By Comrade Nasir.
An African saying has it that fruits shall be known by its fruit while man shall be known by his deeds and this phenomenon shall supersede any intention the duo of Governor Yahaya Bello and Sen Dino Melaye has in mind as it affects their activities, faceoff, views, disagreement and concerns in Kogi and national politics.
“The people of Kogi state voted for Prince Abubakar Audu and God voted for Yahaya Bello”, those were the words of senator Dino Melaye on 27th January 2016 during the inauguration ceremony of Yahaya Bello as the fourth executive governor of Kogi state and with such words been professed by SDM with both video and printed evidence to trace back to, One cannot but ask what went wrong between the two.
Interestingly, the special adviser to Governor Yahaya Bello on project monitoring, Hon Usman Ochidi has an answer to suit the governor’s side by a recent post on his facebook page which reads as “Dino demanded for key position in government and was graciously granted by his excellency despite all his negative instinct towards the new direction Government, his candidates still remained in government up to date. Secondly, he demanded that the position of all administrators in the western senatorial district be given to him to present a candidates of his choice and his excellency refused as there is need to consider other leaders and stakeholders. That was how Dino started plotting and fighting to see how he can course havoc in Kogi state.”
~USMAN OCHIDI 14/06/2017.”
On his part, Senator Dino Melaye explained his sudden grievance toward Yahaya Bello at a rally he held in Kabba local government area of Kogi state to be what he termed as a deliberate act and unending “Yahaya Bello’s punishment of Kogi people, non payment of pensioners, outstanding salaries to the extent of vowing that the governor will vomit every kobo of kogi money stolen.” speaking further at a senate plenary session on Tuesday, June 13th, 2017, he lamented the level of insecurity in kogi state citing threat to his life as a major of other things which accumulated to making him an opposition to the government he was chairman of its transition committee.
Going by the foregoing arguments between the duo, the question now becomes seeking to know whose plight represents a larger interest to Kogi people. Is it GYB whose face-off emerged from his refusal to concede administrators to senator Dino or sen Dino’s support which is abated by the governor’s failure to pay salaries and arrears? Further more, readers should also cross examine governor Yahaya Bello’s cabinet with keen assessment of the performance of the appointees that may be credited to Senator Dino as well as whether or not Sen Dino Melaye’s public claims are true.
The unclad truth is that the governor of Kogi state has thus far performed below average in terms of the welfare of civil servants and teeming Kogi youths who were in the past often engaged via empowerment platforms such as YAD4KOGI, poverty alleviation programs and etcetera. Furthermore, the sudden rapport between Sen smart Adeyemi and governor Bello may justify the other stakeholders Usman confessed the governor seek to consider but, considering fair-weather stakeholders like Sen smart Adeyemi who came through the fence over western leaders like Sen Clearance Olafemi, Hon James Faleke, Hon Duro Mesoku who fought hard to unseat the PDP is not only apolitical but in contradiction with the natural law that “he who work must eat”.
For record purposes, it must be put clear that no matter the intentions of Alhaji Yahaya Bello for Kogi state, Kogites shall/will only judge him on the basis of his actions, public impressions and what is available to the general public. Parameters which obviously gains Sen Dino the much deserved public sympathy in his fight. While there is need for Sen Dino Melaye to add civility and fashion to his style of resistance against the Kogi state government, the new direction team must sit up for governance and carve itself well for posterity or prepare hard for the consequences that the Kogi people will unleash in the next election.
So, be it for personal or political interests, observers should keenly judge based on the obtainable reality in the claim of this two lovers who turned foes that their reconciliation may not put anyone in regret. Yes! Reconciliation, our politicians can never be trusted and what stands between Governor Yahaya Bello and Sen Dino Melaye is one of a dinner meeting or exchange of “Ghana must go bags” and the heated polity will become history. Nigerians and particularly Kogites must widen to the task of supporting politicians on the bases of public interest or risk been tools of their individual gains, victim of circumstance and at the worst, loss life like the recorded deaths in the last fiasco at Kogi polytechnic gate.
In the end, “what will be, will be”. Politicians are like leopards and a leopard can never change skin. The permanent factor in politics is personal interest, this I assure you is paramount to both governor Yahaya Bello and Senator Dino Melaye over every other thing…
God Bless Kogi State
God Bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
– Comrade A. M. Nasir Writes From Minna, Niger State
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