Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State on Sunday halted his convoy to buy groundnuts from an elderly woman at a village market, a stopover that officials say underscores the success of the state’s resettlement programme and the governor’s grassroots approach to governance.
According to Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi, Senior Technical Assistant to the Governor on Print and Digital Communications, the convoy was returning from one of the communities designated for resettlement when Governor Zulum ordered a stop at a roadside market.
Bundi, who was in the convoy, said he initially thought the stop was for security interaction or an inspection of a nearby health facility.
“As I got closer, I found it wasn’t what I thought. But one of those Zulum’s unusual approaches,_” he said.
The market, he noted, is in a community that was completely deserted a few years ago after insurgents forced residents to flee. Homes were destroyed and commercial activities shut down.
The trader, identified as “Kaka Fanna” (not her real name), sold peanuts to the governor. Bundi said she may have previously lived in an IDP camp relying on handouts, but is now back in her home earning a living with dignity.
“Today, that same village, once a shadow of itself, is bustling. Farmers display their farm produce. Women run small stalls, and life has returned to normal. The groundnuts the Governor bought, most likely, came from their harvests,” Bundi stated.
The governor’s spontaneous interaction, he added, further underscores Zulum’s humility and commitment to his people.
Bundi said the transformation is part of Governor Zulum’s resettlement programme. Since 2019, the Borno State Government has assisted over two million displaced people to return to their ancestral homes.
According to him, thousands of families who fled to Niger, Chad, and the Republic of Cameroon have been repatriated and resettled, while several IDP camps have been closed after resettling thousands of households.
The brief market stop comes amid ongoing efforts by the state government to restore livelihoods, rebuild destroyed communities, and encourage displaced persons to return home under improved security.
Report by: NEWS CENTURY TV
