Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s Government; 16 Months After… (One-Third of Tenure)

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Four months ago, those in the corridors of power and in government told the world that it was too early to judge the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

According to them, judging or assessing a government elected for a four-year tenure, just one year in office, was unfair, since much more could happen in the remaining lifespan of the government. They did say that although the government was grappling with the rot inherited, which, according to them, was enormous, much was being done to make Kogi state better.

Now four months thereafter, which is actually sixteen months of the government (one-third of this tenure), nobody would say that it is out of place to assess the government on what it has done or failed to do. Assessment is continuous and it is always important to look at the present, while waiting for the future, making an update when the time comes, based on fresh or new developments. In any case, it is because of the need for assessment that governments, across the world, take the first 100 days in office seriously. I dare say that they do this because they know that one step is the beginning of a thousand miles. And as our elders say:it is by looking at the corn plant that one would know the corn  fruit that is ripe.

The question, therefore, is: In the last sixteen months, how has the current government fared? How have the actions and inactions of those in government and the government itself impacted on Kogites? Has the vision of the government been realised? Have the expectations of Kogites been met?

My position is summarised by the frustration and disappointment of Kogites, with a simple verdict that the government had not done well.  The administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello has not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected a new direction to prosperity but has failed to deliver on even mundane matters of governance outside of concerted efforts to improve security and infrastructure. Overall, the feeling among majority of Kogites is that government is not doing well.”

However, one cannot in honesty, after more than a year in office continue to rely only on this ‘blame them’ explanation. The previous administration were voted out because Kogites knew that the previous administration was mismanaging resources and engaged in unprecedented waste and corruption. We must, therefore, identify the roots of our enduring economic under-performance as a state, and present a medium-term plan and strategy to turn things around.

The despondency in the  state summarises the feeling of Kogites who, in the last sixteen months, have experienced very tough times. Today, the cost of living has gone above the roof. The standard of living has nose-dived to an all time low, as people, barely trying to survive, cannot even afford the staple food that was common and taken for granted in the past. Parents have been incapacitated to fulfill their obligations to their children and husbands unable to be the head/man of the house in a true sense. Untimely and avoidable deaths abound in the midst of promises unkempt and undertakings observed mainly in breach.

To be sure, apart from the sustained fight against armed banditry, the rehabilitation of roads  and  genuine effort to revamp agriculture, there is nothing much to cheer about. We are told that kidnapping and armed robbery has been decimated and the state comparatively secure.We believe. We have also seen and acknowledged the purchase of operational vehicles to enhance security. We have seen the attempt to revolutionize agriculture, This is where the good story ends.

No doubt, some people would say that it’s bound to be rough. Really? I do not see the success.  Apart from the media hype, conventional and social,what is there to cheer? I have not forgotten that people are being arrested and charged to court for expressing divergent but sincere views. I am not blind to the reality of the need to sanitize the public service and thoroughly cleanse it of the ghost phenomenon but after the period it has taken and the outcome for now, the screening exercise is ineptitude exhibited at its zenith.

All hope may not be lost. The next eight months are critical for Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s government. It is a period for it to redeem itself and restore the confidence Kogites had soon after his ‘divine’ installation as Governor. If the government does not get it right at mid-term, it is certainly finished.” If in two years, the government is yet to redeem itself, majority of Kogites will repay the gesture in time. They will remember the skewed appointments into government positions that favour majorly mediocrity over competence. They see the obvious inhuman gap in the lives of those in power and ordinary Kogites They have seen the crisis in the education that has been poorly managed. They see arrogance of those in government and those who think they own Kogi state. They see the incapacity of a Governor , who is battling integrity and competence after overcoming legitimacy. They see the hijack of political power by a tiny clique riding roughshod on Kogites and doing what they please.

However, instead of those who made disappointment  decisions that caused anguish to Kogites to apologise, they are still arrogantly carrying on, as if nothing is amiss. It is this same attitude that is being displayed by those who are saying that it is okay to owe salaries and pensions for just twelve months and be grateful when they are paid.

I am persuaded that Kogites have seen all there is about Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s government. A government that has not made appreciable positive impact in the lives of the majority, in sixteen months, will not engender much confidence in the people, for the remaining thirty-two months, bearing in mind that after a while the politics of re election and succession starts. Kogites will, in 2019, decide which god to worship: Whether it is the Almighty God or Baal?

Kogites have tasted the Ibro/Wada//PDP government. They are experiencing the Bello/APC government.

They can make a choice. As my people say, when a woman marries two husbands, one after each other, she will know the one that is better.

Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s government still have the opportunity to make a difference by ensuring the much acclaimed ‘NEW DIRECTION’ is towards a more prosperous Kogi state.

Every government that has suffered defeat has its poor handling of civil servants salaries and pensions issue as an albatross; this is a fact.

The attempt to inflict collective amnesia on Kogites through propaganda will not work because no matter how many times half truths are chanted, the reality remain unchanged. We hope performance will be allowed to shut people up.

Kogites expectations from Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s government is high and reasonably so. Not just because of its youthfulness and the geographical  power shift but also that no government in the history of Kogi state has been fortunate to be availed the kind of resources it has received since inauguration. To whom much is given, much is expected.

Alhaji Yahaya Bello should gauge his performance with and by the quality of life of the average Kogite and certainly not by the collection of awards on his shelves. The testimony of Kogites is more valuable than the citations on plagues. May the Lord guide our Governor to know and do that which is right for Kogi state to truly rise. Amen.

– Olalekan Aiyenigba


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