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By: Isa Eneye Mubarak.
I’ve been quiet since the start of Yahya Bello’s regime in Kogi state because I’m a firm believer. I do not give up on people easily, and I’ve not given up on him yet. So I’ll try and be constructive in my argument as much as possible. As Paula Abdul rightly said ‘Constructive criticism is about finding something good and positive to soften the blow to the real critique of what really went on.’
Whatever information I gathered cannot be far different from the reality on ground by the ordinary citizens of Kogi State what their families are going through in the hands of our so called digital administration. People who benefits from a government praises it, those who don’t criticize it. People are being tagged “enemy of progress” just for criticizing the Digital Governor.
The arrival of Yahaya Bello was ‘miraculous’ and very much welcomed by many that wanted change in the governance of Kogi State. I’m not just in total support of the need for screening but also the total elimination of corrupt individuals, some have held the state to ransom earning what they do not deserve, fixing ‘ghosts’ in our payroll. There’s need to weed this people out for this state to move forward. The verification/screening that ordinarily would have been the best thing to have happened to Kogi state have become a nightmare and disaster.
The Governor started off the wrong foot as he made frantic efforts to remove ghost workers. Some genuine workers today are yet to be paid their salaries and yet the governor and his cabinet keep on telling the whole world that all debts has been cleared that only ghost workers are the ones nagging. It is so deplorable that some people who started as civil servants in the then Kwara state before the emergence of Kogi state and before Yahaya Bello was even born are now presently seen as ghost workers.
Many celebrated the Islamic and Christian festivals without a farthing in their pockets. The Yahaya Bello they celebrated has suddenly become a bone in their necks. Many sins are pardonable but to declare a living being ghost and deprive them of their wages attracts repercussion.
In all honesty, Bello has done a woeful job at this, 11months of screening is total incompetence. During this screening, workers were not paid. This shows he’s insensitive to worker’s welfare, this people have families, they have responsibilities, some totally depends on their salary to cater for their family. It is easy to tell the masses to sacrifice for the state but the Governor and all his cabinets are living like kings.
I can understand the need for sacrifice for this process to be completed but not to the detriment of worker’s not being able to pay children’s school fee, or feed their families.
People have died because of this, families have broken because of this and life has become unbearable because of this. It is one thing to read about it online, its another to see the actual situation on ground. Its horrible and unbearable.
The people who praises this kind of incompetence is either benefiting from the so called ‘digital Governor or are likewise insensitive too. What is even digital about Yahaya Bello? Is it his stubbornness and flamboyant style of living that is digital? What exactly is digital about him?
It is disconcerting that the same civil service reform (staff screening) exercise which was done in states like Kaduna, Sokoto, Benue, Plateau, Kwara with much bigger staff strength within weeks and few months didn’t take much time, or controversies as the one done in Kogi State which is yet to be fully concluded. It doesn’t require rocket science to know that the bank verification number (BVN) of workers holds the key to a genuine and successful staff audit and that was what all the states used in cleaning up their civil service., However, our ‘new direction’ government opted to go the archaic way which has raised more questions than required of this administration’s hidden agenda to systematically retrench workers under the guise of screening.
The unprofessional method employed by the committee rubbished and ridiculed the whole process. In a self defeating manner, the government having realized the failures associated with this unapologetically derailed and fantastically unethical committees, have disbanded successive committees only to set up a more disastrous one.
One of the areas this ‘digital governor’ has done a perfect job is PUBLICITY. So quick to take every little thing to the News. He has done so well in this aspect that if you live on social media you’ll be convinced he has done a perfect job. Some propagandists here (social media) tell us about how the governor has workers at heart or what he intends to do or how ‘all debts has been cleared’ but what we’ve seen for the past one year is paper policy, campaign after election, mere talk, power without will, affluence on the side of some appointees.
Yahaya Bello and his cronies count on followers believing their lies, even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. They basically live in an echo chamber in which everyone watches the same news channel, listens to the same talk radio, reads the same newspapers and web sites where propaganda is the new hub.
A leader is bound to make mistake, when such mistake is constantly been defended by his cronies in his Cabinet such leader has no interest to change for good. It’s been a year, all we know about this government is screening, screening, and screening. Endless screening! Yahaya Bello’s government lacks direction even if it is tagged a new direction government. May God give him the right direction.
By: Isa Eneye Mubarak
isamubarak66@yahoo.com
@isamubi3
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