Mai Mala Buni CON(born 19 November 1967), is a Nigerian politician. He was born in Buni Yadi, Gujba local government area of

Yobe state Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

, North east Nigeria. He is the current governor of

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

, Nigeria. He was elected governor during the 2019 Nigeria general elections under

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

(APC) party. Before being elected governor, he was the national secretary of the

Education

As it is with the tradition in

Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the United Kingd ...

, Buni started learning memorization of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

at an early age under the tutelage of his parents and other clerics before his enrolment into Buni Gari central primary school where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate in 1979. After completing his primary education, Buni gained admission into Government Secondary School Goniri in 1979 and obtained the

West African Examination Council The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an examination board established by law to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the English-speaking West African countries, to conduct the examinations and to award certif ...

certificate in 1985. While in active politics, Buni enrolled as a part-time student at the Espan Formation University,

Benin Republic Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

where he obtained a B.Sc. Degree in

International Relation International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

in 2014. He holds a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from Leeds Becket University, United Kingdom.

Private business

With a background in the family business of trade and transport, Buni also ventured into business at a very young age after completion of his secondary education. The quest to establish a factory to start a private company in furniture, took Mai Mala Buni to College of Vocationa Science and Technology where he obtained Diploma certificate in 2012. Mai Mala Buni chaired the board of several companies among which are: *MBG Integrated farms Ltd *MMB Petroleum and Chemical Company Nig. Ltd *MBG Construction and General Services Ltd *Buni Gari and Company Nig. Ltd *Bright View Capital Alliance Ltd *Subi Mega Global Solutions Ltd *Rehab Synergy Nig. Ltd *First Integrated and Logistics Services Ltd

Politics

Mala Buni started his political journey in 1992 when he contested and won a councilor sit under the platform of

National Republican Convention The National Republican Convention was a Nigerian political party established by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida and ultimately disbanded by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1993. Alignment The party was organized to cat ...

(NRC) party, to represent Buni ward in the Gujba Local government council. He was subsequently elected as the speaker of the council. He became a senior legislative assistant in Nigeria's

National assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in 2000, and in 2004, he was appointed Member,

University of Uyo The University of Uyo is located in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The university was formerly known as the University of Cross River State, Uyouniuyo.edu.ng. On 1 October 1991 the Federal government of Nigeria established it as a ...

governing council. In 2006, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the

Advanced Congress of Democrats The Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) was an opposition political party in Nigeria, created and first registered in March 2006. In September 2006, in merged into the newly (2005) formed Action Congress. The ACD was primarily composed of former ...

and when in 2007, members of the Action Congress party in the state entered into alliance with the

to form a formidable force on the platform of the Action Congress, the alliance unilaterally penciled him down unopposed for the Chairman of the

Action Congress party The Action Congress Party (ACP) was a political party in Ghana during the Third Republic (1979-1981). In elections held on 18 June 1979, ACP presidential candidate, Frank Bernasko, won 9.4% of the vote and the party won 10 of 140 seats in the Nat ...

and was subsequently elected where he served as chairman from 2007 to 2010. In 2011, Buni joined the then ruling

All Nigeria Peoples Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

(ANPP) in Yobe state and was appointed Special Adviser on Political Affairs and Legislative Matters to Yobe state Governor

Ibrahim Gaidam Ibrahim Gaidam is a Nigerian politician and the incumbent Senator of Yobe East Senatorial District, Nigeria since June 2019. He was the immediate past governor of Yobe State, succeeded by the Former APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni on 29 Ma ...

. In 2013 after the merger of the mega political parties to form the

(APC), Mai Mala Buni became the pro tem state secretary of the party in

and was subsequently elected the pioneer state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Yobe state. In 2014, Mai Mala Buni became the first elected National Secretary of the

. It was that same regime of the party that ushered in the administration of President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

in 2015. His commitment to serving the party, automatically earned him a second term as the national secretary in 2018. While serving as APC national secretary and board Chairman of the Nigeria Shippers council, he was nominated, endorsed and elected as flag bearer of APC for the 2019 Yobe State gubernatorial election. During the 2019 general elections, Hon. Mai Mala was elected as the fourth Executive Governor of

when he scored the highest votes of 444,013 to beat his opponent Alhaji Bello Iliya of the People Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 95, 703 only. In June 2020, the national working committee of

All Progressive Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

(APC) party was dissolved and in its place, a new interim committee was inaugurated and is chaired by Hon. Mai Mala Buni will also serve as chairman of the party's extraordinary convention committee. The committee is saddled with the responsibility of steering the activities of the party for an initial period of six months and also to prepare and conduct the party's extraordinary national convention. During a national executive council meeting held at the state house Abuja on 8 December 2020, the tenure of the interim committee/extraordinary convention committee was extended for another six months.

Yobe State Governor

On 29 May 2019, during his inauguration as the executive governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni stated that "Our administration would strive to ensure prompt payment of counterpart funds to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), to enable the State access UBEC grants to improve primary education. We would equally build more schools classrooms, employ more teachers as well as improve teacher's incentives and provide additional instructional materials to meet the requirements of such communities. This approach would be replicated in the

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

sector, we will equally make the teaching profession attractive and education more functional. The payment of examination fees by the government to students in public schools would be sustained. Parents and guardians in the state would be free from the burden of paying school and examination fees for their wards. In order to improve and encourage pupil's enrolment in our schools, this administration will partner with the Federal Government for the implementation of the Home Grown Feeding Programme." As at April 2020, the state government under his leadership has spent over 2.1 billion Naira in the construction of 7 model primary school in different locations in Yobe State. The projects are aimed at decongesting schools in the urban areas that are currently overstretched as result of fleeing Internally Displaced Persons. Yobe State being among the worst hit states affected by

boko haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

insurgency, Governor Mai Mala Buni has facilitated the return of many

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

s (IDPs) by reconstruction of their houses and provision of livelihood support packages. The state in conjunction with

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

under the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support, APPEALS, Project has distributed livelihood support packages to over 5,000 IDPs. In September 2020, the government inaugurated the construction of houses for IDPs. The project was sponsored by the

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC Limited is a for profit oil company in Nigeria. Formerly a government-owned corporation, it was transformed from a corporation to a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the only entity licensed to operate in the country' ...

(NNPC),

Shell Petroleum Development Company Shell Nigeria is the common name for Shell plc's Nigerian operations carried out through four subsidiaries—primarily Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC). Royal Dutch Shell's joint ventures account for more than 21% of ...

of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) Joint Venture (JV), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO) and Total Nigeria Plc. In the health sector, government has constructed 53 out of 178 proposed functional Primary Health Care Centers provided with laboratories, pharmacies, Male and Female wards and housing quarters for health personnel posted to these centers for 24/7 service to the communities. In housing development, 1,800 housing units under the first phase of the state's mass housing programme are currently under construction in the six urban centers of the state while the construction of another set of 1,800 units under the second phase are expected to take off after the completion of the first phase.

Award

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of

Commander Of The Order Of The Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...

(CON) was conferred on him by President

References