OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, ALH. ADOZA YAHAYA BELLO, EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF KOGI STATE.
Written By Balogun Omeiza David (BOD).
Your Excellency,
It is a pleasure and honour to join the many people of Kogi State to felicitate with you on your victory at the apex court. It is God, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, the divider of the Red Sea, the only God who made an axe to swim up water, the God who made a donkey to talk like a human being, the One who created the earth and hung it on nothing, the One true God who made a raven to feed Elijah and made available Brook Cherith to water the prophet despite the three and half years of no rain nor dew in the land of Israel that has made you come out victorious at the much talked about Supreme Court case. May His name alone remain praised forever and ever. Amen
Your Excellency, an African proverb says, “after the storm, comes the rain.” Since the last few months of 2015 to September 2016, Kogi State has been experiencing a political stormy weather. This weather destabilized so many things but we all had no option than to stay in it together praying hard for it not to consume and fly us away like kites. God spared us to witness the quietening and subsiding of this storm and now we are all expecting the rain. The rain is what sweetens humanity and even plants. It refreshes the land and the onomatopoeic sound of rain alone makes mortals to sleep sound like a baby. To the plants, it gives room for growth with all the factors responsible for germination and growth out in place. As a State, Kogi needs to be refreshed and receive grace for growth to take place even now. For the past twenty five years the resilience of the people is one to be applauded. Many players came to play their pattern but the State has remained in the state of under development. In the history of Kogi State, this is the very first time we are seeing the presence of God in an election and not selection by human godfather’s as has been the case. This is the more reason why all indigenes and non indigenes living in the State are presently out with their containers hoping to fetch the rain water that will usher them into a season of abundance.
Your Excellency, I want to appreciate your rare understanding of seeing all Kogites as one. You are one governor with zero tolerance for ethnic bigotry. I have the privilege on many occasions to be where people were discussing your choice of a Chief of Staff (Hon. Edward Onoja) and I just shook my head in shame. To them, Edward is not to be chosen because he is from the Eastern part of the State. They wanted you to pick a man or woman from the Central part of the State that bred you. I summoned up courage to educate some of them though some of what I explained fell on deaf ears. I told them, the love, relationship and understanding between you and Edward is a replica of the one that existed between the biblical David and Jonathan. Even though Saul, the father of Jonathan was king, his son knew that David was going to be king because he knew it has been ordained by God and Jonathan supported David wholeheartedly. I told them, Edward has seen far ahead beyond tribalism and religion and the same it is with our governor. I went further to tell them that the two of them are like siamese twins who does not need the services of Dr. Ben Carson, the world renowned neuro-surgeon. I want to appeal to your government to please find a way of uniting all the tribes in Kogi State as you have already set to do. Make us as indigenes in the State to realise that we are all one save for language and culture that differentiates us.
God will help you to do this.
Your Excellency, without any iota of doubt, there are aggrieved people in your party that is, the All Progressive Party (APC) in the State. Their grievances varies and we must not fail to x-ray whatever their grievances are. An African proverb says, “only the monkey knows the secret of the tree top.” God created the monkey to be agile and also bestowed it with the gift of jumping on top of trees. No animal in the forest can compete with the monkey on the skills of navigating the trees except those in the same kingdom with it. As the governor elect, you have many trees to navigate and you must be agile, strong, focused and well skilled to know how and when to jump. Create an enabling environment for all party men and women to be appeased in order to stay atop of governance. Some may prove too hard to bend but believe you me, they can be bent. Never give up on any of them as there is no party member that is not of great importance to you and the State at large. With all the strength and zeal in you, seek for peace within
your party for you are now the chief umpire of the party in the State. In addition, the tortoise says, “it hates a wasted journey.” The tortoise is a shell carrying animal and God refused to dash him the gift of speed like the rabbit. If you make the tortoise walk a distance without anything tangible to show for it at the day end of the day, it won’t go down well with the tortoise. Patiently like the tortoise, many of us have painstakingly followed you believing you will be governor even the when the mountains were standing huge in front of us. Do not take us on this trip and waste our energy and believe. As a person, I am prayerfully looking forward to a 2019 where all parties will pick you as a consensus candidate and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not waste its money conducting election in Kogi State. I am looking forward still to a 2023 when you will be leaving office and all the people of Kogi State will be crying that you should not leave. This can only happen if you do not take the “tortoise” on a wasted journey.
Your Excellency, the screening exercise embarked upon by your administration is indeed a welcomed one. The era of ghost workers really messed up the advancement of the State as a microscopic few fed fat on what was meant for the large population of the State. However, I want to beg of you in the name of God who deemed it fit to exalt you to the highest office in the State to please pay “the already screened workers” their salaries. I have explained to many that this compulsory fasting of genuine civil servants in the State is because of the influx of non existent and unqualified civil servants in the State and here we are having a young, dynamic and dogged governor who is ready to lock horns with them until they are flushed out. However, the truth remains that your people are yawning on a daily basis.
Your Excellency, after the Nigerian Civil War, Gen. Yakubu Gowon came up with a statement that, “there is no victor; no vanquished.” We are all Nigerians and we went into war and the victory of this war alongside the setbacks it has created belongs to us all. The Aburi Accord agreed to in Ghana got to Nigeria and turned into a discord and it later led the country into many months of civil unrest. Nigeria remains one and a country hard to divide even if many people from different regions are agitating for a break up because “there is no victor; and no vanquished.” The same should go for your case that you won at the Supreme Court and those people or party that brought up cases against you and your party.
Everybody is a winner.
I have read some posts saying you are ready to give responsibilities to the duo of Capt. Idris Wada and Hon. James Abiodun Faleke in your government. This is the spirit of “no victor; no vanquished.” Proverbially speaking, “we need to cover the faeces in order for us to find a convenient environment to eat our already peeled pawpaw.” We cannot continue to be at loggers head till thy kingdom come. We have to sheath our swords and make our State progress at this point in time. Some sycophants may want you to shun some people they tag as your enemy. Do well as one that fears God not to dance to their tunes. So far; so good, I like and cherish your mindset towards so many things in the last few months you came on board. This is not to mean you are already above board. We are humans and there is always room to correct some known and unknown mistakes.
Your Excellency, I won’t fail to talk about the rotten educational sector in Kogi State. My major concern is the Primary education which is the bedrock of educational knowledge. Our primary schools in many parts of the State are nothing to write home about. The buildings are dilapidated and some even storing rain water like a septic tank. There is no good furniture as pupils are made to sit on stones and some on the bare floor. Many of the wooden window panes and the doors have been removed by people to use as firewood. There is no security at all and that is why some standing classrooms are loaded with faeces from marijuana smoking group in the community hosting this government owned primary schools. The entire atmosphere and environment is not any more conducive for learning. Sad enough, some never-do-wells in the community are even dragging land with many of our schools. Some people already are agitating that the government should return the Missionary Schools back to their owners as the proper management from government is not forthcoming as expected. As a person, I want to see all our Primary Schools in the State well fenced, beautifully built into storey buildings as we have in the northern part of Nigeria. Let our Primary Schools in the State be tiled with good furniture to fit. Let us make it free education for our wards. Let the Primary School library be full of modern and updated textbooks and teaching aids to better drive home the lesson taught into the brains of the pupils. Let our Primary schools be solar powered for our pupils to enjoy the breeze from the ceiling fans during the period of heat. Does it really take much from us to do all of these for our children? No, it does not. Engage stakeholders. Extend a hand of fellowship to our sons and daughters both at home and in diaspora for this dream to become a reality. You can use your good office to lure the United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) to rescue us from this academic setback. Do we really know how happy God will be if He sees a government of the day taking care of children to grow into maturity?
The nodding of God alone if you do this and more will fetch you a second term in office. Just try it as an antidote and see how effective it will be.
Your Excellency, the expectation of many youths in the State is that Alh. Adoza Yahaya Bello’s government will fetch them jobs. The hope of these youths must not be dashed for God sake. Let them be happy supporting you from the scratch even up to this point that the food is done and ready. As a learned and wise governor, I want to appreciate you for approving the Motor Assembly Plant of LUXGEN Motors, a Taiwanese Motor Company who is ready to build an assembly plant in Kogi State. This approval and presentation of the vehicle to you by Dr. Abel Ozigi (the Company’s representative in Africa) at the 25th year Silver Jubilee of Kogi State at the Confluence Stadium, Lokoja was the height and climax of that celebration. Such a company will fetch many jobs for our unemployed youths and allied companies will also spring up to produce spare parts for the Motor Assembly Plant. I want to beg you in God’s name that this Motor Assembly Plant sees the light of the day. You just have to be different from previous governments because your coming to lead came in a divine different way.
Your Excellency, thanks so much for reading through my epistle. There are so many other areas I am yet to touch especially the aspect of generating revenue for the State and others. I will leave them for another opportuned time. May the grace of God guide and guard you. You will not fail. You will excel and triumph. Your name will ring a bell because there is already the word “bell” in Bello. The ringing of your name will bring good omen for the State.
