In the last few days, after I posted a thought-provoking write-up titled ‘Open letter to Kogites on the controversial salary payment challenge’, I have received a flurry of endless and misguided attacks from so many quarters, including those I considered to be educated enough to understand my noble intention which was clearly stated in the write-up. However, on the flip side, a lot of people gifted with the gab of intellectual profundity, and deep understanding have sent in words to praise me for that beautiful masterpiece on the festering issue of salary payment challenge in the State which has generated a valuable feedback mechanism for our amiable governor.
A lot of my immediate families and associates have however requested that I should stop writing in the main time because of the inherent misconception of my true intent and purpose for the write-up.
As a journalist of over 35 years unbroken active service in both journalism and public relations practice, I have decided to put up this write-up to clear the air and the grey areas that my former write-up has provoked in the minds of few intellectually lazy members of the public. As at today, I wish to state with all modesty, that I am one of the few experienced and exposed Journalist in the State. Journalism has taken me to several countries in the last 35 years of active practice such as United Kingdom, USA, Togo, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Republic of Benin, and Gambia where I represented a high-powered Federal government delegation from the maritime sector where I served in NPA for twenty years before I voluntarily resigned my appointment to take up an offer from my tribes man, Dr. Phillips Omeiza Salawu as a media aide. Presently, I am on retirement and not looking for employment from anybody either now or in the nearest future.
Today, I wish to aver that I have enough convincing and compelling reasons to justify the strong and unwavering position I’ve taken to continue to support and defend the Governor Yahaya Bello administration with the last drop of myblood with the only weapon I have i.e. biro and laptop as a veteran journalist of repute.
For starters, my personal decision to support Governor Yahaya Bello in the media space is principally hinged on the sad story experienced by the good people of Ebira Land, who have always held the short end of the stick in our long journey to produce a governor from the Ebira extraction.
Recall the sordid experience of our sons who struggled unsuccessfully under this democratic dispensation, to occupy Lugard house. Some of our bright minds and credible achievers like Dr. Phillips Salawu, Sen. Engr. A. T. Ahmed, Amb. Usman Bello, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo, and Sen. Ohiare and many others struggled unsuccessfully to lead as Governor of our dear State. At my age, I’m a living witness of the high-level shenanigans and other evil plots that scuttled their bids to lead the State. As a former political journalist with the Graphic newspaper, and former media aide at the State government house, if I want to tell the stories of what played out against these aforementioned Ebira aspirants and candidates, it would probably take me another generation to tell them. As it were, I have enough convincing and compelling reasons to justify the present strong and unwavering position I have taken in recent times to support and defend the present Governor Bello based on my personal conviction that since Ebira Nation have been divinely blessed with one of our own to lead the State against all odds. It behooves on me to contribute my quota in my own little way to make his tenure in office a highly successful political engagement.
I am fully aware that his success or failure would have a lot to do with the image of Ebira people in the nearest future. Please let it be known that this my disposition on Yahaya Bello administration has nothing to do with pecuniary gain or professional patronage. It is on record that since Yahaya Bello entered office in January, 2016, I have not collected a dime from the young man or any his appointees for the support I’ve given him in the past. Recall that since his emergence as Governor, I have written no fewer than seven write-ups to launder his image in the eye of the public. Such write-ups that readily comes to mind are: let’s talk about Yahaya Bello’s new vision not trouble; how far can Yahaya Bello go with Kogi criminals; Governor Yahaya scores full marks in 100 days; which way Kogi Assembly;Kogi APC finally breaks my heart; and let’s end this unending Kogi Assembly crisis. Just to mention but few.
I wish to point out here that I did not approach Yahaya Bello for financial compensation because of these thought-provoking write-ups, which I did to help him stabilize his government when he was faced with vicious and sponsored media attacks from his political enemies. If I had wanted to collect money, the present Accountant General of the State, Alhaji Momoh Jubril, who was my former colleague in Nigerian Ports Authority, and Alhaji Abdulkareem Abdulmaleek, the DG, grassroots mobilization, are my bosom friends, who would have paved way for me to see the governor and collect ‘brown envelope’ as most unscrupulous media men do this days.
I wish to put it on record that the principal reason why the youthful governor will continue to earn my support and encouragement and his achievement in tackling the hitherto endemic corruption as witnessed in our recent history. Regardless of what his critics would say about his apparent failure to tackle the lingering salary payment challenge, I would advise that we should show him the way to finally put this monster to rest.
I agree that there are pervasive hunger and poverty in the land today because of the impact of his non-payment of salaries; I think I have given him the suggestion on how to change the narrative so that he will continue to enjoy the support of Kogites in the years ahead.
When I look at the level of corruption in the State before he came on-board and the success he has achieved in that area to curb the menace, I think I have enough convincing reasons to continue to support him. For the benefit of history and posterity, I would take you down the memory lane in this write-up.
It is an incontrovertible fact that the greatest problem in Kogi State since 1991, is the hydra-headed monster in unbridled corruption and impunity in the land. Arguably, it is right to say that the full story of corruption and his havoc in the State, will probably take another generation to tell. There is enough evidence on ground to suggest that there is full scale corruption in low and higher places in all facets of our lives.
The culture of corruption in all institutions and organisations in both formal and informal sectors in the State, have been promoted to become a way of life before the coming on-board of the youthful governor. No profession is a saint or an exception in this unwholesome phenomenon that had contributed in no small measure that had brought Kogi State on her knees over the years.
True, the State civil service system had become a terrible breeding ground and a safe sanctuary for all manners of morally depraved and bankrupt common criminals, that have found their ways into sensitive and critical revenue generation in the State parastatals and other agencies. We are all witnesses to sordid revelations that were exhumed from the recent screening exercise by a high powered committee set up by Yahaya Bello in February 2016 to put an end to the worrisome problem of ghost workers syndrome in the State civil service system. At the end of the holistic exercise, a lot of can of worms were uncovered.
From the records of available statistics of corruption in the past reveal that there was large scale corruption in the past. For example, a recent committee set up by the former governor, Capt. Idris Wada in April 2012, to review the sally Tibot staff audits exercise in his reports, indicted eight different government offices for their alleged roles in the ghost workers scam in the State.
These ministries and parastatals singled out for constant monitoring includes those of Works, Agriculture, Health, Education, office of the head of service, office of the accountant general, health management board as well as the science and technical education board (STEP). It will be recalled that the chairman of that committee and former commissioner for budget and planning, Alhaji Sanni Adamu, while submitting the report called on the then government to place a continuous searchlight on those indicted ministries and parastatals, to stem the tide of high scale corruption in the civil service.
The immediate past governor, Capt. Idris Wada while receiving the report had boasted that “my administration will take a holistic approach in tackling the challenges of corruption in the sector, just as he said his administration was determined to find lasting solution to the problem of ghost workers syndrome in the interest of sustained development of the State”.
However, it has become evidently clear that Capt. Wada did not show enough political will to match his words with action, until he was reportedly voted out of office in the last gubernatorial election in the State.
In the same vein, a similar committee set up by the same governor Wada revealed that there were no fewer than 900 fake schools and hundreds of fake teachers, and fake certificates in all the 21 local government education areas of the State.
Against this background therefore, it is clear that governor Bello’s success in tackling the menace of corruption in both local government administration and the civil service system within his short period in office, are some of the reasons I have supported him and will continue to do so in the years ahead. Kogi under his watch has enthroned the culture of accountability and transparency.
These are my reasons why I have been defending his government. If not for Yahaya Bello, who would have known that the State was badly battered and put on a stretcher at the emergency ward before his assumption of office. Let’s join hands to support him rather than criticizing him on our journey to greatness.
The governor had also made giant strides in security, infrastructural development, health, education, agriculture, transportation, water resources, sport development, job creation, and youth and women empowerment in the last two and a half years.
Please, I want to seize this opportunity to appeal to our performing governor should quickly do the needful to put the lingering problem of salary payment to permanent rest in the interest of the masses, affected civil servants, and his administration so that his critics will be left with nothing reasonable to campaign against him in the forthcoming 2019 general elections. I stand with Yahaya Bello and will continue to do so in the general interest of Kogi State and Ebira Nation in particular where I am a proud son of the soil.
– Otori Ozigi is a retired Public Servant, Journalist/PR Consultant.
