2023: I’m not aspiring for any higher position – Zulum

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State says he is not interested in aspiring for any higher political position in 2023.

There had been rumours that some aspirants were considering Zulum their running mate for the next year’s presidential election.

But speaking in Abuja yesterday at the 19th Daily Trust Dialogue, Zulum said he was not interested in any higher position.

“We are now coming closer to the 2023 general elections, but for me, it’s not important, I’m not interested in any position. I never planned to be the governor of Borno State and I’m not willing to aspire for any higher position, but as a Muslim, you should always pray for the best,” he said.

He said the country had “to look into the possibility of selecting good leaders, whether we like it or not. How? That remains the very big question; whether in PDP, whether in APC, I think we need to see how we can get good leaders.

“And … we now copy China’s model, China’s model is selection versus election based on competency model. Can we sit down and select those people that are competent enough to rule Nigeria in all political parties, irrespective of their inclination so that opportunities could be given to them for them to rule this nation. Otherwise, we allow tribalism, nepotism among others to take over what we need to do in a real sense. “We should work together indivisible elements to move

as forward. What matters is the future of Nigeria.” he added.

Speaking further, Zulum challenged governors to be on ground in their states to end insecurity.

He said communities and sub-national governments have a critical role to play in ensuring peace and stability of the nation.

“If we continue to deceive ourselves that security is a one man business, I think we are not making any impact. As a governor, you have to be on ground in your home state to bring lasting peace and security in your own region.

“No matter how strong your national government is, if the subnational governments are not doing well, you can’t get rid of insecurity.

“If you are not resilient enough, you can’t provide security. And the issue of good governance is critical both at the national as well as the sub-national governments” he added.

He said the root causes of insecurity, including endemic poverty, illiteracy, high social inequality, poor economic infrastructure, environmental degradation, climate change and among others must be addressed for Nigeria to get security right.

“But let’s examine some of the root causes of the insurgency, especially education. Education is our major problem, the quality of education that we are having now is a matter of great concern. And we should also have to take note that education is in the Concurrent Legislative List.

“Now, we have two major problems in our educational sector: One is the mismatch between our educational system and the industry, and the mismatch between our graduates and the labour market.

“These are some of the issues that we need to discuss, our graduates are no more employable, and the technical and vocational educational systems that we were having on ground before are not in existence. Graduates of Mechanical Engineering cannot distinguish between piston and slips. How can we get it right?

“Many of the state governments in Nigeria don’t even have the nominal roll of their teachers who are qualified and who are not qualified, many cannot even read and write, and then, one biggest problem is that of increasing infrastructure deficits, population expansion.

“And I think these are some issues that have been compounded over a long period of time and we need to address it.

“We need to squarely address this issueratherthanblamesingleindividuals or governments, we have to work together, and we have to start it at home.

“The issue of climate vulnerability is also another problem, increasing desertification, lack of rainfall, farmers don’t have access to their agricultural land, all as a result of insecurity among others. But, I think the issue of lack of water is also another phenomenon that we need to address.

“However, the major problem we have in Nigeria is corruption. Whether we like it or not, most of the funding that is meant to provide services to the people are being channeled to the top echelons in the bureaucratic of the ministerial and departmental systems.

“Unless we change this attitude of accumulating huge amounts of wealth, something that we can’t even consume. So, in this direction, I think we need to do something over invoicing and improper bills of quantity. You can see a project of N10 billion in Nigeria, but somebody will go and quote it N50 billion.

“I’m a registered practising engineer. The engineers have to be blamed, the quantity surveyors have to be blamed, moreso, almost everybody has to be blamed.”

Zulum noted that local governments and traditional institutions have an important role to play in ending insecurity in the country, asking: “Where are the local governments now? Are they functioning very well? We need to ask such questions. What are the roles of the traditional rulers in our constitution?”