A Wake-up Call On Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello -By Tijani Hassan Abdulkarim

The fanfare and excitement I saw on the face of Malam Nasiru Ahmad el-Rufai during the Commissioning of some laudable projects by his administration in Kafanchan, Kaduna and Zaria, all in Kaduna State by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday and Friday last week prompted some questions which have been pinned to my heart ever since.
Kaduna State is a State that has been in the news for different act of crime and criminality occasioned by the act of terrorism perpetrated by Killer Bandits. As it is the stock in trade of most Nigerian Politicians, especially some state governors, that will be enough excuse to abandon infrastructural development with a flimsy excuse of fighting insecurity. But the sad events circumferencing the state did not deter the Malam; rather it increased his vigour and determination to leave a footprint of immortal legacies.

Juxtaposing Kaduna with my home state of Kogi is a sad reality that I’ve shy away from for long. But the braggadocio of my Governor posing as a foster son to President Buhari always get me confused. When will the son call the father home to access some of his excellent home works? The government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello is already in it’s sixth year but the propaganda in the media goes parralel to the mess and decay in human resource and infrastructural development of our dear confluence state.

I would have loved to unearth the exploitation and slavery public workers and civil servants are going through in the hand of a Governor who pays more attention in showcasing a lavish lifestyle in synchronisation with his celebrity friends in Music and Sports who routinely comes to milk from the state vault. Mind you, the state public workers are still being paid in percentages (mostly 20, 30, 40 and rarely 50%) of renumeration of the old minimum wage years after the Federal government has approved a new salary structure of N30, 000.00 since 2018. This is very unfortunate. We will try not to mix-up our displeasure with emotions because being emotional will mean; not voicing out and praying. While the prayers will continue, we will set out and start reminding the governor that posterity will be in the waiting for him and his records will be a shadow of him. Gone are the days of politics of propaganda. The masses are politically aware and can defuse sheer incompetency in the fashion of maladministration.

I heard the Labour Unions warming up for an industrial action to call attention to the minimum wage mirage in Kogi State. What baffles me is the lack of shame the state government exudes in their clandestine threat to the Workers who are demanding their entitlement after being taken a ride for long. How long more?

As a concerned kogite who have been remotely monitoring the activities of the Yahaya Bello led administration with a sarcastic #NewDirection agenda, this is a call for the Governor to reevaluate himself and wake up to the realities of leadership. Pursuing a mindless presidential ambition is more of an academic exercise which will expose the demerits of The white lion as I do hear some political jobbers scribing on skyscrapping-billboards.

To Governor Yahaya Bello, I pray the much talked about Ganaja Flyover in Lokoja which the prototype have been deployed as the wallpaper for the state government website (www.kogistate.gov.ng) comes to fruition. Remember, we will ask you why haven’t your father in Aso Rock come to commission any of your projects? Maybe they’re none to be commissioned. This is a wake up call.

Infrastructural development is key; that is why we need to see them physically. We will take it from here next.

Tijani Hassan Abdulkarim is a graduate in Mass Communication, ABU, Zaria and an indegene of Kogi state. He can reached via tijanihassan2020@gmail.com.