Why I want to Represent Dikwa, Mafa, Konduga Federal Constituency in 2023 – Umar Dalorima

By Abdulkareem Haruna

A young Banker and grassroots oriented politician, Umar Dalorima, has indicated interest to vie for the Dikwa, Mafa, Konduga Federal Constituency of Borno state in the coming 2023 general elections.

Mr Dalorima, a trained top official of Zenith Bank, in Maiduguri is from the Konduga local government, which is one of the areas badly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The 38 years old banker, and a master’s degree holder in Applied Geology and Mineral Exploration, said his interest in politics was inspired by two critical considerations which include his passion to develop his people through education, and a quest to end poor legislative representation for his constituents.

The House of Rep aspirant said though he has been a card-carrying party politician “for a very long time”, his zeal to be more active was fired by the qualitative leadership styles of the incumbent Governor of Borno state, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, “who has proven to us that good governance is not rocket science as we used to think.”

Geologist Dalorima said he is an accidental politician who came in contact with politics as a result of his banking work.

Why Konduga deserves a chance in 2023

“The constituency I come from Konduga, Dikwa, Mafa has never produced a house of representatives member from the Konduga local government since the return of democracy in 1999; It has always been revolving between Dikwa and Mafa,” Dalorima said.

He told The Humanitarian Times that due to his close interactions with fellow youth from his constituency, a multitude of them saw the need for a younger and more vibrant person from Konduga like him to also run for the House of Representatives seat in the coming general elections.

“In appreciation of my modest philanthropic activities which largely revolves around scholarship and entrepreneurial support for the youth, various groups of the youth came to urge me to go for the House of Representatives seat,” he said.

“We made wider consultations with families, kinsmen, friends, community leaders, party members and general supporters who all endorsed the idea on the ground that I’m of age and of character to go for the position.

“I am motivated to go for the House of Reps seat because I have, over the years, noticed a wide gap between electorates in the constituencies and their representatives.

“I have seen Reps Members, especially in my constituency, going to the constituents for the campaign and after they are elected they would not be seen again. They don’t go back to them to rob minds with the people to know what their problems are. Rather, they decide what the constituents need.

“I intend to come and change the boring narrative of constituency representation. To me, getting closer to the constituents enables you to understand their challenges and how they can be addressed either through basic legislation process or direct projects deployment.

“The present insecurity affecting us was a result of the general joblessness and poverty affecting our people. My first point of tackling this problem is to see how we can get our people educated, enforce school enrollment, and get them ta o acquire functional skills that are validated by certificates, which to me is the ideal way of liberating the people, just like it is being reflected in the key 25 years Borno development plans fashioned for the state by His Excellency Babagana Zulum.”

“Dalorima was born in 1984 and had his first degree at the Department of Geology in 2008. He did his NYSC in Uyo Akwa Ibom, where he had his primary assignment with Zenith Bank. In 2011, after completing the service year, Zenith Bank retained him as a substantive staff where he works till date.