What has a beginning has an end; the enfant terrible in the Lugard house takes a bow in jiffy! Not more can be said of tragic follies; a man who audaciously declared himself dictator in a democratic dispensation exits the throne of leadership. The same throne no one dared under his reign; the throne characterized by killing, rentseeking and bloodshed, a haven of sycophants, incompetent fellows and political fanny—lickers. What we thought was a paradigmatic shift in power but what we saw was a contemptuous man who laid—in—wait to inherit Kogi. He rebelled against goodwill, governance, peace and development of the state. He frowned at the process that brought him to power, constricted everything and stung whoever stood his way. While Kogites wallowed in penury and wants, he built state-of-the-act mansions and displayed opulence and grandiose in and out of Kogi state. He met a united and prospering Kogi but he is leaving the state backward and divided along ethnic and religious polarity. Under his reign, civil servants committed suicide in quantum. While his commissioner raped our girls, our institutions died outrightly. Health became a mocking reference, school was reduced to the shadow of itself and social welfare was in shamble as misery and despair starred from our eyes. Those who worked were either paid in lowest percentage or not paid at all. Pensioners died for inability to medically sustain after rigorous service. In the end, the memories of our departed loved ones lingers in our hearts. This is the attendant narrative of a government supposedly handed to a young lad who by virtue of advocacy should have turned the fortune of the state around but failed in monumental proportion.
Yahaya Bello is not just leaving Kogi state in disarray, he has given recycled politicians leverageable fulcrum to continually deny young and competent Nigerians access to leadership. Little wonder, Bishop Mathew Kukah of the National peace committee once described him as ‘poor advertisement for young people’. Federal lawmakers were not left out as his poor scorecards raised several eye brows on the floor of the senate. Side by side with the negative trajectory, Kogi was abducted by faceless enemies whose demand goes beyond deluded schemes and hybrid status of ‘calm and orderliness’, but a metamorphosed soulless lies, brandishing, tale feasting and political hirelings. All was not well throughout Bello’s Eight years.
To start with, in spite of enormous resources, Kogi has no known GDP, only perpetually declared incoherent revenue figures as well as humongous taxes and levies. Policy and reform were null and void. Government as a going concern isn’t feasible, only accountant General who never misses Abuja trips where he signs allocation which ends up in private pockets often. I will not bore you with tales of zero infrastructures in Kogi state. But in honest, the only sector surging high in Kogi state under Bello is unemployment and insecurity. Lack of jobs made the state haven to all manner of crimes. It in turn dignified the political sector where killing, destruction of properties, ballot box snatching, and thuggery run amok at every election cycle. Today, it is established that Kogi is state with the highest record of electoral violence on Nigeria.
The outgoing governor also made judicious use of the new normal (violence). In desperate attempt to enthrone proxy, he tactically hoodwinked the West, instigated security operative in conjunction with hoodlums against the Eastern senatorial district, and rigged heavily in the central. As it stands, the end of electoral violence in Kogi state we do not know. Yahaya Bello’s successor is a failed Local Government Auditor General; a man who barely align his thought to make coherent sense is coming to preside over a sinking state. Like his predecessor, no blue print. He never campaigned personally to at least avert us anticipatory tragedy. This simply tells of the hard truth: Kogi is yet to produce a leader. This is the wound we continue to lick as we say farewell to a Democratic tyrant– Emperor Yahaya Bello.
JOHN PAUL;
(Nigerian Institute of Journalism Lagos).
