He is young. He is daring. He is smart. He has mastered the intriguing political chess game of our country. He was the youngest Governor when he assumed office in January 2016. He was divinely installed as Executive Governor of Kogi State. He is the White Lion in Lugard House. His name is Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello popularly called GYB by his numerous admirers across the Confluence State.
His ascendance to the enviable office of the Governor of Kogi State stunned not a few political bookmakers that most of them are still battling to recover from the shocker of his incredible emergence as Governor. Little wonder, the young Captain of Kogi ship came in with a determined, no- nonsense posture to carry him through the murky political waters of the state.
His strategies can be likened to that of the “Lion King”, for those of us privileged to have watched the blockbuster movie or those that have studied the political history of the master strategist of Nigerian politics, “The Lion of Bourdillion” – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Both are politically sagacious, with the younger GYB excelling with political distinctions from the political college of the National Leader of APC. They share similar traits, regularly exhibiting sterling qualities. They hardly sleep while others are snoring. They keep awake to strategise on how best to strike without missing their targets. They know when to talk and when not to talk. This is Governor Yahaya Bello,s biggest strength as an administrator and master strategist.
Sampler – Political watchers and bookmakers were shocked when the GYB-led APC in the state swept all the 25 House of Assembly seats, seven of the nine House of Representatives seats and two of the three Senatorial seats and is poised to pick all three Senatorial seats going by recent judicial pronouncements!
Against all political permutations, GYB has mastered the unique strategy to make his enemies surrender without pointing a gun at them. He works assiduously not minding whose Ox is gored, provided his aims are objectively achieved for the betterment of his people.
The young GYB assumed office with a burning vision and desire to turn things round. The desire was difficult to achieve except he stepped on toes in other to ensure he delivers his best for his people by head hunting for other fresh, young and vibrant minds like the present Chief of Staff, now the Deputy Governor in the making, Chief Edward Onoja with a robust banking background leading the Dream Team pack, signposted by the brilliant Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Mrs Folashade Arinke Ayoade, a foremost public administrator, the Finance Commissioner, Asiwaju Idris Ashiru, another foremost banker, Engineer Abubakar Ohere, the hardworking Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs, Oloruntoba Kehinde, Commissioner for Agriculture, a professional banker who changed the face of agriculture in Kogi, with the ever proactive Navy Commander Jerry Omodara Rtd providing the needed security backup for the citizenry of the State among others.
All the Commissioners in the cabinet have proved beyond reasonable doubts that they mean business like their principal. The Local Government Administrators who are equally young and vibrant, mostly in their 30s are also busy making waves, while the legislative arm of government led by the pragmatic Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly are busy complementing GYB’s government. No wonder he has been able to achieve a lot in this his First Term of four years.
Though GYB inherited an overwhelming debt burden from his predecessors, he nevertheless took a bold step to ensure that “monkey doesn’t work for baboon to chop” again. This, he ensured by reducing the number of ghost workers prowling the State’s workforce through a screening exercise to ascertain the actual numbers of civil servants in the state and ensure prompt payments of salaries and allowances.
Hardly had he resumed when he noted the level of disunity and mistrust amongst the various ethnic groups in the State. He promptly moved by instituting programmes and policies aimed at re-uniting the people and giving them an equal sense of belonging.
The EBIGO policy, coined from cooperation between Ebira, Igala and Okun, three major tribes in the state is a major breakthrough in this regard.
Before GYB assumed office, security situation in the state was so terrible that the citizens could hardly sleep with their eyes closed. But he swung into action by providing more than 200 brand new utility vehicles for security operatives to curb the menace.
Thuggery and political brigandage was the order of the day as miscreants and thugs had taken over the state apparatus but GYB came and restored sanity back into the system. With this laudable move, he has been able to restore confidence to local and foreign investors who have been trooping in droves to invest in the state.
He complemented the security vehicles with the purchase of over 1000 motor cycles for security outfits to reduce crimes.
Security agencies in the State were not left out as the GYB administration constructed military facilities in parts of the state to help tighten the noose around the neck of criminals.
His administration also did a lot in ensuring proper training of forest guards in the state to curb kidnapping and other associated crimes. Thousands of vigilantee members were also recruited to enhance security in the process.
In the health sector, the Governor hitherto conversant with the abysmal state of health facilities in the state went ahead to establish the Health Plus Programme.
This, he has been able to achieve with the renovation, remodelling and re-equipping the 21 Primary Health Centres in all the 21 Local Government Areas of the State.
Also, the provision of free Maternal and Child Health Care Services across the State has helped to save the lives of 168 patients from life- threatening ailments within a short space of his first tenure is also another mileage worthy of note.
Through his pragmatic move, he ordered the procurement of assorted paediatric drugs for the state and adoption of Clorhexidine gel for umbilical cord care.
Not to be found wanting, GYB ordered for prompt payment of counterpart funds to partners to address the menace of quackery in the health profession and enhance the state sustainable drug supply system. Adequate ambulances and mobile clinics have also signposted the importance this administration attaches to medical emergency situations.
GYB introduced Public Private Partnership (PPP) into the health sector with eminently qualified aides managing the system.
He equally established Confluence Advance Medical Diagnostic and Imaging Centre (CAMDIC) and gave facelift to the College of Nursing, Obangede. The renovation of Zonal hospital Kabba in Kogi West, Idah in Kogi East and Okene in Kogi Central was a huge success.
The GYB’s administration has also been able to construct Cottage Hospitals in the state while undertaking massive renovation and construction of new hostels and clinics at the School of Nursing, Obangede with an administrative block at the School of Health Technology, Idah.
His achievements in agriculture, ably marshalled by the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Oloruntoba Kehinde, is unprecedented in the annals of the state just as in the Agricultural Renaissance Policy of the Federal Government to ensure food security and promotion of Non Oil Sector for Economic Transformation is succeeding.
Alhaji Yahaya Bello has succeeded in encouraging Youths to key into mechanised farming through orientation and sensitisation alongside input supplies.
He has ensured that loans are facilitated for farmers to encourage mechanization and improved production of farm produce. Through the Ministry of Agriculture, the state has cleared over 1000 hectares of land across the state and allocated to young farmers,with farm inputs and agric machinery services.
Unlike other states, Kogi procured 375 Ferguson Tractors with complete implements, three quantities each of Mini Harvesters, Planters, Boom Sprayers, Rice Reapers and other similar equipments to enhance agricultural activities and boost production.
1500 Tillers were also procured, assembled and distributed to small scale farmers in 2017. With this laudable efforts, the agricultural value chain has created about 20,000 jobs for Kogites, thereby depopulating the unemployed in the state and contributing in no small measures to the cultivation of 3000 hectares of rice and 5000 hectares of cassava in the state.
In order to bridge the gap in vegetable production using the advantage of the nodal location of the state, the State Government has established a state of the art Greenhouse Farm at Osara to produce tomatoes and other vegetables and also keying into the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (ADS) through payment of the State’s counterpart funds.
The Ministry of Agriculture also constructed 500 fish ponds as a pilot scheme and the ponds have been handed over to over 1000 youths across the state to own and operate.
In a related development, over 300 youths are in line to be empowered in Akpata Ega in Idah Local Government where 400 ponds have already been constructed. This is being replicated in all the Senatorial Districts in the state. The main scheme is targeting 10,000 youths across the State.
In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the State Government took delivery and distributed 76 truck-loads of inorganic fertilizer to farmers at subsidized rates to boost soil fertility and as the leading producer of Cassava in Nigeria, coupled with the guaranteed security of investors, Kogi State has been able to attract the biggest ethanol company in Nigeria known as Unicane. The company uses cassava as its main raw materials, thereby sparking massive production of the crop. Kogi farmers have never had it this good.
The Federal Government must have seen the seriousness of the State Government in promoting agriculture when it nominated the latter as the pioneer state for the National Egg Production Scheme. 135 youths are already empowered with N4.2 million each to support their poultry farms.
The Omi Dam success story is a massive testimony of the achievements of the Yahaya Bello-led administration in agriculture. The scheme is positioning the state as the rice destination of Nigeria. The State Government has also empowered hundreds of youth to grow rice in the riverine areas of the state.Thousands of farmers across the state have benefited from the Anchor Borrowers Scheme of the Federal Government.
The recent inspection of the construction of the Kogi State Rice Mill at Omi by His Excellency, GYB is one if its kind in Nigeria with other smaller capacities being constructed at different locations across the state.
Before now, good governance and institutional reforms looked like impossible dreams in the state but GYB has been able to rejig many ministerial and extra-ministerial departments for efficiency. For instance, the Bureau for Public Procurement was rejigged by the present administration under the leadership of a new Director-General, Dr Stella Adejoh. The pragmatic woman was given the job based on competence acquired through trainings both locally and internationally.
Today, the Bureau has restored sanity in public procurement and has woven a water-tight net that has made corruption almost impossible. The efficiency of the Bureau has been one of the reasons the Governor has been able to combat corruption in public procurement. Today, Due process is the order of the day in Kogi State contractual processes.
The Bureau of Public /Private partnership has been repositioned to engage the private world in businesses that were used as conduit pipes to defraud the state in the past. Today, the Bureau has been able to facilitate some blue-chip deals that have added value to the state as well as elevate its respectability in the business community. Governor Yahaya Bello has also used the BP3 to improve Kogi State’s acceptability in the business world and in the international community.
The Tax Reforms of the Yahaya Bello Administration has impacted positively on the finances of the state. It would be right to say that without the reforms, it would have been impossible to survive the current financial depression occasioned by the reckless borrowing and stealings of the past.
On assumption of Office, the Governor granted the Board of Internal Revenue autonomy. It became the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service. The government built and delivered a gigantic Revenue House, which has added to the aesthetic beauty of the capital city. Competent hands were employed and revenue administration became digitized under the indefatigable Chairman, Mallam Aliu Nda Salami.
What we have today is a product of having a youthful and digital Governor at the helm of affairs. Indeed, the White Lion is digitally mobile and intellectually poised to move the state to greater heights. At present, revenue generation has progressed from the paltry N350 million naira that GYB inherited from the Idris Wada Administration to nothing less than N1.3 Billion naira monthly.
The Civil Service Reforms was a monster that many administrations before the incumbent avoided as a result of the fear of losing elections. Powerful Kogites who have so enriched themselves at the expense of the people of the state were involved in loading the payrolls of government with thousands of fictitious names to defraud the state.
Governor Yahaya Bello refused to be cowed. He dared the cabal and stopped the stealing through a rigorous and thorough verification exercise. Mind boggling revelations were left in the wake of the exercise and today, the government has not only succeeded in removing ghost names from the service but has also digitized the operations of the service as well as re-engineered the work psychology of the civil servants. A massive achievement that has set the state on the path of progress.
The present administration in the state has been able to promote peace and unity through detribalized leadership. The Governor has succeeded in spreading appointments and projects in a way never witnessed in the history of the State. The people of the state now trust one another. There is peace and harmony.
Electrification is pivotal to industrial development. And in order to boost the economy of the state, the Alhaji Yahaya Bello-led administration has intervened to deliver the following electrification projects: Completion of the Lokoja (Banda)-Kotonkarfe electrification project which has brought succour to the people of the area and sparked small scale industrial developments to promote production and generate jobs as well as improve the living standards of the people.
The Electrification Project of Abejukolo in Omala Local Government Area is also another one. The execution of the project was so delightful to the people that they expressed gratitude that it was a Governor from Kogi Central that decided to give them electricity despite the failure of their own son to do it despite being at the helms of the state affairs for nine years. The electrification project of Agassa Town in Okene Local Government Area of the state is also another major success story amongst others.
There were government interventions to restore power to Ogori Community in Kogi Central and the Isanlu Community in Kogi West after many years of darkness. It should also be noted that the Governor used his personal resources to restore power to Takete Ide Amuro and Ayede Communities respectively.
In order to improve the road infrastructure of the state, the administration of Alh. Yahaya Bello keyed into seven modern technologies on road construction. Equipment were imported to raise the capacity of KOGROMA (Kogi State Road Maintenance Agency) to deliver quality roads at lower costs to the state. This has paid off as we have better roads constructed or rehabilitated by the Agency.
The Ongoing rehabilitation of Shintaku/Gboloko/Dekina road, a major road in the Eastern flank of Kogi State is also another major achievement.
Construction and rehabilitation of Lokoja Township roads, Ijowa-Jege-Ife-Olukotun road and Ankpa Township Roads and provision of solar-powered streetlights in Lokoja are part of GYB’s success story.
Many other road projects are also at advanced stages of completion.
Education is at the top of the Thematic Areas of the New Direction Agenda. It is the best resource of any society and the bulwark for development and transformation.
Case studies are the ongoing construction of GYB Model Primary Schools across the 239 Wards of the state and remodelling of Legacy Schools across the state to meet international standards with the construction of 50-bed capacity hostel at Government Girls Secondary School, Obangede. The construction of Library Extension at Kogi State College of Education (Technical), Kabba, and completion of the hostel project at Government Science Secondary School, Icheke in Omala Local Government Area.
A major breakthrough is the restructuring of the Ministry of Education and its agencies to guarantee quality education for the people of Kogi State and its environs.
The GYB government has also been active in executing several projects in Kogi State University, Anyigba and Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja respectively, thereby also generating employment and empowerment at different levels.
Apart from the employments carried out in the Forestry and Vigilante services, the GYB government has also employed health officers, law officers and other specialised categories of workforce.
The State Government set up a Fund through which it has been paying tuition fees for indigent students across the state while thousands of youth and women were trained and empowered through the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on SDG and Job Creation.
The State Government also sponsored the management of critical health conditions both at home and abroad among others. The Fund has helped save many lives.
The renovation of the State House of Assembly Complex, Lokoja is a major boost to the legislative body. Today, the Assembly Complex can compete favourably with others around the country.
The State Government also facilitated the construction of the Kogi State Ministry of Justice Office Complex, Lokoja, and the SDG House.
Government relationship with the Traditional Rulers is unparalled. The Administration of Alh. Yahaya Bello through the State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs has been able to foster a robust relationship between government and the Royal Fathers with the numerous upgrading of and granting of staff of office to many.
Majority of the disputes relating to the installation of Royal Fathers have been resolved out of court.
Robust relationship between the Traditional Rulers and settlers in their domains such as the Fulani, Tivs and many others is now a thing of the past. There is now peace and unity in the various communities.
The versatile Local Government Administrators have been able to amicably consult and resolve various communal disputes before they degenerate into a serious crisis.
The Traditional Rulers are now being carried along in the area of taking important decisions or formulation of crucial policies to foster peaceful coexistence of the state and most have had their palaces renovated across the state.
Under GYB, there has been a re- awakening of the sense of cultural harmony amongst the people.
The repackaging and enhancement of the state’s male and female football teams cannot be over-emphasised with the provision of new buses for the sports teams in the state leading to strings of successes in football, Judo and other sporting events both in Nigeria and outside the country.
Kogi State under the New Direction agenda is fast becoming the home of Beach Soccer in Nigeria. The state currently stands as Champions of the 2018 Edition of Kebbi Beach Sallah Tournament. The Handball Teams are also not left in national and international tournaments with the team winning the national laurels which would enable the state to represent the country in international competitions.
All these and many more are the reasons Kogites are saying to the youthful Governor- Give us another Four years of Action! It incumbent for all stakeholders to stand vehemently for the reelection of GYB. Little surprise the APC has been witnessing unprecedented influx of new members lately from the opposition.
The coast is clear, no doubt, for the triumph of APC in the November 16, 2019 Governorship election.
– Hon. Durosinmi Meseko, a former member, House of Representatives, writes from Lokoja.
