Yahaya Bello, your time is up!
Nigerians have watched with shock and consternation the shenanigans that has played out in Kogi State under the tyrannical rule of the self-styled White Lion, Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello.
Nigerians and Kogites in particular have watched for three and a half years – passing through the three medical stages of shock; nonprogressive, progressive and irreversible shock. The capacity for crass ineptitude, wickedness, insensitivity, viciousness and villainy displayed by the administration of Yahaya Bello so far is mind boggling.
It is said that he whom the gods want to bring down they first make crazy. Governor Bello came second in the primaries, sued our party the All Progressives Congress (APC) to court alongside Prince Abubakar Audu (the then candidate-elect of the party) and worked assiduously against the late Audu by openly supporting former Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – anti party activity. He failed and Prince Audu won but his untimely death left Kogi State in a conundrum which Bello was the ultimate beneficiary through his kinswoman, Hajia Maryam Salihu Ibrahim – a bosom friend to Hajia Aishat Buhari and the wife of the President who has since seen through Yahaya Bello and disavowed him between them and the present Governor of Yobe State and former National Secretary of the APC, Mai Bala Buni. Bello emerged as Governor of Kogi State based on a technicality.
His then best friend, Dino Melaye, sang his praises to the heavens and was the Master of Ceremony (MC) at Bello’s swearing -in ceremony. They fell out in less than six months over sharing of the spoils of office and are today arch enemies.
The Audu political family felt slighted and rejected the deputy governorship position. One would have expected the White Lion to pacify and forge some unison with the Audu’s political family, but in a macabre twist he tried to frame Mohammed Audu – the oldest son and heir to the Audu political family.
He accused Mohammed of murder and armed robbery amongs other things. The case was thrown out of court for lack of merit.
Divine providence playing the major role in Bello’s emergence as Governor of Kogi State a lot was expected from the White Lion being a young man and hopefully with fresh ideas, but to every body’s amazement he proceeded on a rampage, laying to waste everything around him in a scorched earth policy. He listened to nobody, starved the indigenes, ignored infrastructure, terrorized or murdered critics, disrespected elders including his own paramount ruler – the highly respected Ohinoyi of Ebiraland. As it gets worse in a land ravaged by famine, he glorified himself and built an imposing and palatial edifice in the midst of poverty, squalor and misery which he inflicted on his people and invited the world to celebrate part of the reason he was starving his people to death.
Governor Bello, possessing uncommon native intelligence when he started to see the handwriting on the wall that Hajia Aisha Buhari – the no nonsense wife of the President – had seen through him and detected his hypocrisy, he found his way to the President and shamelessly idolized, adulated and publicly worshipped Mr. President in what is popularly known as ‘‘eye service’’ knowing only an executive order can give him the APC’s ticket for a second term in office.
Because he knew the carnage he had wrought in Kogi will not allow him to win any election in the State, he hijacked the APC’s state exco and installed his goons which is why he is clamouring for indirect primaries since his goons will be the natural delegates. There are several suits in court challenging the legitimacy of his faction.
Governor Bello used the Governors’ Forum to arm twist the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC into pronouncing indirect primaries for Kogi state primaries which has since been challenged in court by different stakeholders and the NWC is on the verge of reversing itself and declaring direct primaries.
Governor Bello will be stunned when he realizes that Mr. President is much smarter than he thinks and realizes that historically, Mr President does not meddle and that Mr President is aware of his atrocities.
Bello recently paid some salaries and celebrated it! He has not paid his deputy’s salaries and allowances for three years! One is in tears at this level of mediocrity celebrating payment of statutory salaries!
Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, your time is up! All you are doing now are spastic spasms of a dying chicken.
– Benson Aduku, a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja.
