Dr Chiba Wilberforce Okadigbo (1935-2007) was president of senate during Nigeria’s fourth republic whom many hold in high esteem for this comment attributed to him.
” if you are emotionally attached to your tribe, religion or political yearning to the point that truth and Justice become secondary consideration, your education is useless. Your exposure is useless. If you cannot reason beyond petty sentiment, you are a liability to mankind. ”
Since the advent of democracy, politics in Kogi had been likened to “a tale of tragicomedy”. When people at the realm of affairs take their job for levity, coupled with ineptitude mismanagement of public fund, the result is poverty, commotion and bad governance.
Governor Yahaya Bello having inherited the votes of Prince Abubakar Audu and was consequently made 001, assumed office with various decree of mismanagement and profligacy without conscience. As a result, civil servants and other workers in kogi were owed salaries running into years and months. Even the deputy governor Simon Achuba had his far share of what some quarter have termed ” government magic “, being owed salaries for many months. Severe hardship was unleashed on the poor people of kogi state who are predominantly peasant farmers. The rise in level of poverty was unprecedented and seemingly unending. Yet our debt profile which indicated about #15.9 billion in 2014 incredibly rose to a whopping #114 billion as alleged by critics.
Despite the ” aki and pawpaw ” type of governance marred by several drama and flaws as witnessed in his first tenure, some gullible kogi people who were somehow beneficiaries of this gruesome mismanagement of state treasury, in what could be said to be ignorant display of errant willingness to continue in the path of suffering, torment and doom, approved the second coming of an already failed, disillusioned and undoubtedly clueless government without direction. A party that refused Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos second tenure despite obvious and substantial development in all sectors, approved of Gov Yahaya Bello whose first tenure was nothing but calamity and only succeeded in making Kogi a laughing stock in the larger society. what a tragedy!
The political gladiators within and outside the state were busy gallivanting and throwing huge amount here and there in bid to induce voters and influence the outcome of the election, and consequently take hold of the gentle soul of the state. Preelection and post election violence was undescribably horrific. Desperation was at it peak and mediocrity took center stage on election day as the atrocities committed on same day was one too many, a situations which suggested the entire country needed to be recolonized for good. Ballot box snatching at gun point ( aided by men in uniform), killings, police helicopter contributing it quota, outrageous number of registered voters in places like okene, indiscriminate cancellation and manipulation of results in places like dekina and lokoja etc , was the summary of the election and the rest was history. The desperate quest by Abuja and the godfathers to impose an unpopular fellow on kogi people against their will is a deliberate insult on our collective intelligence.
It should therefore be noted that the criminal silence of right activists, civil society coalition, amnesty and the media who have turned deaf ears to the groans of these vulnerable people of Kogi state, has contributed immensely to the ordeals of my downtrodden people
No sane electorate having experienced hell in the previous administration would vote same government a second time if not for tribal, religious and political sentiments. They capitalised on the intelligence of the near poverty stricken citizenry who couldn’t but accept peanuts in exchange for their vote.
Whether the people voted for him or he manipulated the process using state apparatus as insinuated, the truth remains that kogi has yet another 4 years to live with and endure this infantile chinanegan in the name of governance, except court thinks otherwise.
And as for things getting better, only time will tell.
