Gov Yahaya Bello has unveiled his luxury home. It’s the wrongest time to do so. Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is in the news for all the wrong reasons as usual.
This time, the Governor who arguably loves the good life, is getting plenty of flak for showing off his luxury home at a time most civil servants in Kogi haven’t been paid arrears in salaries.
State-of-the-art
TheCable describes Bello’s mansion as a “state-of-the-art country home on Mahmoud Ata street, GRA Okene”.
Someone else has called the Governor’s new mansion “a thing of beauty”.
TheCable adds that “as an aside, Kogi State workers and pensioners are groaning under the burden of unpaid salaries running into months”.
Investigative reporter with Premium Times, Nicholas Ibekwe, quipped on Twitter: “This is not sour grapes or bad belle. But does anyone know what Yahaya Bello does for a living before he became a Governor? I heard he served at the RMAFC in 2000/2001 and was retained after. Can anyone tell me how he made his money without insulting my mother? Thanks”.
Former PDP youth leader, Adeyanju Deji, was even more scathing: “This is the **** that calls himself my Governor. He has not paid workers for 13 months but he just built a mansion in his hometown of Okene”.
Commissioning
News reports with pictures of the Governor’s new home, called this week’s show off ‘a commissioning’—a house warming party sort of thing.
On Thursday night, an aide of the Governor told Pulse that it wasn’t a ‘commissioning’ of a new home as had been widely reported in the local press.
“We are in the second day of a five day event. When did it become a crime to build a house while in office? Please let me know.
“Yes, the house is new but there was no commissioning. It’s a cultural and traditional event. His people decided it would be hosted at his house to honour him as Governor”, the aide explained.
However, it has to be stated that you don’t go about flaunting your multi-million naira home when the State you preside over is amongst the poorest in the country. It’s the very height of insensitivity.
Commonsense says you don’t invite guests over to your new luxury property to quaff champagne and gobble goat meat pepper soup at a time most of the workers on the government payroll are groaning under the weight of unpaid salaries.
Young, wild, free
Governor Bello has been taken to task on this column before on account of his poor governance choices.
As one of the nation’s youngest Governors, Yahaya Bello hasn’t exactly set Kogi alight with his performance on the job. He’s actually one of the most derided State CEOs around.
The other day, a civil servant committed suicide in Kogi allegedly because he hadn’t been paid a salary in months.
Kogi deserves better than an ostentatious Governor who flaunts his wealth in people’s faces at a time when the rest of the populace is only managing to get by.
Credit: Pulse Nigeria
