I have been thinking seriously on why former governor Prince Audu Abubakar is constantly being derided and abused by a few but vociferous individuals for being arrogant, unbearable and corrupt.
There is a saying in Yoruba land to the effect that when you describe your cooking pot as useless, people will treat it as rubbish. Kogites have often not been mindful of the damage we do to the state and ourselves when we denigrate our institutions and our leaders in a careless and reckless manner.
As we approach the 2015 governorship election, the denigration of the office of the governor is being escalated.
The incumbent party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is also determined to do maximum damage to Prince Audu Abubakar and the office of the governor. The utterances from its leadership need a lot of moderation and scrubbing. They have also at various times described Prince Audu as arrogant and one who ran an auto-pilot government while in power.
An important barometer of a viable democracy is the sanctity of the voter’s wish.
Under Prince Audu, Kogi witnessed drastic change and transformation and enormous achievements which include building Kogi State University, Kogi State Polytechnic, hospitals, schools, roads and culverts, rural electrification, rural water supply, wealth creation, mass housing, libraries, hotels and many more.
It is important to note that the policies and programmes of Prince Audu are in sync with his rescue agenda for Kogi state which was the basis of his election in 1999.
The Okura-born politician is nothing near a corrupt and arrogant person. He may not be your example of an exposed and tolerant leader but in reality he is not a arrogant person.
– Balogun Emmanuel Funsho, from University Of Ilorin. He can be
reached on 07034444976 or via irule9ja@gmail.com.
