By Sam Kayode
June 12 otherwise known as democracy day in Nigeria was not celebrated in Borno state.
This was because the government was in a sad state of mourning as it lost three political figures within a span of two weeks in this June.
First, it was the Secretary to the State Government, Usman Jida Shua, who had served the All Progressive Congress (APC) government for about eight years four with Governor Kashim Shettima and another four with his successor Professor Babagana Zulum.
This reporter recalls that he had attended the validictory session of the state executive council where Governor Zulum had asked him to moderate the time by ensuring that each commissioner spoke for just 5 minutes before they part.
He was obviously at his highest level of excitement to have survived the first four years with Zulum and most of us were sure he was going to return when the council is reconstituted.
He was very calm when names of those who had started the first term with them and were no more were mentioned.
Names like the late Nuhu Clark who was the Commissioner for poverty alleviation before contesting for the House of Assembly was mentioned and Dr Babagana Wakil who started as chief of staff to Zulum but equally submitted to the Supreme sacrifice mid term.
Of course, a second chief of the government house staff was appointed from the department of pharmacy University of Maiduguri, Professor Isa Marte, who took over from the amiable Wakil.
However, Useni Marte sadly was not in the valedictory session because he is currently undergoing treatment in a Cairo hospital for a protracted illness.
The second trigger for the sadness pervading the state was the avoidable deaths of two APC stalwarts from Ngomari who were deliberately left to die by hospital staff.
They were commuting inside a Keke NAPEP to their destination when they had a crash with a loaded vehicle and were badly wounded.
Sources at the incident, rushed them to the nearby Umaru Shehu Hospital but the sources alleged sadly that they were rejected by the staff – led by the principal medical officer of the facility himself, one Dr Philibus.
A good Samaritan, Comrade Murktar Umar, who saw the accident, had parked and picked up the women to the closest hospital to the scene of the accident but in his words they were turned down
Hear him: “As we rushed them to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) at Umaru Shehu Ultra Modern Hospital (USUMH) unfortunately, they refused to attend to us and referred us to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
“We asked for an ambulance to rush them to the UMTH, they said they don’t have power to give us the ambulance. We went to the Chief Medical Director’s (CMD’s) office, he wasn’t around; I called him twice no response that’s how the first woman, by name Ya Zara, died on the floor.
“Later when the CMD came he still asked us to go to UMTH. We asked if he can assist with ambulance because they were bleeding. He said the ambulances are faulty.
“I was able to ask some staff in the hospital they said the ambulances are working only that he doesn’t want to give us so we still had to carry them in our personal vehicles to UMTH.
“I cried why a hospital like USUMH in the centre of Maiduguri lack not only the Medical facilities but kindhearted management? I have all the pictures and videos for record purpose.”
Sadly the second lady, Ya Kime, also died due to bleeding which are the common causes of deaths even from insurgency cases in the state.
On hearing the death of the two women leaders of the APC, Governor Babagana Zulum had to stop all he was doing to attend the burial and vowed to deal with all those who rejected the accident patients brought to the hospital.
It’s for these litany of woes that the government and people of Borno decided to keep a low profile by canceling all the events lined up to celebrate democracy day.
“It would have been unfair to these people who died for the government to declare a banquet and a celebration after they lost such long standing Secretary to the state government and these key party stalwarts to be celebrating.”
