THE PURPOSE FOR #BORNOTAFIJAMIYYA
By
Abdulhamid Ibrahim Biu
#BORNOTAFIJAMIYYA is a movement initiated on the 01/10/2015 by some concerns citizens of Borno State as a result of mismanagement of public funds, lack of transparency, accountability and monopolizing the State democratic system, thereby creating a weak opposition by the incumbent Government (party). With this brief introduction, let me go straight to the purpose of my article.
          In a democracy, the will of the people should form the basis to govern. Elections are one important mechanism through which this will is expressed in a democracy but only with presence of a viable and effective opposition. A democracy without an effective opposition is a weak democracy. A free and independent press must be part and parcel of any democracy. Otherwise the checks and balances necessary within such a system will be lacking and where they are lacking, corruption becomes the order of the day, and human rights abuses get trampled upon. The above criteria or elements constitute the minimum of what has to be in place for a society to qualify as democratic. A question could arise: How could alterations to democracy improve the life of the poor? When people are able to elect the best and trusted leaders among them and reject those who fail in their promises to improve people's welfare, people have a direct opportunity to improve the community's economic and social condition. They have a greater opportunity to speak on and participate in the process of development. Democracy is therefore not only procedural but also substantial. In fact, the process of designing and implementing public policies, including those aimed at poverty alleviation, are democratic when they involve the people at every stage. Democracy leads to people expressing their concerns about and gaining greater awareness of the process of development in ways that are not imposing or dictatorial but more egalitarian and collaborative. People gain a share in the power to guide and direct the future fate of their own condition. The participation of the people can also prevent the failure of the programs as people directly monitor and therefore give feedback on what has happened. With participation, development is in accord with the local need, interest and conditions. Thus, people rarely reject the planning as they participate in the process of making the decisions. Participation, by minimizing local problems and opposition, can effectively and efficiently succeed poverty alleviation efforts.

In reality, democracy transforms the people from passive recipients of elite decision-making to active participants in the process of development that is in touch with their everyday life experiences. It can also reduce income disparities and provide equality of opportunities by protecting the rights of minorities from the “tyranny of the majority”. In the end,  quality democracy ensures that the rulers are accountable to the people, or, in the words of a famous new Iraqi saying popularized by one new civil society organization in the post-Saddam era,  “the person sitting behind the desk is the servant of the person in front of him, and not the other way around.” Even though democracy is not a “cure all” for human development and poverty alleviation, it holds more potential for achieving these goals than any other system of government. Democracy creates opportunities and enhances capabilities of the poor and underprivileged. As such, it has an intrinsic human development value. Moreover, most stable democracies tend to have lower levels of poverty, and, on the flip side, democracies that let their citizens remain in protracted poverty tend to be short-lived. I think there is a danger for developing societies, especially Borno State. But if democracy is to be effective in delivering development, this element of popular control, however deep and vigorous, is not enough. It must be wedded with good governance which together constitute a fuller architecture of a high-quality, liberal democracy. In fact, the importance of good governance should now become an article of faith to us.
Political parties are just mere way for identification but not a RELIGION, competency of a candidature matters.

Thank you.

THE NEED FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE By Abdulhamid Ibrahim Biu 30/11/2015 CC: BORNO PROJECT Over the years, I have come to understand that poverty owes its existence to much more than fate in our people. Other factors, cultural as well as structural, contribute to the existence of poverty. Discrimination, a low level of education, and a large population can be listed among the causes of poverty. The government's neglect of the development of rural areas can also be one of the sources. In other words, negative structural factors, such as lack of government support, neglect of educational development, health care, insurgency (as we all witness it in our state) and a poor economic infrastructure have also contributed strongly to the persistence of poverty in our dear State. For several years, there was a conspiracy of silence between the Borno State Government and the people they were engaging. The latter pretended to be developing the state, and the former pretended to be helping us. Government officials could check off on a box that they had made available a loan, built a clinic, or made a grant for a project, and then everyone moved on. Too many public officials in Borno State then took the resources of the State and largely squandered them. Borno State is estimated to have received about N600 billion from 2011 to 2015. Some estimate the real figure to be about N700 billion but yet, many uncompleted projects in the state with tsunami of poverty by its citizens is only what is left to us as dividend of democracy. This is why the prevention of money laundering is crucial in the context of protecting the State financial system from abuse thus promoting democracy, good governance, as well as State security, without which there can be no development. Fortunately, we hoped this game is coming to an end. It is not yet at an end, but there is a rising demand from both the State Government and the citizens of the State, for us all to get serious. I believe the key to ending poverty in Borno State is to improve the quality of human resources through democracy and good governance by engaging our youths positively and help them to be self reliance not using them as tools or political thugs which we bring more harm to the society and liability to the State. In my opinion, without the motivation and hard work of people (electorate), the process of development will not be smooth and rapid. One needs only to look at the lessons learned from developed States, rich States and those newly emerging rich States. They are conscious that their development can only be sustained through the high quality of their people. My argument will be that Borno cannot develop without democracy, and that democracy in Borno ultimately cannot be sustained without development. One of my arguments here is that if democracy is to facilitate and promote development, it must be a responsible democracy. This entails a number of different dimensions of the quality of democracy and the broader quality of governance. Thank you.