For the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, this is not the best of time. Since he mounted the saddle, it has been one trouble or the other.
Bello, whose emergence was by fate, lost the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries to Prince Abubakar Audu. He had to step in when the candidate died, as results were being announced in the election in which he (Audu) was coasting home to victory.
Bello, however, weathered through several court processes before he was fully accepted by the people as their governor.
Since then, he has not been finding governance easy. Salaries of Kogi workers remain unpaid even with the bail-out. Pensioners do not have happy tales either. Herdsmen have been killing the farmers, destroying crops and raping women.
Piqued by this state of affairs, some have united to seek a successor to Bello due to, what they termed, failure of governance in the state. The groups include the Vanguard For Good Governance (VGG), the Nigerian Youths Advocacy for Peace and Development, as well as the Global Centre for Peace and Education.
They have picked Dr. Joseph Erico Ameh, a security expert, business mogul and philanthropist, who has accepted to pitch tent against Bello under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Chief Abubakar Agene, VGC President, on behalf of the others, said that “if Chief Ameh comes on board, there will be great transformation in every segment of Kogi.”
They see Ameh as “a good resource manager of men and material, based on his antecedent and the way he had been prudently managing his business outfits that cut across several parts of the country.”
Already, Ameh has started work on the Kogi 2019 project. Hear him: “Kogi State is on the map of Nigeria today on a negative perspective. Today, there is no development. Roads are in pitiable condition. Nothing is moving in Kogi State. Workers’ salaries are not paid. The health sector is in bad shape.
“Everything about human welfare has collapsed. There is breakdown of order in Kogi and the state is in near anarchy. There is total lack of infrastructure, with the people suffering. Things were bad before Yahaya Bello took over. But, people thought that, as a youth, he would have put things in order. In fact, expectations were high when he took over. That is why people are now crying louder that they want a change and that is how I came in.”
While Bello’s camp has been silent, observers maintain that he should wake up from his slumber and attend to the people’s problems, if the rug would not be pulled from under his feet.
Analysts maintain that Bello should not expect a return to Government House if workers and pensioners continue to starve; while people are killed and their wives raped in farms. They maintain that Bello should put his acts together to guarantee his second term, come 2019.
Credit: Independent
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