Three Days Across Yobe: How Buni’s Projects Are Rewriting Daily Life
By Alhaji Abdullahi Bego
Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture
For three consecutive days, I had the honour and privilege of leading editors and senior journalists from Nigeria’s mainstream media on an extensive tour of development projects executed by the administration of His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, CON, across Yobe State. It was a journey that proved as revealing as it was instructive.
The tour, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, traversed Yobe Zones C, B and A, in that sequence. Across towns, rural communities and emerging urban centres, the delegation examined projects spanning commerce and economic development, road construction, education, healthcare delivery, industrial growth, sports development, water supply, urban renewal and security infrastructure.
Even for those of us who are part of government and regularly receive progress reports, the tour was a profound eye-opener. Seeing these projects firsthand, and more importantly, witnessing how communities interact with them, brought policy documents and budget lines vividly to life.
Beyond inspecting physical structures, members of the media delegation engaged directly with residents in host communities. Traders, farmers, students, transporters, artisans and community leaders were asked not only what they thought of the projects, but how those interventions had altered their daily routines, economic activities and sense of wellbeing. The exchanges were frank, often emotional, and deeply instructive.
Many compelling stories emerged from these interactions, stories that will undoubtedly be told in greater depth in the weeks, months and years ahead. However, one particular account, shared along the Fika–Maluri road, encapsulated the essence of what the tour represented.
Standing by the now-motorable road, a local resident recounted an experience from before its construction. He spoke of a rainy season when he was riding a motorcycle, carrying a bag of fertiliser. The road, then little more than a muddy track, trapped him. The fertiliser fell, soaked and ruined. As he struggled to free the motorcycle, another man arrived, conveying his pregnant wife. They too slipped and fell into the muddy waters.
“It was heart-wrenching,” he recalled. Then, gesturing at the smooth asphalt before him, he added, “This road is a lifesaver. It has changed everything.” What once took three to four exhausting hours now takes between 25 and 30 minutes from Maluri to Fika. He spoke in Hausa, but the message needed no translation.
That single testimony reflected a broader reality observed throughout the tour. Roads that open markets to farmers. Schools that restore dignity to learning environments. Healthcare facilities that reduce travel time in emergencies. Water projects that ease daily hardship for women and children. Sports and youth facilities that channel energy into productivity. Industrial and commercial projects that signal confidence in Yobe’s economic future.
In community after community, the mood was consistent. There was a palpable sense that governance was no longer abstract, but visible and tangible. While challenges remain, as they inevitably do, the consensus from what was seen and heard is unmistakable.
From the cumulative evidence of three days on the road, one verdict stands out clearly: the projects and services delivered under the leadership of His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, are making a substantial and measurable difference in the lived realities of the people of Yobe State. They are not merely structures of concrete and steel, but instruments of restored hope, improved mobility, enhanced opportunity and renewed confidence in public leadership.
For the visiting journalists, the tour offered material for rigorous reporting and analysis. For me, it reaffirmed a simple but powerful truth: development is best measured not by proclamations, but by the everyday stories of citizens whose lives have been quietly, but decisively, transformed.
