Opinion: Gov. Yahaya Bello Ikon Allah Ne

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Many was astonished when he declared to run for governorship of Kogi State in 2015. Little was known about Alhaji Yahaya Bello who was below 40years then.

At that time Kogi was in a state of disrepair as a results of long years of PDP misrule and brazen corruption. This drew the attentions of well meaning and patriotic leaders of the state to the wrong direction the state was heading to and the need to rescue and salvage it from further damages.
Among those who signified interest then was the young Alh Yahaya Bello and unarguably one of the strongest contestant.
He declared his interest on the platform of All Progressives Party APC that has 28 aspirants, all strong contenders and with financial war chest. During the campaign before the primary it became manifest that the Young Bello will not be a pushover after all. He leverage on his goodwill within the party to be comfortably footed as a contestant.
Prior to 2015 general elections, he gave all House of Assembly aspirants contesting from the state under his party APC one million naira each at a critical time when most of them could not move on anymore with their mobilisation few days to the election.
This is aside from his political platform ‘Kogi Arise’ championing Buhari/Osinbajo campaign throughout the state. Alh Yahaya Bello was neck deep into Buhari’s project before throwing his hat into the ring as a governorship contestant.
It should be clear from here that those dishearten party members who is of the opinion that governor Bello is a stranger in the party is illogical, baseless and only existed in their imagination. Their allegations are despicable and condemnable in its entirety. Governor Bello is not only a member but financial member.
During the governorship primary, he came second to late Prince Abubakar Audu. The result send a shocking wave across the state of what will become of future politics in the state.
The most surprising thing about Bello’s candidature, was that all political heavyweight and the party structure worked against his aspiration leaving him with his constituents (Youths). Notable among them were Sen Ohiare, Sen Dino, Hadi etc all worked for Sanusi Gamji who came a distance fourth. Some of these leaders inability to work with this government is that they are being hunt by their past shadow or simply what is called ‘guilty conscience’ arising from the primary which their candidate lost.
Before voting proper in the primary, the chairman of the convention and governor of Kaduna State Nasir El rufai declared that “whoever emerged here tonight would be the next governor of Kogi State” and the predication came to be.
In the main election, 21st Nov, 2015 APC was wining across the entire LGAs before fate struck and the party candidate Alh Abubakar Audu suddenly died, thereby opening a new chapter in the political history of the country and the state.
Nature itself was a bit merciful to APC and Kogi state as the election ended in inconclusive, if not, it will have been a double jeopardy for the party loosing the candidate and the victory to the destructive PDP.
The situation opened another new debates and challenges withing the party as many party stalwart laid claims to the vacuum created by late Audu and this also triggered an ethnic tension in the state.
The leadership of APC knowing fully well that justice and equity is the only way forward to solve the political imbroglio in the state and perhaps the only way to deviate from PDP past impunity.
APC National leadership narrow their search to the primary result and it jettison any other political chemistry that could portray the party in bad light. And again, Alh Yahaya Bello name was rightly picked as the man to replaced late Audu and the decision polarized the party in the state, thereby setting the stage for legal battle and governor Bello won all from tribunal to the Supreme Court.
However, the youngest governor did not leave anyone in doubt about his preparedness in facing the business of governance. Since assuming office, he has took some far reaching decision that would see the state snowball into prosperous one.
One of the most contentious issue in the state is ethnic, he spread appointments position across the various ethnic group that made up the state. The most surprising among all was the appointment of Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon Edward Onoja against the existing old tradition in the state since its creation. Usually, the governor appoint his chief from his own senatorial district.
Restoring the state civil service. In this area, the governor has achieved so much by flushing out those who came in through backdoor commonly refers to as ‘ghost workers’ it is said that the state has saved over one billion naira that could be used for developmental programme which in the past ended in individual pocket. Presently, the exercise has now reached appeal level. The stench from the exercise is alarming. Its utterly disgusting and absurdity for politician to want to politicized the screening exercise in the state.
Urban regeneration, the ongoing attempt to provides the basic infrastructure across the state is another area the governor has done well across the state. Major township roads are being rebuild in major cities including the state capital with sprawling modern street lights.
Financial discipline, the governor has instituted high financial discipline in the state, gone are the days in the state when politicians live larger than life style, wasting public funds. It took the Governor over 7 months before providing official vehicles to all political appointees unlike what is obtainable in other state where you get your vehicle from the day of resumption.
Security, this is another area that even the worst critics of the governor will agree that he has done better. Recently, the Police Inspector general confers on him the best governor in security. The young governor achievements cut across various sectors which rewarding results.
Governor Bello is on the right track and refuses to be distracted by the politicians who have since lost touch with their home base and their disappointments with governor Bello is irrelevant. The truth of the matter is that no one can lord it over the governor as there is no elephant to be share.
No doubt people in kogi now sees Yahaya Bello emergence as divine and a chance to liberating the people from many years of misrule. All the furore about governor Bello and kogi state is repugnant to the development of the state. The literary meaning of IKON Allah is “God Wish” so Gov Bello political journey has the signature of God.
– Suleiman Abdulmalik wrote this from Lokoja

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