leadership legacy, built on dedication, selflessness and service.
If it were a fairy tale, his story would have started with “once upon a time, in the not-so-sleepy village of Buni Gari, a child of destiny was born to the industrious family of Alhaji Bukar and Hajiya Khadija.”
His story is stuff fit for legends. Hardly do you find a human being like Governor Mai Mala Buni, blessed with power and wealth, the two most sought-after possessions, yet imbued with humility, generosity, grace and the unquenchable desire to not only serve others but empower them as well.
When Mai Mala Buni was born on November 19, 1967, some 59 years ago, little did those around Hajiya Khadijah, his mother, know they had ushered into this world a child who would steer his young state towards development, stabilise his country’s polity, and help it avoid unravelling.
But what is in a date? As with many things that only God knows why, November 19 eventually became International Men’s Day, observed by over 57 countries, to celebrate men and their sacrifice in building a family and a nation, with its liturgical colour as blue, one of his favourite colours.
His late father, Alhaji Bukar, was a successful businessman and deeply knowledgeable about the Qur’an. Their family currently boasts over fifty huffaz (huffaz is the plural of hafiz, and a hafiz is a person who has memorised the Qur’an). However, he might have had an inkling of what God had given him. That may be why he named him after the most respected traditional ruler in their area. He educated him in both Western and Islamic education and taught him to be altruistic, humble, and generous.
When his above-average-intelligence son was admitted to Government Secondary School, Goniri, he bought a brand-new tipper truck, got a driver, and branched out into supplying sand to construction sites. But he did that so his child would not lack in an era when a simple letter or message took an interminable period to reach the receiver. And so he based it (the truck) in the town and instructed those he put in charge of it to give young Buni five naira every week from the proceeds. Five naira in the 80s was a huge amount of money.
Encouraged by his father, he became a source of succour to his schoolmates, taking care of their basic needs, with his words becoming bankable, according to his childhood friends and associates.
Plato, the Athenian philosopher, might be referring to his type when he said, “The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another world.”
Governor Buni entered politics early and contested a councillor’s seat, which he won easily because his party members unanimously supported him and, hold on, the opposition too! At a young age, barely out of his teens, they made him speaker in a council of elders.
Since then, politically, he has not looked back as his stocks continued to rise. The difference between his rise in life and that of others is that he retains his old relationships – which he values immensely – and garners more along the way. He became a bridge-builder and a rallying point for many interested in human progress. His life is a testimony to the saying that like minds attract.
Those who got to know him when destiny thrust the affairs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into his hands can bear witness that he is a captain who calms frayed nerves and steadies a ship through the worst of storms.
It is an open secret that the APC was heading for the rocks before he assumed the interim chairmanship of its caretaker committee, and other political parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were happily circling, like vultures sensing a potential carcass, for the impending implosion.
The turmoil in the ruling party no doubt affected the smooth running of government since the government came to power through it. And the country would be the loser.
However, when Governor Buni came onto the scene, he stabilised the party, and that became a source of relief to the government.
In June last year (June 25, 2020), when he was made the interim chairman of his party’s national convention committee, I had cause to write on this page. Here is an extract: “…It is against this backdrop that one can say that, with the appointment of Mai Mala Buni to steer its course as a caretaker chairman, perhaps APC’s trajectory would swerve away from the brink, and like the phoenix, it is fated to rise again.
“What people will witness is the calmness that would soon envelop the ruling party, for the new chairman is a man who, by all means, avoids friction and rancour. No two contending parties will sit with him, and one of them would come out grumbling because he so much believes in fairness, and that justice cannot be for one side alone. He is one person who believes in building bridges and maintaining them.
“And he echoed this after his swearing-in when he said, “… it’s all about doing justice to every member of the party. Without justice, there won’t be peace… if you don’t manage crisis, obviously crisis will manage you.’ And he did not say these words on marble just for the applause. No, that is the real him.
“Even before his current appointment, the trust the president and other stakeholders had in him had made him a sort of an arbiter for the party, quenching fires here and there and taking part in campaigns for the enhancement of the party’s electoral successes around the country.
“Those who know him well know he is cultured. So, the era of insults, roforofo fights and spewing forth unguarded statements is over. You will never hear him abuse any person in the opposition or within his party, even if that person insults him. And when any good meant for his avowed enemy is about to escape his grasp, Buni would be the first to force it back to its rightful owner. This is the extent of his fairness. He is a thoroughbred politician: broad-minded, cosmopolitan, yet at ease with locals and local settings; humble and extremely intelligent.
“The opposition parties will no longer be full of glee, nor will they sleep again, for, by the time he would be through with his assignment, they would rue their premature celebration that the ruling party is gone. They are up against a focused, suave and sagacious dyed-in-the-wool politician. And as they will soon find out, like the mother hen, he would unite and cover his party while successfully poaching from theirs.”
Nigeria’s sorry situation now needs people like Buni who can assuage hard feelings and unite all. Nigeria needs young, vibrant leaders, but above all, those like him who can make every citizen feel Nigeria cares for them.
The unfortunate security challenges we are facing are nothing but protests from those who have given up on the country because they believe the system does not give them a chance to survive. A leader of the calibre of Buni who can make everyone feel important and recognised by the state will disarm such turncoats.
Those agitating for a separate nation, too, will embrace a charismatic leader in the mould of Buni, who can make them believe that our greatness and survival as a people depend on our unity, brotherhood and love for one another.
Happy birthday in advance, Governor Mai Mala Buni. May the Creator of the universe and all in it continue to bless you with wisdom, empathy, love for the nation and more responsibilities for the betterment of humanity.
Hassan Gimba, ANIPR, is the Publisher and CEO of Neptune Prime.
