Mohammed Goni: Requiem for a statesman

Former Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Mohammed Goni, who died recently was like the baobab tree: nobody can describe him holistically from a single standpoint. Those who knew him more closely describe him as the humblest of them all: honest and unassuming: practical and pragmatic. I have not had the privilege of coming very close […]

Former Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Mohammed Goni, who died recently was like the baobab tree: nobody can describe him holistically from a single standpoint. Those who knew him more closely describe him as the humblest of them all: honest and unassuming: practical and pragmatic.

I have not had the privilege of coming very close to him or interacting with him on any issue. I can therefore only speak about him from what I know of him as a former governor of Borno State who did so well in his tenure. He sought to return to the same office later, but the people seemed to have forgotten all that he did during his tenure, so he failed. And later as member of the National Constitutional Conference, where he always spoke from a pan-Nigerian view point.

His life before he became governor may not be well known, but it was common knowledge in Borno that he was a rather reluctant bride in the race for the government house at that time. After he was persuaded to run, and eventually won as governor, he did so well, to the effect that most government projects in Borno State since 1983 have either been an addition or a replication of his so many legacies.

Political analysts of the then regency are of the opinion that Mohammed Goni lost the re-election bid on the platform of the defunct UPN in 1983 to Ashiek Jarma not because he was not popular, but because he could out outmanoeuvre the intrigues of the ruling party, the equally defunct NPN. He could not make it in 2011 either, because he contested against a sitting government, which candidate was no less popular. There is no doubt that he gave the government under the tutelage of then Governor Ali Modu Sheriff a run for its money.

As far as I can remember, Goni is on record to have constructed the famous Lagos Street, the bridge on the street and the famous Lagos House, also along the same street. It is today one of the widest streets in Maiduguri, having been dualised and reconstructed by the government of Kashim Shettima. The Maiduguri Monday market is one of his legacies, just as he built the Ramat Shopping complex, the biggest single shopping arcade in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. He equally fenced and reconstructed the Ramat Race Course, behind the shopping arena.

Mohammed Goni is reputed to have created 53 LGAs in Borno State, which tended to adequately address the yearnings of all parts and interests in the state. He built 50 housing units each for the 18 local governments of old Borno state, and completed the construction of the famous Abaganaram Low Cost Housing estate in Maiduguri. Mohammed Goni established 50 secondary schools and doubled the students’ intake into the schools. The Flour Mills, Rural Electrification Board, the only  state radio and television station to date, the Borno Radio Television Corporation, BRTV, NEITAL Shoe Factory, Borno Clay Industry, Borno Wire Industry, Maiduguri International Hotel, Alau Dam Water Treatment Plant are others.

Goni initiated the construction of the abandoned Biu Dam in the Southern part of the state. He was also the brain behind the establishment of College of Education, Waka-Biu, College of Agriculture, Damboa, Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Health Technology as well as Ramat Polytechnic among many others.

I may not be in the position to mention most of the projects Mohammed Goni did during his tenure, but this roll list presupposes that he had paid his dues. His death goes with the saying, that, people seldom value what they have at hand, until the day they lose it. At his death, Borno seemed to have realised that they had a treasurable asset in Goni.

May God forgive his shortcomings and grant him eternal rest.

Inuwa Bwala resides in Abuja, Nigeria.