By Solomon Enejoh, Abuja.
As long as politics in representative democracies continues to be centered on intrigues, every decision and action of a political leader must derive its validity from effective communication with his people.
It is upon this premise that one sees it as imperative to use this medium and other media platforms in order to shed some light on the reasons behind the renewed love of most of the young people who are currently trooping into the All Progressives Congress (APC) party barely two months to the governorship primary elections in Kogi State.
Recall that some of these young men were major participants in the election that brought victory to the APC in 2015 before the unexpected demise of that great leader, Prince Abubakar Audu. However, all the other events that necessitated the factionalization of the party in the aftermath of the death of Prince Audu and the subsequent exodus of many party stakeholders to other political parties have now been overtaken by time and a gamut of events.
Meanwhile, apart from a sense of accountability and responsibility which some of these young leaders owe their yonger teaming political supporters and followers. To that effect, a number of notable persons have, out of deep inquisitiveness, been inundating them with questions about their decision to return to the APC which, in its formative stage, they actually helped build in the State-Kogi.
Questions have also been asked why should these defected youth leaders expect to continue to enjoy their support even having hitherto criticized the same government they now found as a new bride.
So, according one of such persons who recently went back to join forces with the incumbent governor , he obliges to invite all and sundry to jettison every premeditated animosity held against His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello administration which, according to him, was borne out ignorance of some of Governor Bello’s courageous undertakings and then encourages them to focus on the following reasons that underlie his action.
The first among them he said was, according to him the “unifying personality factor which the governor has, for the first time, since the creation of the state, introduced to the governance of the state.” How? Someone might ask. But according to this new Bello lover, the answer is at the tip of one’s finger. He said that it’s no longer news that no previous governor of our dear state ever appointed his Chief of Staff from another ethnic group other than his very own. But since the assumption of office of this very detribalized governor, he has been working harmoniously with Honourable Edward Onoja of the Igala extraction. This singular act, in his opinion, has given rise a pervasive confidence in the hearts of all Kogi State indigenes both home and in the diaspora, and that of a truth, the governor is not someone who practices nepotism as experienced in previous administrations.
Many other reasons why young men, especially from Kogi East axis are now taking sides with Governor Bello, according to the young man who declined putting his name in prints are stated below.
He spoke on: “Another major hallmark of Governor Bello’s government that caught my attention was the revitalization of the political fortune of Alhaji Isah Jibrin (Echocho). This was a man whose humanitarian gestures was unprecedented even as a private sector man in the banking industry. But his desire to step up and widen his scope of influence in his God-given spirit of service to humanity directed him into politics. Having been a governorship flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and therefore was very hopeful of becoming governor when the party was still in vogue, he was manipulated and frustrated out of power and kept in political dungeon for so many years by his own kinsmen.
Any reasonable man who has seen the plight of Echocho and how Governor Bello, in alliance with his twin brother, Hon. Onoja has rejuvenated his political career via their visible support in sending him to the Nigerian Senate, would not only pour encomiums on these duo, but would want to give them every needed support in oder for them to succeed in the governance of the state.
The young man also mentioned the appointment of the late Dr. Stephen Makoji Achema’s son and one of the political appointees of the governor. He said that the previous government under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for whose course Achema lived and did absolutely nothing for the family of the great political Icon. But that Bello has proven to be more of brother than their Igala former governors.
He also went further to say that the current National Women Leader of the APC, Hajia Salamatu Baiwa got to that position by the support of Governor Bello and Edward Onoja. A tribalised governor would have presented someone from his own ethnic group, he said, arguing that the governor hasn’t behave in a manner that shows any form of discrimination at all.
“That’s not all”, he continued. “Governor Bello, even with the plummeted and ever dwindling Federal Government’s Allocations to the state, has judiciously managed the state’s resources to embark on massive road constructions in many local governments in Kogi East. For instance, the neglected Ankpa township roads that have been in terrible state for many years have been constructed by his administration. Not to mention Ankpa-Abejukolo road; Shintaku-Gboloko-Dekina road; Ejule-Umomi-Idah road; Ibana-Okpo-Ogugu road and a host of others that are scattered across the length and breath of the state.
“Interestingly, a visible dimension in the leadership style of Governor Yahaya Bello is the revolutionary approach in the empowerment of the youths in Kogi State. The New Direction administration of Governor Bello was divinely ordained to rescue millions of Kogi young people who were perpetually subjugated and marginalised by the so-called political elders who held sway in the state for the sixteen years that they held power. They saw the youths as only good to defend them, and to also fight their political enemies, and afterwards, good for nothing. But Governor Bello introduced a paradigm shift where all the members of his cabinet and the other political office holders are youthful vibrant young men and women.
“These young people whose energy, fast mental processing ability and digital acumen have averted sluggish and snail-pace operation associated with governance in the past, have since set the government of the state on the path of speed, accuracy and timely delivery of the dividends of democracy. This, in fact is one of the chief reasons that I want to contribute my own quota to the administration of governor Bello so as to move Kogi State forward,” he submitted.
Continuing he said: “Apart from the young ones who occupy political offices in Bello’s administration, a whole innumerable chunk of Kogi youths have been empowered as a result of the so many skill acquisition programmes of the government. This was a policy that brought succor to the youths who had hitherto languished under previous administrations that laid embargo on employment for so many years. No well-meaning person of Kogi State origin would look the other way not recognising all these things in the name of engaging in one parochial retrogressive agenda originally designed to destroy and not build our state.”
He also stated: “I have to further state here that posterity would not be kind to me if I refuse to commend and give unflinching support to Governor Yahaya Bello over the massive investment that he has made in the area of security of lives and property in our beloved state. The engagement of former jobless youths in gainful employment has immeasurably contributed to the peaceful coexistence of the people of the state today. Even though there are some pockets of communal clashes here and there in some parts of the state, Kogi State has been relatively peaceful. Today, kidnappers, armed robbers, bandits and other evil men who engaged in various nefarious activities within the shores of Kogi State no longer find any safe haven there anymore. It wasn’t so before the present administration came into being. This too, should be earnestly sustained.”
The youth leader went further to say that recently, one of the Chieftains of the opposition political party in Igala land and who has served as a Legislator in the Kogi State House of Assembly several times was struck by kidney disease and needed a transplant. Of all the political heavy weights that litter the landscape of Igala land and with their heavy financial war chest, non could, either singlehandedly or in collaboration with another in his class, come to the rescue of the man.
It took the intervention of Governor Bello to rescue Honorable Yunusa Yahaya (YY) from the kidney problem through a kidney transplant for him to stand on his fit today. Had the governor considered the many dividing lines between himself and YY as he is fondly called, would he have been alive today? Is this gesture of Governor Bello not worthy of encouragement through support? A good heart would answer that question in the affirmative.”
Not done yet he said, “Come to think of it, an expedition to the palace of the Atta Igala, who, with the support of the governor has remained not only the traditional head of the Igala nation but also the head of Kogi State Traditional Council, did not hitherto depict an abode of a king of his status in the contemporary world. But the governor saw himself duty-bound to raise its standard by investing in the beautification and equipment of the palace. This has brought more glory to the palace and the occupant of the exalted seat of power of the entire Igala people. What kind of agenda would one call that?,” he questioned.
Closely related to the above mentioned stride of the governor, according to this new convert of Governor Bello “is the fact that, to be a true son, one is supposed to be known for, and seen as walking in the shoes of his father. It has been a dawn of a new era in the lives of our traditional rulers ever since governor Bello assumed office. He has been able to elevate all of them from their previously stagnated classes to their respective new desired classes. And this renewed determination of the governor to put smiles on the faces of our royal fathers has enliven their passion in the discharge of their traditional duties hence the pervasive peace in the entire Kogi State.”
He admitted that though the state government has had to deal with the challenge of over bloated salary/wage bills of the state and the ghost workers menace which was, according to him, a direct onslaught on the present government by the previous administration in order to orchestrate its failure, and even with the different interpretations given to government’s approach in dealing with the issue, the administration has continually made efforts to perfect the process.
He said that many people can attest to the fact that even with all the sabotage, a good number of the genuine civil servants have had their cases resolved and are enjoying their salaries in silence. He said “no wonder the initial wailing has now waned into oblivion.”
He said time would not allow him to explain the real reason he decided to pitch tent with the current administration of Governor Yahaya Bello, but that it’s noteworthy that most administrations’ development efforts are not usually appreciated until they have come and gone.
And that nevertheless, he was convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that with the massive involvement of young people in the government of Governor Bello, especially the Igala youths, by the time Bello would have completed his second and last tenure and power is returned to Kogi East, it will be the young people who will be the greatest beneficiaries and not the old and expired politicians who are only interested in their friends and families alone.
Finally he said: “I Therefore, enjoin all, especially the youths, to rally round Governor Bello in his unrelenting quest to reposition Kogi State on the path of sustainable development.”
The summary of it all is, in his words “Igala Youth Agenda Equals Bello 2019.”
