Outrage in Yobe as Governor Buni’s N300m Donation Sparks Fierce Backlash Over Failing Infrastructure

A wave of public indignation has swept through Yobe State following the controversial donation of N300 million by Governor Mai Mala Buni to the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) during a recent fundraising event. The massive financial gesture, which occurred at a time when many communities in the state are grappling with acute infrastructural deficits, has ignited a fierce debate online and offline regarding the administration's spending priorities. Residents have expressed deep frustration that such a colossal sum could be mobilized so swiftly while basic public services remain underfunded.

In Damaturu, the state capital, and other major towns like Gashua and Potiskum, citizens have pointed to the deplorable state of public schools, inadequate clean water supply, and poorly equipped healthcare facilities as evidence of misplaced governance priorities. For a state that is still painfully recovering from the devastating impact of the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency, critics argue that every available resource—whether public or privately mobilised through political capital—should be strategically directed toward critical socio-economic recovery projects.

According to reports from local accountability advocates, several public primary and secondary schools in rural Yobe currently lack basic desks, textbooks, and sanitary facilities, forcing children to learn under highly unconducive conditions.

"We are not against supporting religious organizations, but when our hospitals lack basic drugs and our children sit on bare floors to learn, a N300 million donation feels like a slap in the face of the common man,"

lamented a local youth leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity.