The first method of estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him (Niccole Machiavelli). Your Excellency sir, the failure of the present administration in kogi state began from day one, as a result of the calibre, quality and mentality of the men and women you chose to work and pilot the affairs of the state with. Even the holy book says; he who walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall come to ruin and destruction. It also says; iron sharpens iron, so does a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Unfortunately sir, you got it wrong from the beginning by appointing people who have got no value or something to add to your government, rather than use their appointments and positions as opportunities to further massage their ego, oppress the people and swell their bank accounts.
The activities of many of your overzealous appointees who go about threatening and harassing members of the public with SARS and other security agencies, including thugs if allowed to continue unchecked could result into violence and chaos that is capable of threatening our fragile and volatile peace. The ineptitude and incompetence of your media team was further exposed these past days when news of your purported dissolution of the state executive council and local government caretaker committees somehow found its way into the public space even before the conclusion of the council meeting. Such embarrassment is what you get when you choose to work with intellectually deficient and redundant personalities.
While aides of other governors were busy posting pictures and updates of landmark achievements and laudable policies, projects and programmes on the social media for the whole world to see, your inexperience and clueless appointees were unnecessarily publicising and celebrating pictures of your newly built mansion in Okene. It is said that a good friend wouldn’t get on your way unless you are on you way down. Sadly, none of your appointees was sane enough to advise you that at the time when civil servants and pensioners wallowed in poverty and untold hardship, a flashy, reckless and a lavish celebration of your personal house was tantamount to insulting the sensibilities, understanding and patience of the good people of Kogi state.
Your administration have been caged and imprisoned through the activities of sycophants who are not actually loyal to you, neither do they share or believe in your vision, but are only hailing and praising every of your good or bad policies and programmes just for financial gains. You are expected to be the beacon of hope, an ambassador and a role model to the millions of youth in Nigeria, so you cannot afford to be tossed around, influenced, manipulated and misled by sycophants who have hijacked your government for self serving favours, political influence and financial enrichment. We are in the 21st century and in a digital age, so having around people who calls you “white lion” or “digital governor” is ridiculous, laughable and lacked an iota of commonsense.
Even though none of your appointees love you enough to look into your eyes and boldly tell you that your popularity and goodwill you enjoyed at the inception of your government more than two years ago is fast eroding, dwindling and nose diving by the day, the reality of the day is that you are not only despised and hated within the state but your actions and utterances, couple with the recklessness and egoistic manner with which many of your appointees behave has earned you more enemies than friends all over the country.
Like I have always maintained, it’s never too late for you to make amends, win over the love of Kogites and position yourself marketable for re-election come 2019.All you need to do at this point in time before it will be too late is to draw the line between genuine loyalty and sycophancy. Identify those who really share and believe in your vision and give them more responsibilities, separate the trouble makers who go about using your name to harass members of the public and show them the way out, do away with sycophants who have turned themselves into praise singers instead of doing what they are appointed for and purge your government of inexperience, intellectually stagnant, incompetent and ineptitude appointees.
A word is enough for the wise, let common sense prevail sir.
– Hussain Obaro writes from Lokoja
oseniobaro@yahoo.com
