By Olalekan Aiyenigba.
I have refrained from expressing any view on the election petitions brought before the tribunal not only because it would supposedly be prejudice but because of my firm conviction of its infinisimal value in the final outcome in the judicial resolution of the convoluted conundrum in Kogi state. During the course of the statutory 180 days the tribunal executed its mandate every shade of opinion has been expressed by experts and learned counsels with the credibly ignorant joining the fray.
However, I belong to the school of thought who is unambiguous in the conviction that the Supreme Court will be the terminus of all the petitions the Kogi gubernatorial contest sired.
Strangely, majority of Kogites hoped so much in judicial pronouncements that can and will still be subjected to further appraisal and scrutiny by Appellate Courts. This is not a surprise considering the wish of most Kogites to see the quickest resolution of a crisis that was foisted on them by a few people which has been responsible for their anguish and pain. Kogi state has never been this divided and neither has its people been so traumatised.Hustling has been elevated to a craft and understandably so with the lack in the land. A group of self-acclaimed prophets abound in the land who claim to be God’s oracle who hear and see God’s desires whereas their hearts are very from God but they are guided by survival instincts in the jungle Kogi state has become. Decisions on and reactions to most issues are now determined by unbridled ambition, insatiable greed and uncommon bigotry; ethnic and religious.
In 21st century democratic Nigeria, we are told and teased with the teasy idea of despotic autocracy as the only option we must live with; after all Gov. Yahaya Bello’s emergence is attributed to divine decree. But my concern is knowing how long the people must persevere in pain even as the rulers in Lugard House will want us to believe all is well.
Kogites must remain calm because whichever way Justice Halima ruled, the terminus for the train of tears and trauma remains the supreme court which gives a timeframe for the end to the confusion. For a state so emeshed in all that is worthy of worry, it’s a long ride for its helpless people because the journey so far is far from jolly but the end to all inconclusiveness is in sight. Whatever views and opinion we express as citizens will have no bearing on the final judgment at the supreme court. Our collective fate is in the hands of just seven justices in the apex court that will deliver the judgment that cannot be appealed. We might as well make the best out of an obviously bad situation.
The absence of morality in law is obvious and whatever position we take on the judicial process that will resolve the political imbroglio, we must understand and accept as inconsequential and thus needs no fretting over because of the timeframe of endurance that is known. The pertinent question to collectively ask ourselves is what next with particular emphasis on how do we make the trip from here and now till then and to the terminus less agonizing.
In some of my earlier commentaries, I have admonished Gov. Yahaya Bello to handle the affairs of Kogi state and its people as if everyday is the last and endeavor to do that which is right. The state is ailing under his watch and its people suffering and no explanation can reasonably excuse the overcast in the state. The immaturity and impunity Gov. Yahaya Bello has exhibited in his handling of the state Assembly crisis is an ill wind that will blow him no good not withstanding any contrary view on this by aides and advisers; special and ordinary. That every action in time will be rewarded or reprimanded appropriately is a truism of life that must be taken seriously.
The arbitrary and lame manner the issue of backlog of workers wages is being handled should be reversed and replaced with that of concerned commitment with humane disposition that will bring joy back to the homes of living workers.
The insecurity pervading the state should be cause for concern that must be urgently tackled to lift the siege situation Kogites are presently in because penury ably aided by persistent danger and vulnerability are sure signposts to anarchy.
Though Kogi state is currently faced with a plethora of challenges, creating a secure environment that will make commerce thrive with a fulfilled and dedicated civil service will pave way to stability in the state.
On those alleged to have shortchanged the state, I support any policy that will ensure people take responsibility and be accountable for their actions while in government especially as it concerns the misapplication and misappropriation of state resources meant for the upgrade of infrastructures, but it should not be done in a vengeful, intimidating and self-righteous manner that will not be beneficial to the people. And in exercising the right to demand probity, those invested with the task must remember that today they are the accusers but the time is coming when they will become accused, not necessarily because of any untowardness but by virtue of the fact that an account of their stewardship is required.
Until the divinity or humanity of Gov. Yahaya Bello’s emergence as governor is confirmed by the supreme court, the governor should come to terms with one incontrovertible fact that what matters when one is in power is not really how long but how positively the stay has impacted on the lives of people. Being mere mortals all acts must be to the benefit of the people and to the glory of God, more so with the vaunted divine tag on the mandate presently enjoyed by the Governor.
The views I express now is in total contrast to my personal position on the confusion in our state and its not in any way a reversal of my avowed conviction that the situation in Kogi state is a hoop of absurdities that convoluted inconclusiveness created and I am enlightened and reasonable enough to understand and accept for now the fact that until end of October 2016, it is an aberration we all have to live with as nauseating as it might be while hoping for the best but in the interim continue to profer ideas on ways to uplift majority of Kogites from pedestrian and below subsistence living without compromising my integrious self. The sacrosanctness and conclusiveness of the election of 21st November, 2016 is inviolable and on that I resolutely remain.
For those already gloating, the disappointment the tribunal judgment was, is really a temporary setback that only men of little faith will agonize over. Not until heavenly fire consumed the soaked and drenched offering of Elijah, the prophets of Baal were still forming which confirmed whose side the Lord was on. Similarly, it took the swallowing of the rod turned snakes of Pharaoh’s magicians by the single rod turned snake of Moses for hardhearted Pharaoh to understand and confirm who the God of Isreal really is. As in the days of old, May the Lord reveal Himself mightily to us in Kogi state so that peace and prosperity can be ours again.
