Enter Mai Mala Buni, the chosen one

Hon. Mai Mala Buni was at his very best through the series of events before, during and after APC gubernatorial primary election. Hon. MMB, the national secretary of the ruling party APC did what he does best, speaking to the people on each count. An earlier day to the primary election, on Saturday 29th September […]

Hon. Mai Mala Buni was at his very best through the series of events before, during and after APC gubernatorial primary election. Hon. MMB, the national secretary of the ruling party APC did what he does best, speaking to the people on each count. An earlier day to the primary election, on Saturday 29th September he paid a courtesy and thank you visit to Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, the Governor of Yobe State and APC stakeholders at WAWA Hall of the Yobe State Government House.

MMB as he is now popularly called and addressed by his admirers and supporters was accompanied to Yobe State Government House by a mammoth crowd singing and chanting support songs.

After spending about 24 hours doing my casual chats across delegates at the August 27th stadium, what I found about the man MMB is quite incredible. Most importantly, I learnt about the feelings, thoughts and high hopes the ordinary folks mostly have on this man. They mostly described MMB as simple, great, humble, patient, honest, good listener, easily approachable, peace maker and above all a problem solver.

Others told me that as most great leaders do MMB respect the rights and dignity of others, as he is equally eminent and a naturally born leader. Everyone has his/her good story to tell. In fact, they told me they are not surprised that Governor Gaidam and the stakeholders endorsed MMB for this plump job. Interestingly, throughout the event, MMB remained calm, cool and collected. He was also in an exciting and relaxing mood.

To the admiration of many he described his contest as a challenge to further serve and contribute to the development of his state and nation in yet another capacity. If chosen, he promised to work with all stakeholders and utilise his contacts at the state and national levels to sustain and deepen Gaidam’s developmental legacies for the betterment of the welfare of the citizenry. As MMB raps up his address, rain started falling. One woman delegate told me, “Dan baiwa ya gama magana, dole ne albarka ta sauka.”

In the early hours of 1st October, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, was declared the winner of the APC’s governorship primary election by the party’s electoral committee chairman. In fact, MMB emerged the winner of the gubernatorial primary election in a grand style with 2,797 votes defeating Karasuwa, Ali and Kolo who scored 23, 8 and 4 votes respectively.

More interestingly to me is that all the contestants accepted the result of the contest and described it as a demonstration of the will of God Almighty, who bestows power to whosoever He wishes. Similarly Governor Gaidam (who spent the night there like other delegates) described the conduct of the election as excellent, free, fair and devoid of any rancour. Unsurprisingly, in his acceptance speech MMB thanked his boss Gov. Gaidam for his unwavering support and the party delegates for making it a reality.

MMB is certainly not perfect as there is absolutely no human that exist perfectly. For me, he may not have ALL the qualities needed for a leader but certainly he has the basics and the most important ones. I also believe that MMB is not only a hope for the youth and other deprived social strata in Yobe state and Nigeria as a whole, but equally an astute politician who has been administrating the affairs of the ruling party, APC in one of the most complex and complicated countries like Nigeria. Certainly, there must be something so special, extra ordinary and unique about this cool headed gentle man that is yet to be unraveled.

 

Dr Ali Ibrahim Abbas, Damaturu, Yobe State.