The search may not end anytime soon as the invisibility of the man is made very possible by the noise the whole drama keeps generating. Anytime the noise reduces, then, it’s time or almost time to the end and the beginning of another drama again – it’s not a one off show, it’s going to be long, you can call it a series. And, the longer it is, the uninteresting it becomes to the Nigerian people who will eventually decide to forget about the drama and face their struggles for daily survival and then, the goal would have been achieved as it would pass again as yet one of those usual dramas in the country. And, when this happens, the man’s fading lion’s nature may resurface again, powerfully this time even at national level – you don’t believe me, right? Cast your mind back and see how far he has come, “conquering” even what many thought were laws but eventually got changed as soon as he appeared on the scene and then, what would have been a code name in his security architecture while he ruled supreme became a name he openly adopted and true to the name, the state, in his time, was truly a lion’s den.
How the young Brother Bello, Fair Plus transformed into a While Lion remains a case study but the bitting realities that confront Nigerians today wouldn’t let anyone care more about the transformation of such a young “lucky” chap into what he eventually became in eight years of his stay in power. Well, the truth remains that we all made him the dreadful lion he was even though he was really not, but, “we” made it appear so – “we”, the system and all the greedy praise singers that deafened his ears from hearing the truth he needed to lead so he ruled instead as he was hearing more of the multiple misleading praise songs. And, the worst of it all, as the numbers of the praise singers around him were much, they eventually blocked him from seeing and suddenly, eight years passed just like hours and now, the reality, proving that no man is and will ever be a lion as it is only time and conditions that gives such erroneous impression – man will always be a man and now, we can see the manifestation of Brother Bello as a mere mortal with loads of fears of what he seemed to tower far and above in just few months ago – the man suddenly will need help of his boy, the Flower Boy to evade men that he could have easily scared off as a lion but he was just a mere man the last time they came for him – no one should praise you to the edge of death. They will desert you and you will be left alone to sort yourself out when reality check on you.
For Brother Bello and many of his likes, what emboldened him first was the system and secondly, the system. I will summarize – that thing called “immunity” for certain public servants in our constitution is a recipe for high level of corruption, arrogance and power drunkenness. It encourages whosoever occupies an office with the cover of that “immunity” to be so inhuman as so, can do and undo. We saw it all. The immunity brought out the other side of Brother Bello even his tone changed but it has changed again to that of ordinary human if you have had him recently – yes, he doesn’t sound anymore like that of a lion roaring and devouring in his den with his the pride.
Secondly, this thing called “Federal Allocation” that comes every months to all the “rulers” of the states in our country is another good recipe for the kind of bad governance they cook and serve the people. The day states will begin to generate their own monies and not dependent on the federal government anymore, from that day we will begin to have leaders at the helms of affairs instead of the “ruling looters” that we see everywhere today. Imagine Brother Bello, the young “Fair Plus” receiving (in February of 2016) two months backlogs in addition to the month of January of 2016 when he was sworn-in, those figures changed him forever knowing that he had become the untouchable superintendent of the state and that more will keep rolling in just because he occupies a seat. Honestly, he can’t remain “fair plus” again, something new was born. On the contrary, if that seat was to make him scratch his head to see how to raise funds for the state and then how to manage what he raised, he wouldn’t have time for praise singers and lots of distractions that came along. That “Federal Allocation” is a big set up and the reason many people run for that office as it is obviously the real inspiration for many – of the thirty six, how many are doing well despite the huge amount that flows in every month? It’s unfortunate. And, this is what push many of them into trials like Brother Bello as soon as they leave office.
The third thing that emboldened Brother Bello while in office was the people, yes, particularly those from the Eastern flanks of the state that ordinarily should been his checkmates but became his enablers to establish himself as the lion he was while in power. Over 90% percent of the Kogi Easterners who were with Brother Bello then were just there for their own selfish interest and not the people’s and that gave Brother Bello the edge to bring onboard more “powerful” people from the axis, raise them high and then leave them to have a free fall and with that circle on, many were reduced to nothing and, so, Brother Bello confirmed that he can divide and rule this people and so he did. He was deliberate with his top men to work not with the best from the axis but the “yes sir” men and they all headed our Local Government Areas for years and today, what are their stories? This third reason; the enablers, they encouraged the lion in the young Brother Bello to so manifest to the detriment of the people.
Still on the enablers, many of them that Brother Bello raised never came out good because it became the game of give and take and a very careful observation will tell you that most of the people that received the lion attacks of Brother Bello were men who all dined and wined with him to the detriment of their own people when it was convinient for them even though many of them have been converted to various agenda propagandists today but we can’t forget so soon even though the Nigerian situation always make it easy for us to just forget things as if they never happened. All the men that were brought down in most humiliating ways in the times of the reign of Brother Bello were his enablers and that’s why his trials today has many implications especially if he is apprehended and he decides to begin to call names, many will have dates with the anti-graft agency and I have this feelings that Brother Bello will not want to go down alone because he is no longer a lion but a mere mortal so, he will call names.
The Brother Bello’s trials have so divided the people and as well silent many particularly those that were beneficiaries at some points. This set of people who are not direct beneficiaries can’t talk much about Brother Bello because of their past roles as the silent enablers – they got money and cars and today, those gifts and money have blocked their mouth in case they get exposed. Some who served in his cabinet are even the most disadvantaged as they practically got nothing to show that they were once cabinet members of Brother Bello. They are pained but can’t talk. Many today are praying for a soft landing for Brother Bello not because they so love him but to save themselves because they know the roles they played alongside the then lion.
These dramas we have seen with Brother Bello is the true reflection of our society today. His case in particular has many point of references that contradicts the nation’s law even though some are arguing on the contrary but putting all the for and against together makes Brother Bello the untouchable as it seems today till the drama gets to the climax and then anti-climax. Until then, few things are possible – Brother Bello’s trials may get to a point he would be made to be resting in some correctional spots for some good times before he joins us again or the system may just safe him for another assignment – anything can happen.
Meanwhile, if Ganduje eventually leaves, who becomes the next National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC)?