Lately , Nigerians had to endure the sour , foul and unpleasant experience of witnessing strings of poorly staged orchestra of political brinkmanship in recent times – starting from an individual with penchant for the absurd to a handful of individuals in desperate showmanship performance, ostensibly meant to extend the creeping arc of political thuggery and clandestine opportunism in the Kogi State political spectrum .
While meaningful intervention to curb the spate of organized violence and elite-sponsored security breaches in the state are being planned from the inner recess of government at the national level , in conjunction with the state executive –some strange elements in political clothing seek their relevance in contrived security breaches in a cruel bid for dubious political precision and prankish publicity stunt. Thanks to the incipient trend in the polity,.
Political vampires in executive apparel and other noisy and rudderless individuals elected to political offices have discovered precious pastimes in rambunctious hooliganism via collaborative enterprise with idle minds to create emergency security situation. The objective is neither unfathomable nor lost to any discerning mind –a clever and desperate bid to shift and divert public attentions from their ignominious failures.
Not a few would mind being reminded of the high drama hara -kiri acrobatics staged by a supposedly ranking senator from the Kogi West who is known more for childish entertainment and egregious drama series than responsible legislative activism. To this end, it was the default trend when the nation was barely just digesting the inherent risk in the unenterprising escapism of jumping from a fast-moving vehicle in the desperate bid to evade the long arm of the law , an improved version worth premier rating in Hollywood blockbusters was launched into the public space . A boring account of how, under the hot chase of a phony enemy , an individual survived twenty bullet shots dominated public space – a prelude to an alleged kidnap where no ransom was demanded nor was any contact made by the abductors, neither was the police informed. A funny record- breaking claim of spending 11 hours on the tree top added flavor of absurdity to the drama
It was an extended phase of this never-ending drama of absurdity when, penultimate week , a handful of desperate strange bedfellows with the lead actor , senator Dino and his new recruit , Senator Salawu Ogemnbe –a senator from kogi central and his co-travellers in the House of Reps attempted a feat of feeding the nation with a modified version of another round of hot-chase by a phantom enemy, vide the nation newspaper story tilled
“Kogi senators, Reps allege harassment by Bello” in which the group said: “This cry has become imperative because persons holding contrary or alternative political views with Governor Bello can no longer move freely within the state, neither can they hold political meetings or conduct political activities such as town hall meetings, constituency empowerment programmers without violent interruptions by the state government and its agents.
This riotous run of bizarre events in kogi state threw up by this new group is not particularly strange – it’s a contrived pattern with expanded mandate and membership and under the leadership of Dino and his newly crowned captain- Ogembe. Dino needs no introduction to any one – his brand of default politics is duplicated and documented in various modules of confrontation, controversy and thuggery –long before the appearance of Bello on the political scene The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a key witness who was to testify against his election in 2008 remains unresolved. He was at the centre of the fight that broke out in the House of Reps during the Patricia Etteh saga where his dress was ripped apart and beamed to the whole world.
The person of interest in this new drama series is Senator Ogembe who had been in politics long before Bello but would struggle in vain to disown his role in the destructive brand of politics bordering on youth thuggery, organized violence and gangsterism foisted on Kogi State during his reign as Care Taker and Chairman, Okene Local Government . In effect, a bold matching index of violent political tradition had been foisted on the state by previous actors whose idea of political power rests in arming armies of unemployed youths with dangerous weapons to secure dubious electoral victory. Productive engagement of youths in capacity development schemes would be asking too much of them . If Ogembe is now crying Wolf, he should ponder on whether he is not being hunted and threatened by the monsters they created – what goes around surely comes around
In very recent memory, before the advent of Bello, Kogi central and its environs ingloriously slipped into a horrible crime zone swirling with assorted criminality – nightmarish flares of unrestrained gangsterism, mysterious killings and broad day shooting , kidnapping and armed robbery crept into our streets and was threatening to slighter into our homes..We only needed a reminder of how the old political brigades recruited hordes of idle youth and armed them with dangerous weapons to terrorise political opponents Those youths have now regrouped and transformed into hideous violent criminals threatening our homes and making life hellish for our people —-thanks to the activities of the pre-Yahiya Bello political actors – their bold signatures and imprimaturs in youth thuggery recruitment enterprise still ring riot in public conscience .
Shouldn’t the likes of Senator Salami Ohiare- be a leading treasure , custodian of political wisdom and a graceful panjandrum , advising and sharing his experience with the younger Bello , inclusive of resourceful legerdemain garnered in his long sojourn in kogi politics?
The resolve of the governor to shut his doors and turn deaf ears to the hypocritical cries of alienation, marginalization and non –consultative attitude to the old brigade politicians is not unconnected with their terrible profile which cannot provide an inspiring template for navigating through the multi –layered warren of rot and devastation inherited from previous regimes. Bello’s preferences are reliable working partners made up of few untainted older politicians in the likes of Alh Tijjani Damisa , ,Abubakar Yahaya Karaku and scores of trusted aquittances who believe in his vision and governance philosophy and are passionate about realising his core developmental goals for the state .
Shortly after his resumption of office, Bello took cognizance of the security landmine he inherited from previous political actors and convened a security summit to find a way of nipping the security threat in Kogi Central and other parts of the state in the bud. Various stakeholders from kogi central were invited to get their input. Bello’s singular declaration on the occasion was unambiguous –he said –All those who recruited and armed youths should recall those youth to give back their arms in exchange for productive engagement with the state government –Ogembe was allegedly in that meeting. Can he, in all good conscience, tell Nigerians what he said and the role he played in forging a resistant front against security situation in Kogi Central?
– Mohammed Nuru Yakubu
Coordinator, Front For Middle Belt Expression
