A buffoon is a gross and usually ill educated individual or person acting ridiculously stupid.
Kogi State have always had buffoons who found themselves in position of authority. Although Kogi have a few shining lights in its history, Kogites have been very unlucky to have themselves ruled by idiots dotting the pages of the state’s history books and dramaturgy.
In recent times however we may start with Alhaji Ibrahim Idris aka Ibro who as soon as he found himself on the elevated seat of power displayed unprecedented buffoonery in a state so endowed yet with an impoverished population He was a laughing stock because of exhibition of uncommon ineptitude. Many were not surprised at the nepotism and kleptomania that characterized the regime of the carpenter governor as it was seen as a direct consequence of lack of intellectual wherewithal. Nine years went down the drain with little to show for that duration.
Then came another buffoon; the snoozing Pilot, Capt. Idris Wada whose predicament was an accident that almost claimed his life but some will argue that the injuries were to his legs and not his head. His inability to think outside the box in the face of dwindling allocation from Abuja coupled with a complacent attitude to boost IGR led to the introduction of percentage payment of salary. The foundation for owing workers and pensioners was laid under the inept watch of the Captain. Mischief makers alluded to the probability of an unstable mind and went further to fly the kite of periodic doses of medication from the psychiatrist to maintain his sanity.
While workers were groaning, aides kept hailing that the Captain was the greatest divine gift to Kogi State until he realized in injury time reality on ground did not tally with the feelers he was being fed. Election came and the nemesis of every reelection bid in Kogi State history: unpaid salary took it’s toll and the dozing one woke up after he lost. The rest is a story for another time.
Kogi, a state that hijacked the name of a river and compelled the world to call her by it, had a lot of fun from the Captain’s entertainment gallery hardly suspecting that they would soon have more than a dose from his successor.
In all fairness, it will not be right to state that the tenures highlighted were devoid of any positives but when viewed against the sterling performance of late Prince Abubakar Audu any attempt to do a comparison might end in committing battery and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm on the carpenter and the pilot but on the ‘fair one’ who got appointed after, a felony with higher punishment is probable.
And after came the much touted divine and digital governor who is officially acclaimed the youngest of the present set of emperors in Nigeria. Alhaji Fairplus no doubt belongs to the itinerant slapstick comedians even though he had reputedly made plenty of money through transport as well as through other known and unknown sources. That claim on a young man who neither benefitted from a generous inheritance nor won a lottery but resigned as a level 12 officer in a federal parastatal he served in as many years is a tale fit for moonlighted nights.
Kogi state may I say is unlucky to have had successive buffoons as temporary landlords in Lugard house. The nine years of the Carpenter was a dramatization of bungling. From pillar to post he hardly knew what he was doing. He understood neither politics nor economics. He understood neither internal affairs nor the dynamics of governance . All he had was power which was to be used in accordance with his whims and caprices.
One thing common to all buffoons is wickedness and the art of double dealing and crookedness. What buffoons lack in refinement and brilliance they have in smartness and street wisdom. It was not surprising that when the dark ‘fair one’ assumed leadership in the most ludicrous of circumstances, certain individuals saw the hand of God hence the tag divine Governor. When youthfulness is added, expectations of better life for Kogites was high. Almost two years after, it is obvious hopes were not only misplaced but the unlucky occupation of Lugard House by another buffoon a sad reality.
His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has engaged in needless squabbles with real and perceived foes with his non biological twin brother in tow.
He has bungled from one policy disaster to another and unfortunately for Kogi State,there is a Prime Minister in garb of Chief of Staff, who from every indication is running the state on behalf of his detached Siamese brother whose primary interest is insane acquisition of wealth to fill the gap of previous anticipatory declaration of assets in forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau. One begin to wonder why those in the mad rush to acquire wealth don’t understand there are some things money just cannot buy like manners, morals and common sense.
Blurry bleary bungling Edward is expectedly just as inconsiderate as his twin the ‘fair one’ and together they have sucked Kogi State into schemes that have no bearing or benefit to Kogites. When buffoons have access to power they tend to lead the unlucky people they rule to destruction simply because they are not capable of understanding problems and issues. They are usually one way traffic and they see the world through one narrow perspective. Many innocent lives have been wasted in a ghostbusting exercise that displayed the true meaning of callous ineptitude.
The truth is gradually coming out and what most educated minds had suspected from the word go are now coming into the open. The big hoax of over fourteen months screening can only be engineered by a bungling buffoon.
The buffoon after has mounted the centre stage. A man reputed to talk with his foot in his mouth has come to town. When late Prince Abubakar was in power he focused on development and his legacy straddle the landscape That is no longer the case since the Siamese twins took over the stable.
Not able to construct simple intelligence speeches and lengthy statements Alhaji Yahaya Bello has taken to social media through hordes of aides as his escape route sharing space with others who have found company in twitter, instagram and facebook to express themselves.
One common trait of buffoons is that they could be very childish and easily irritable. It is obviously due to wickedness as it is the fact of being irritable, peevish and easily provoked; all traits common to air brains.
Kogi has outlived the regimes of the previous buffoons albeit not without heavy price, it will certainly outlive the immaturity and the bungling of the current occupants of Lugard House. No doubt that Glass House may be turned to a spectacle of broken pieces of glasses before the expiration of his first term the good people of the Kogi State will certainly be on their guard that they do not have another Lion of any color or texture leading them to catastrophe through ill digested policies.
For now, Alh Yahaya is having fun with his newly acquired swagger stick, dark goggles and occasional skelewu dance steps . Buffoons usually see the world as a theatre of fun where no serious thought is required and where adults must behave like little children in Disneyland in a determined effort to live out childhood fantasies.
In a state with many families going to bed without food, most state officials ably led by Siamese males are heavily pregnant and every trick in the book is being applied to make hapless civil servants and pensioners acknowledge payments not received. While true leaders think of and for the people, the buffoons Kogi State has been unfortunate to have as rulers think just for themselves and are not qualified to be called leaders.
For a state whose commerce revolves around the civil service, taking a passive interest in the welfare of its workforce and those retired is a sure recipe for confusion.
2019 to every beneficiary of the suffering in Kogi State is a trip in the desert and the only way to avoid buffoons ever take charge of affairs from Lugard House is to ensure those responsible for the pains of the majority are never given the opportunity to rule again in the State.
The golden alternative is the Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance because together we are stronger.
The pertinent question then is why APDA? Because it’s different as it will give equal opportunity for all to thrive. The people will be the purpose of governance and a better society is guaranteed.
– T. D. Bamishile
