I must confess upfront that I am not the first user of my title supra If my memory have not failed me, it was first used by the former American President, Roosevelt in the course of his campaign. As I was contemplating on the choice of the title for this piece with avalanche of options ruminating in my mind like, Kogi: A Great Deal and Kogi of my dream amidst others, though; I decided to settle for this which did not come from my deepest of thoughts. However, what may have prompted me to settle on this particular one may have consciously or unconsciously arisen from a similar thinking philosophy of the present leadership of Kogi State under Alh. Yahaya Bello. The totality of the concept of his governance principle is encapsulated in his acclaimed NEW DIRECTION.
When the winner of the November 2015 governorship election, Prince Abubakar Audu died, and the then powerful Abuja politicians foisted Bello on the people of Kogi State, little did they know their action will boomerang. Opinions were sharply divided on the new sheriff in town with regard to zoning, age, tribe and his role during the said elections. Three years on, Kogi has become a laughing stock in the political discuss across the nation. The state has consistently been in the news for wrong reasons. Needless to dwell on what has happened to those who foisted the leadership on the people. Most of them, if not all, both from within and without Kogi has been pushed out of the party by the same person they imposed on the innocent people of the state.
What baffled me most was the role played by our own president Muhammadu Buhari who maintained a conspiratorial silence until the wind blew open his hatred and opposition to the late Abubakar Audu. He deliberately stayed away from his Fid au prayer on the pretense that he was out of the country . However, upon his return, he chose to go to Ogun state on a condolence visit to the family of Obafemi Awolowo who had lost the family’s matriarch some months earlier but had the burial within the same period.
This was the same man (Audu) who earlier had mobilized 264,851 votes for him during the presidential election. Some had argued that Mr.President’s behavior stemmed from earlier action of Audu who had mobilized Kogi delegates for Rabiu Kwankwaso his friend of many decades.
But, my argument is simple, Audu was a great son of the soil, Igala kingdom and the same Igala people overwhelmingly voted him. Does it then mean, they do not deserve to be condoled? Where lies the fatherly disposition of a president?
Another election is around the corner, will Mr. president be bold to embark on a campaign to Kogi East Senatorial District to canvas for support? Should he decide to embark upon such gesture will the people not ask why he failed or neglected to condole them when they lost their own, the first elected Governor of the State who had the privilege of being reelected in 1999? What will be his answer? Does he then deserve votes from such a people? The answer is in the womb of time. I merely stated this to arouse the consciousness of the people of the state, because the last time I checked he went to Kano state to condole the government and people of the state during the demise of one of their sons. Ditto, Katsina President Buahri’s home state and several other places.
Back to the (un)popular slogan of the New Direction of the state government, the thinking then was that the vibrant young man was going to do something radically new in governance architecture. What the people have witnessed in the last three (3) years is a Sisyphean curse of megalomaniac consequences. Sisyphus was one who constantly rolled a stone up the hill and each time he got to the top will roll back and the circle continued in Greece according to history.
Local government workers have lost count of how many months they are owed salaries. In fact, the Administrators have become PoS (Payer of Stipends) as salaries are paid on percentage or ratio. We witnessed in Benue State then between 1978 and 1983, the then Aper Aku as Governor established 14 companies. Taraku oil mills, BENCO, BCC, BBL, Benue State Sanitary Ware industry now Kogi State Sanitary ware industry, etc .And they were very viable which drastically reduced unemployment. Most of them became moribund as a result of mismanagement by subsequent government?
In Kogi State Audu established Obajana Cement Factory, Kogi state polytechnic, Kogi State University (KSU), build Commissioners Quarters, Kogi State House of Assembly (KSHA)Complex, Lokongoma Phases one (1) and two (2),numerous roads and electricity projects. Ditto, Ibrahim Idris, who opened up Idah to Lokoja in shorter distance by constructing Itobe- Ajegu road, Idah- Onyedega road, building of more lecture theatres in KSU an employment of about 128 Professors in KSU.
I have never seen prompt payment of salaries as an achievement, therefore needless to record it. What then is the signature project of Yahaya Bello? What baffles me most in this era of unprecedented rise of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as Data Driven Technology (DDT) which has become scandalously scandalous to the people of the state is the so-called Staff Verification Exercise or screening.
The staff screening or audit has absorbed the whole of three years and probably may become a campaign point for second term where the Governor Alh. Yahaya Bello may canvass that he should be allowed to conclude it in his second term. This has showcased, no doubt the failure or inability of the government to realize as a matter of urgent importance that a software could have been simply designed for the purpose where ghost workers will be detected by a press of button right in his own office. This is what a nine year old Emmanuella Mayaki, a grade 5 pupil in a Primary School launched previous Friday, 20th of July, 2019. That is aside. The point I am making is, Yahaya Bello has not only failed, the government have become embarrassing and scandalous to all the people of the state, especially those living outside the state. A government that has not inaugurated any project as we move into an election deserves to be unpopular and the opposition need to put his non -performance constantly in the minds of the people so as to prevent him from using the state media to deceive the unsuspecting public.
Going forward, aspirants for 2019 elections must articulate their programs in a comprehensive blue print practical and realistic enough to convince the electorate to cast their votes for such a candidate. I am making this appeal early enough so as to deemphasize the issue of zoning which has not helped the common man in the state. I also do not subscribe to the current political docility of aspirants, especially those going for governorship election who thinks there is still time. If Bello must be stopped, which HE MUST, political alignments and realignments need to be on by now as the party that will produce members of the State House of Assembly and NASS come early next year will likely win the governorship election in November. With the defection of Senator Dino Melaye today and other APC members from the party is a pointer that APC has been left for Bello who automatically will become its candidate.
It was Thomas Jefferson former American president I talked about earlier who once said that ” when a government fears the people, there is liberty; but when the people fear their government, there is tyranny. “So when people begin to leave a party for single person and others whispers or refused to speak ill or criticize the government in public, it has become tyrannical. And what should the people do?
VOTE THEM OUT.
– Sylvester Ojogbane, a political strategist and analyst, wrote from Abuja.
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