Yahaya Bello and the Echoes of Governance

Perhaps like Julius Ceaser, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of Kogi State, can boast and proclaim that he came, he saw, and he conquered. The fact that he was able to produce his successor, Usman Ododo, in a very tigthly contested election last November 11 would suggest he (Yahaya) scaled all hurdles to the shoreland of satisfaction, like one who arrived from the warfront bearing the sceptre of victory. But he may yet have one more river to cross: the election that produced Usman Ododo is still being contested in the Court.  As it has become in Nigeria, the courts, not the electorate, has the final say in who governs them.  

While in office, Yahaya Bello was the youngest governor in Nigeria. He came like a stormy petrel shaking all the tables shakeable. He was full of guts and ideas. He even attempted to rule Nigeria when he floated his President Yahaya Bello (PYB) project with which he mobilized many youths (especially in the north) to embrace his vision. After much ado, he landed at heading the Youth wing of Bola Tinubu campaign organization after the All Progressives Congress primaries.

A recent assessment of his sojourn at the Lugard House, for eight solid years, showed that it was not all  sounds of fury and fun. There are tangibles. Many tangibles.  And they are broadly spread across the state. Perhaps the sectors that enjoyed the greatest attention are the education and health  sectors, aside infrastructure developments et al .

 In the said sectors, there are clear evidences of vision and courage on the side of the former governor. The investments in the education sector, for instance, are deep and hefty with a strong prospect of producing great and sundry fruits in the near future. The depth of commitment in the education sector can only come from one who believes assuredly that education is a catalyst for development in any and every society. The three Science Secondary schools—one per senatorial district, is a huge and expansive facility fitted with the most modern of educational materials suitable for productive pedagogy. Not in many states or institutions will one find the type of updated ICT setting as seen at the Science Secondary School in Lokoja, what with the 300-CBT hall and another 60-seater Computer Laboratory, coaching students on core infotech skills. The amount of seriousness attached to these schools is state-wide.

Yahaya Bello launched Kogi State into the league of states with huge premium on tertiary institutions of learning. With the establishment of two more state-owned universities: Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, and Kogi State University, Kabba, to join the existing Prince Abubakar Audu (PAAU) University, Anyigba; Yahaya Bello has shown his deep love for education.

At the CUSTECH, Osara, there is a construction buzz on a very wide expanse of land, previously notorious as the territorial hub of kidnappers in Kogi State, but now a budding Silicon Valley in Kogi State, what with the audacious investments in growing the three year old university. With several courses already accredited and a partnering scheme with some private sector operators, the University promises to produce the much-needed IT experts in the country. The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Abdulrahman Salawu, an engineer, full of energy, explained how the institution is growing from stride to stride, including overcoming the signature malaise of the kidnapping menace in the area, forcing the university to engage local community hunters (and some security experts from Bauchi State) to protect the school and the students. The fear of sustained funding of the institutions was dispelled when Prof Salawu informed that five per cent of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is usually devoted to funding the institutions.  

The other iconic development is the Referral Hospital, Okene which has become a near go-to health facility in and around the state. The Y-shaped health facility is broad and audacious, especially with the state-of-the art medical and laboratory fittings of a modern health facility. Fitted with four equipped surgical wards, accident and emergency wards over 230 bed spaces, and a team of medical experts and personnel drawn from across the country, the RHO has come to represent one of the signature achievements of the Yahaya Bello years in Kogi Government House.  It appropriately stands to serve as the Teaching Hospital for products of the medical students of CUSTECH. With two mini-halls named after his mother and one of his wives, Yahaya Bello surely feels cool with the womenfolk. His ADC was one pretty young lady. His Secretary to Government, was a lady, just as all the Vice Chairmen of all the 21 local government areas were women. He is blessed among women.

With Ododo in the saddle, many believe that the legacy of Bello will continue, just as some fear that the Wike-Fubara scenario could break out in the confluence state. Will Yahaya Bello be having a third term by default as he retains the vitals buttons of governance in the state? Only time will tell.

Wigwe on the wings of Fate

That Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of the Access Holdings, his wife and son died a horrible death in that copter crash in United States of America is no longer news. It is difficult to understand that degree of tragedy upon a family. Those who are fatalists believe that what will be will be. Even if he did not fly in that helicopter, death would have yet trapped him, anyhow. But what seems foggy is why nearly his entire family will perish in one fell swoop. Were they all woven together in one string of fatal fate? I saw the funeral plans and concluded that as the holy writs say, vanity upon vanity, all is vanity. The much-advertised Wigwe University, will before its effectual take-off, debut with hosting the obituary of its founder. Fate! A wicked contraption! May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

Long Walk to Orosanye Bus stop

It took twelve years to walk to the Orosanye Bus stop. The Steve Orosanye committee commissioned by the Goodluck Jonathan administration had long submitted its report, on how to restructure the civil service with the aim of cutting down on governance cost.  That the Jonathan administration commissioned the committee, in the first place, showed that he was genuinely concerned about the cost of governance. So, having received the report, what stopped him from implementing it? Did Jonathan fear that implementing the recommendations thereof could adversely affect his electoral chances in 2015? Well, without implementing the report, he yet lost out at the polls. Why did he simply lock up the report and choose to carry on as if nothing was wrong with the system? Former President Muhammadu Buhari was too busy with his organized inefficiency to even remember there was any such report anywhere. So, he glided over it. The details of the report clearly shows how wasteful government has been over the years. It has taken the courageous Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to exhume the report and commanded its full implementation in twelve weeks. Two weeks has passed. Ten weeks more. We wait and watch what will change in the public sector. Will the money saved from the reforms be visible and accountable? Will it be like the money saved from the “subsidy is gone” proclamation? I dare say that unless the money that will be saved from the implementation of the report helps to improve the Human development Index (hdi) of Nigerians, it will be a journey of vacuous inanity.

It was a Long Holiday

Polscope, this column you are reading, was one of the earliest victims of the tumbling Nigerian economy as it vanished out of the pages several months ago. It got squeezed out as managers struggled to keep the newspaper running. But today, we managed to regain some breath to bubble up, even as we remain unsure how long we can remain afloat. But I can assure you that as long as we surface, it will be a hit at the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Unlike President Bola Tinubu, I cannot declare with certitude that Polscope is Back!

Canticles…

In Search of Oxygen

There has been a frantic search for many of the things that have become scarce in Nigeria. It is as if Emefiele and Buhari are yet in office.

What do you mean by that analogy? Apart from the Naira notes that got scarce with the Emefiele hidden agenda, what else was scarce during Buhari administration?

I won’t blame you.  It is the badness of Satan that makes demons look like saints. Suddenly you have forgotten what Nigerians went through under Buhari? You forgot how women were stripping in banking halls, searching for their own money?

So, what else is scarce now? At least, there is petrol, even during the last Christmas, there was plenty of petrol. Or do you still see queues at filling stations?

What a question! It is not enough to have fuel at filling stations. How many Nigerians can afford to buy it? Why are the refineries still not producing despite sundry promises? You talk as if you just returned from Australia last night.

I am here with you. I am not carried away by the euphoria of public complaints. I am a realist. You can see that the federal government is committed to ensuring that life gets better for all Nigerians, especially the poor and the vulnerable. And that was why Mr President pleaded that the poor should be allowed to breathe.

And that is the point! Where is the air to breathe? Do you realise that oxygen is about the scarcest thing in Nigeria right now?Where is the oxygen to breathe with?  Do you know that many are choking to death? Do you know many who have even resorted to breathing with just one nostril still can’t find enough air to breathe? And by the way, do you realise that those asking that the poor be allowed to breathe are the very same people locking up the oxygen and releasing excess carbon dioxide in the air? You mean you can’t see through the hypocrisy?

What are you implying? Do you mean that President Tinubu is responsible for the choking to death of many?

You said so. Just last week, even President Tinubu himself admitted and took responsibility for the crush in the economy. People are dying. People can’t buy even common drugs to keep them alive, let alone normal food stuff to quench hunger.  Companies are shutting down. Jobs are being lost. People can’t pay their bills. Life is gradually returning to the pristine days of Thomas Hobbes where life is short, nasty and brutish.

You have seen the protests against hunger everywhere, except the south east. Do you think it is a joke? As terrible and punitive as Buhari’s administration was, Tinubu’s eight months of Hades is making Buhari look like a benevolent angel. Hunger has been lionized and it is knocking people down amidst fake and deceptive preachments of patience and tolerance.

Be calming down! Things are getting better. Did you not see that the Naira is regaining its value gradually? As soon as the FOREX issue stabilizes, many things will go back to normal and Nigerians will not only smile again, but hail the vision and foresight of President Tinubu. Go and mark my words!

There is nothing to mark, my friend. You are talking balderdash!  You do not understand the depth of the hardship. You don’t know that the hungry man is an angry man. You do not realise how acidic hardship can be. They cannot be saying the poor should be allowed to breath and keep enduring the hardship whereas they splurge in vexatious epicureanism.  Don’t deceive the people with multitude of promises. Explain what has happened to the trillions saved from the removal of petrol subsidy. Tell us who is benefitting from the so-called floating of the Naira. Why is hardship and gnashing of teeth simply increasing?

You do not understand how badly messed up the economy was before Tinubu came on board.  The Nigerian economy is going through surgical operation. It is never an easy or pain-free exercise. What is certain is that at the end of the day, the patient gets better and begins life, full blast again. That is where Tinubu is taking us as a country.

Mr Surgeon, well done! Only those who survive the pains and risk of a reckless surgery can live to tell the story. Of what use is a surgery that cannot guaranty safety and survival? If people are no longer able to buy cement or even water let alone rice or beans or even garri as a result of this surgery, then we must  either stop the surgery or stop the surgeon.

Where is your faith? Believe that all shall be well