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Since January 27, 2016, I have been graced with the honor to work with one of the most amazing leaders of this generation, a practical, pragmatic, dynamic and an unrepentant change agent.
Maintaining the status quo and not shaking the tables are some of the easiest things for a leader. By so doing, he has few enemies and even the corrupt system will enjoy the comfort of no threat. Lies are told. Palms are greased. It doesn’t matter if the system suffers the intellectual laziness of a desperate leader, desperate to be loved even when inflicting debilitating internal injuries in the system.
But there are also leaders who dare the system, dare change, challenging the status quo and choose the good of the society over pyrrhic popularity. GYB belongs to the second category.
On June 18 over four decades ago, the world was blessed with a strong character. Even when Hajia Bello thought she had given birth to her last, Yahaya popped up. He must come to the earth. Such reformists have door-breaking destinies.
Right from his boyhood, he was rebellious against evil, injustice and unrewarding norms. He was challenging injustice in the class, at the stream, on the street. He was thought thoroughness by his parents and older siblings. He inherited courage and fearlessness from the hills of Agassa.
Whenever people call him “Pharaoh”, I am tempted to reconsider studying the life and times of the Egyptian Terror. Initially, I felt pained by the misjudgment. But I later realized there are different types of ‘Pharaohism’. One deals with oppressing the just. The other deals with oppressing what is unjust.
With thousands more on the current payrolls of our dear State, it would have been practically impossible to pay Kogi workers their wages, especially names that contribute nothing to the economy of the state.
To remedy the situation, a table shaker, an uncompromising leader who would see the future of the state as being more important than his re-election was needed. A selfless but rallying reformist was needed. He saw all the options. He chose to save the state.
Today, Kogi State has paid more salaries than they would have been able to pay if nothing was done to wrong the imperial fraud of the past.
His personal flair for cleanliness has rubbed off on the environmental situation of the state. Those close to GYB knows his hygiene flair. Under him, the narratives have changed about Kogi environments. We are clean. We are beautiful.
One thing I will want to pick from GYB is his listening prowess. He listens. He learns. He reads. He studies sincerity of purpose. He is humble enough to bow to superior arguments. He respects human beings. But he won’t kowtow to garrulous tyranny or injustice. He abhors oppression. He is a compassionate leader.
I am glad that more Kogites are beginning to understand the man GYB.
My first day with him underpinned his abhorrence of ethnic bias. What happened is a long story for another day. He is home with anyone with a good heart.
His first three appointments as a Governor, his subsequent appointments, distribution of projects and his comfort with giving strategic responsibilities to people outside his ethnicity are great hallmarks of a detribalized leader.
Maybe because of his humble background, GYB is home with all classes of humans. His ascension has sparked the parade of commoners on the table of nobility. In the new Kogi State, the social status of your parents plays no role in guaranteeing what you get. Merit is the key.
Today, as the world celebrates him on his birthday, I wish him long life and prosperity with great achievements for the people of Kogi State.
– Fanwo Kingsley
Director General of Media and Publicity to the Governor of Kogi State
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