By Olukayode Michael, Maiduguri
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara has been awarded by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The governor was on Tuesday given the ‘2019 Award, for “Most Promising First Term Governor in the country, this the Union said was in recognition of his shocking performance.
The Union said Umara performance since he was swore in on May 29, 2019 was ahead of other governor after a careful and comparative assessment carried out on all governor’s by a group of journalists.
The award was presented to him on behalf of the national body by the Borno Chapter Chairman of the NUJ, Alhaji Bulama Talba.
He said during the presentation that the NUJ in Borno State does not celebrate the achievements of Governors in less than one year of their tenure for journalists are critical people and only give out awards after critical assessment.
Talba said: “This will be the first time we are celebrating the performance of any Governor in less than one year of service.”
The chairman explained why the Borno State Governor won the NUJ award in the early stage of his four-year renewable term.
He
said: “We compared Governor Zulum’s performance with those of all
Governors serving their first term in office. To our amazement, we discovered
without the slightest doubt, that we
could only compare Zulum’s achievements with those of some Governors in their
second term. His achievements in the first quarter
were shocking to us. Everyone may remember that Governor Zulum delivered 120
projects in 100 days, but what we will like to remind
people that, some of these 120 projects include the construction of entirely
new schools, each of them, counted as one project.
“The
120 projects also include an ongoing estate of 300 houses counted as one
project. The journalists in Borno State are very proud
of the Governor’s performance. Perhaps, I should also add, that the best way to
be a friend of journalists is to continue to deliver more and more projects and
improve the quality of governance. When you perform very well, journalists will
naturally favour you in their reporting. Journalists mainly report what public
office holders do rightly or wrongly. In the case of Borno State, the
verdict of journalists is that Professor Babagana Umara Zulum is winner of the
NUJ’s 2019 award as Most Promising First Term Governor in Nigeria.”
Talba said ournalists in Borno. are ready to send to the governor on quarterly basis identified shortcomings of his administration to propel to improve on governance.
The governor, n his remarks after receiving the award, said he consider working for Borno people as fulfillment of his constitutional oath of office and moral obligation.
He said: “I swore with the Holy Qur’an to do whatever I can to protect lives and property and to raise the quality of governance in terms of delivering projects and programmes and executing policies that will impact positively on the lives of Borno people.”
He tasked journalists in their reporting to promote peace building, security of lives and good governance.
Highlights of the NUJ’s visit was presentation of grand award to the Governor by the chairman, who was supported by chairpersons of all seven affiliated chapels in the State.