It is no longer news that our Gobina, Yahaya Bello is fond of copying bad and notorious examples in governance. He will not copy Ambode’s rice production and infrastructural development initiatives. He will not copy Willie Obiano’s SME development policies. He will not copy Lalong’s commitment to payment of outstanding salaries with the last Paris Club refund monies. He is always attracted to examples that consolidates his desire to surpass Idi Amin of Uganda. Somehow, even while copying bad examples, our gobina will not do the wrong thing ‘perfectly’.
When he read that a governor in the north western part of Nigeria arrested a journalist, Yahaya quickly moved into action and got a Kogi journalist, Prince Friday Ogungbemi arrested. Arrested Audu Makori had since apologised to Governor ElRufai but since our copy-copy gobina didn’t do the wrong thing ‘perfectly’, Ogungbemi is still on the other side.
December 2015, a Magistrate in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, Shuaibu Usman, discharged the Director of Radio Biafra and Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on all counts of criminal conspiracy and ownership of an unlawful society brought against him by the federal government but was re-arrested outside the court premises by the operatives of the State Security Service.
Based on Nnamdi Kanu’s episode, our gobina started looking for ways to replicate the same feat in Kogi. Austin Okai was his victim. Okai, an innocuous social media commentator, was arrested like a criminal in Abuja and was rushed down to Lokoja where the Kogi Idi Amin holds sway. He was charged to court and was granted bail but was re-arrested right there in the court premises and has been in detention since then. Bravo! What Buhari can do, Yahaya Bello can do better!
But this morning the news came in that Nnamdi Kanu has been granted bail. Though the conditions sounded ludicrous, he is out of detention. Austin Okai will soon be charged to a High Court for trial. Government is still searching through guinness book of records to collate immovable charges against Austin Okai.
Now that the Nnamdi Kanu example that our gobina copied has turned out the way it is now, can we request that our Austin Okai be released to us without further delay?
Also, allow me to whisper to the ears of our gobina that time has come to copy good examples that abound in our country for the betterment of Kogi state.
Thank you.
– Adamu Ojonugwa writes from Lokoja
