Zulum: Engineering Professor, Dexterity and the Courage of Conviction

 Zulum: Engineering Professor, Dexterity and the Courage of Conviction

By

Prof MK Othman

First impression matters much. At the 2013 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineers (NIAE) held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, an amiable personality with a lanky physique and a business-like and diplomatic character approached me to register some agricultural engineering graduates into the NIAE membership fold. He was the Shepherd of the graduates, but instead of bossing them, he was in a jovial interactive conversation with each, his happiness and contentment, very apparent. Soon, I discovered he was the Rector of Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, and the graduates were lecturers of the polytechnic whom he brought to have their first-time participation in the NIAE conference. The rector was Professor Babagana Umara Zulum. Having had my tutelage of the academia in two polytechnics– Katsina Polytechnic (now Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic) and Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, and visited many polytechnics as a pioneer National Financial Secretary of ASUP, I could not but be amazed at Zulum's pleasant disposition and mien. In the polytechnic system then, Rectors were Emperors who talked to their staff through Registrars, Directors of schools, and Head of Departments. They were so engrossed with official power that some of them hardly responded to the greetings of their workers, talk less of direct informal interaction. Here was a rector who travelled with his staff in the same bus from Maiduguri to Uyo, a distance of over one thousand kilometers, to attend a professional conference while caring for their welfare. Zulum immediately earned my respect due to his simplicity. He is undoubtedly different from the typical leaders in Nigeria who sometimes play god. His appointment as a commissioner in Borno State, two years after the Uyo conference was therefore, not a surprise to discerning minds. What made him to be selected is most fantastic and newsworthy. The story was told that Zulum was found to be the epitome of prudence in resource mobilization and management. He was doing so much work with minimal resources and achieving outstanding success. So, the then governor discovered him and found him to be a perfect personality to rebuild Borno state after Boko Haram's devastating destruction of infrastructures across the entire state. Zulum was, therefore, elevated from Rector of Ramat Polytechnic to Honorable Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, one of the state's biggest challenges. Even though short-lived, my one chance encounter with Zulum had a lasting impression on me and had a unique place in my memory. Many may be itching to know the personality behind the name Babagana Umara Zulum.

From relative obscurity to national and international limelight, Zulum, 54, was born in Mafa local Government area and had a distinguished career in Borno State Civil Service. His Civil Service records show that he joined the Borno State Civil Service as an Assistant Technical Officer in the State's Ministry of Agriculture in 1989 with an ordinary national diploma, from where he shot himself to the enviable position of a professor at the University of Maiduguri and currently the executive governor of Borno state, the commercial nerve center of the North East, but more recently known for Boko Haram insurgency, internally displaced persons, broken families and a beehive of international humanitarian services.

The litmus test of Zulum's responsiveness to power and responsibilities became public when he was appointed as a rector of Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri. Boko Haram's arch-enemy was Boko (oriental education), which was the primary vocation of schools, colleges, and universities. Ramat Polytechnic was among their primary targets. Consequently, the staff, students, infrastructure, and the entire polytechnic community were put on edge by the existential threat of Boko Haram and their allies. The year 2011, when Zulum was appointed as the Rector of Ramat Polytechnic was the peak period of the Boko Haram crisis. The appointment was seen as a massive joke because, at that time, Borno state was the battlefield of fierce insurgency, with Boko Haram having the upper hand after establishing their presence in almost 50% of the state's geographical area. So, who was talking about going to school when the residents were denied their means of livelihood? However, the appointment was a field experimentation of Zulum's capacity and personality as a hardworking intellectual with a moral upbringing. Before the appointment, the then governor of Borno State, Kashim Shatima, currently Mr. Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, kept Zulum on his radar, secretly evaluating Zulum's performance and potentials, which resulted in the rectorship experimentation before the real task of Borno state rehabilitation.  

 

At the commencement of duty as Rector, Zulum was challenged by a shortage of needed resources, disorganized, disarrayed, and disoriented workers, an insecure and ungovernable situation, and an overwhelming threat to lives and properties. The situation made pursuing knowledge the most minor worry to the citizenry. What was Zulum's agenda for transforming, managing, or developing the polytechnic?

After careful situation assessment, Zulum, as Rector, decided to reduce the financial burden of the polytechnic in all ways possible including forfeiting the polytechnic salary as Rector and retaining his meager salary as a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri. In other words, he served his Rectorship pro bono. Thus, Zulum worked as an academic staff of the University and the Rector of the Polytechnic with outstanding outputs of the two jobs.

 

In the four years of Zulum's Rectorship, he brought impressive changes to the Ramat Polytechnic so much that in 2015, the then Governor Kashim Shettima was amazed by Zulum's rare incorruptibility and competence. His judicious and prudent use of scarce financial resources for the optimum benefits to the polytechnic was particularly noted. Shettima, therefore, appointed Zulum as Borno State's pioneer Commissioner of the newly created Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement.

As Commissioner, Zulum oversaw the reconstruction of over 30,000 resettlement homes, schools, hospitals, and other vital public infrastructure, allowing for the gradual restoration of civil authority across the 14 LGAs of Borno State and the subsequent return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their communities in their new houses. While serving as the busiest Commissioner in the state, Zulum continued to teach, supervise, and research at the University of Maiduguri, earning him a promotion to the pinnacle rank of Professor of soil and water engineering. Despite controlling substantial financial resources in billions of naira for the reconstruction works, Zulum was not known to have bought a personal house or a car for himself, which is a rare expectation, uncommon to the leaders of today's Nigeria. Zulum's exhibition of an exceptional pinnacle of service excellence in his state made him the best candidate for the ruling APC ahead of the 2019 Governorship election. Governor Kashim Shettima then wrote what became a globally referred article, which ultimately convinced the electorate who handsomely delivered over one million votes, which made him the Governor of Borno State.

Since his swearing-in on May 29, 2019, Zulum has wasted no time in confronting the daunting challenges of Borno State.   He clearly understood what was before him and what he would do to achieve the desired results. Zulum, in his characteristic audacity, left no one in doubt that he was the man for the job and ready to accomplish. What are the achievements of Zulum as governor of Borno State? What are the secrets behind the achievements? What are his pitfalls and way forward? To be continued next week.