ambijhani writes from Kano.
It is Saturday the 27th day of January. There’s something cryptic in the morning air.
I have just had the soundest of sleeps. At nine o’clock am, I wake up in my quiet neighborhood to the unusual swishing of cool morning breeze under ominously dimmed clear-blue skies. It looks like rain, even though we are deep into the dry season. By happenstance, Mother Nature herself is in acknowledgment of this great day in the annals of Kogi State political history. Today, his Excellency, Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello is handing the baton of leadership to his anointed party man and loyalist, his Excellency Ahmed Usman Ododo, having put in eight chequered years of meritorious shift. Like they say, to every beginning is an ending. As the old makes way for the new, not a few are shocked by the former’s choice. For those in denial, let it be clear that like his predecessor, Ododo is a child of providence. It is time to retool and reset, for a new dispensation has dawned.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Boasting a humble background and glowing résumé, he came prepared. Ododo being a key figure in the Bello administration through two glorious terms of unprecedented milestones, his capacity is never in doubt. But his traducers, as to be expected in worldly life, are in malicious doubt and spurious talk: It’s a third term agenda; He has instituted the Office of immediate past governor within Government house; His appointees are all recycled, and all whatnot. But the talk is cheap. I will explain.
It must befall only one individual to give leadership, and on this occasion, the diadem has fallen on Governor Ododo’s head. He is carrying it with a huge sense of responsibility as indicative of his inaugural speech right from the off, when names of appointees were reeled out. The State’s growth path and trajectory is clear and he minced no words. Yet, begrudgingly, traducers greeted his cabinet composition with bucketfuls of disparagement. It comes as no surprise that the pessimists are a club of acolytes to past failed leaderships, living off the egoist belief that the opportunity to serve is also one for self-aggrandizement. But get thee behind me! We must sustain the productive practice of appointing officials based firstly on capacity, and then spread. To underscore this stance, Governor Ododo, in affirmative action, followed his announcement with a strict directive for submission to periodic performance assessments by public officials. This is not only novel but an indication of a resolve to hold high office holders to account.
With reference to the so-called meddlesomeness of Yahaya Bello and the perpetuation of a third term agenda, I think all there is to this assertion is malignant mischief. Most laughable is the insinuation that an office for immediate past governor has been established. It gladdens the heart that there was no official response to this hogwash because Ododo is savvy enough to distinguish the constitutional from the unconstitutional and the expedient from beer parlor banter. In their futile quest to discredit the establishment, they foment inanity after inanity while invoking Rivers to happen to Kogi. But loyalty is earned, and when genuinely premised, no amount of backtalk can cause it to waver. His Excellency isn’t an ingrate who turns around to smite the finger which has fed him. Excuse me if you have a problem with that. And by the way, be it third or fourth term agenda, what does the polity desire other than growth, equitable development and welfare, regardless of who is at the helms? Let us learn to distinguish wheat from chaff. Tribalism and sectionalism has been our bane since creation of Kogi, and it is clear to see that the Bello regime has been the most detribalized in the history of the State. This is evident in his cabinet composition and sundry administration, a departure from old practice where for an instance, a whole housing Estate (Otokiti Estate) is erected with public funds and an overwhelming percentage allocated to kith and kin; or prior to the autonomy of the present day Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (then known as the Board of Internal Revenue) where the lion share from actual monthly collections are diverted by ‘favored’ officials into gas stations and hospitality businesses. Today, Lokoja is a museum of petrol stations and hotel relics, why because the businesses couldn’t stand the test of karma. Needless to say, following Yahaya Bello’s erection of a befitting Revenue House and revenue generation and collection rejig, the average monthly IGR now stands at N1.2B, against the measly N300M of pre autonomy. That no culprits were either tracked down or reprimanded isn’t a sign of weakness but one of wisdom against upsetting the delicate ties that bind us. On this score, I must salute our Okun brothers. Through the GYB years to OAU, your sterling contributions to State affairs and the maturity of your politics deserves high commendation. Rest assured that notes have been taken, and your efforts will surely bear fruit.
While Ododo has inherited a veritable number of ongoing laudable projects, Bello did inherit a plethora of abandoned, poorly conceived ones. Most dumbfounding are the Wada Estate and the Kogi State Hotel, both of which were nearing completion. We should be putting our best foot forward and not embarking on a whimsical jaunt of resource misallocation. Curiously, the most strident voices in the third term agenda banter belongs to the same disgruntled elements and their sponsors who through three back to back civilian regimes, have arrested the development of the State. At no other time in the history of Kogi State has the civil service and allocation of resources been so glaringly skewed in favour of the Igalas than the Abubakar Audu through to the Wada Edris regimes. That’s over twenty years of “we” against “them.” Statistics don’t lie. The labour force was so bloated and fraught with teenage ghost workers that even the mundane mind would cringe. Until Bello arrived to sanitize the system. Excuse me if you have a problem with that.
Ododo’s predecessor didn’t maliciously strip Anyigba Teaching Hospital of its assets and have it transferred to Okene or shut down learning Institutions therein. Rather, he ensured all three Senatorial zones are equipped with those critical infrastructures in state-of-the-art quality. Such is the leadership of inclusivity Ododo has inherited and must sustain. The aim of this piece is a call to unity and probity. The sore losers and pursuers of sectional agendas are merely pursuing a losing venture. The agelong self-entitlement and master/slave relationship they allude to is sickening. Seriously? Master/slave based on what, history recently rewritten by devious hands? Or some phantom numerical advantages that defeats logical permutation? Recent elections have laid bare the real facts behind the figures, which shall likewise be corroborated by the upcoming census count. Traducers beware, because the chickens have finally come home to roost.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
The immense natural resources of Kogi State, arguably unrivaled in the country, are largely underexploited. From Steel to Mineral deposits to arable farmlands, they are all there for the using, and we must use them. And there is Geotourism too, astoundingly unexplored. This particularly, is unacceptable. With our unique geographic positioning as a Confluence State, bordered by a record ten other States including the FCT, we sit on a tourism goldmine which we seem to be treating with disdain. I strongly urge the new government to pay adequate attention to Tourism and continue to ignore negative vibes. Yahaya Bello has laid down the template. In the twilight of his second term, the choice of a continuity successor became pertinent. When intuition eventually nudged him towards a likely candidate, he had the choice to either take it or lose it to mediocrity. He chose to take it, based on State interest, never mind that multitudes have chosen to see it otherwise. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, Ododo is the chosen one. The task at hand is onerous and will at some points also be unpleasant, but the incumbent has shown the willingness to bite the bullet and take it on. He has committed to sustaining security to create an enabling environment for investors and deepen the State’s revenue portfolio. Resuscitation of Ajaokuta steel; food security and citizenry welfare are major policy thrusts. Following the dictates of the New Direction blueprint, the ultimate aim is to keep reworking Kogi until it is presentable to the world. We are on the threshold of a renaissance.
I am neither kindred to governor Ododo nor a government official, but a detribalized Kogite who means well for my State. Representation based on the principle of “our turn” has hardly ever yielded optimum benefit to the polity, and are doomed to counter-production. My fervent wish for Ododo is governance that not only recognizes excellence but also rewards it; one where salaries, pensions and all work remunerations do not fall into backlogs but are promptly disbursed as and when due; one which is responsive to citizenry’s needs and holds public officials to high account; and lastly, deployment of State resources to the optimal benefit of State. These are the people’s expectations.
It’s a long way out yet for Ododo. He is barely two months in office and tongues are already wagging. But a book can’t be objectively judged by its cover, neither can the outcome of a long distance race which has barely commenced be correctly determined in advance. The traducers shall have their word, but it’s too early in the day. Simple wisdom says people who live in glass houses must refrain from hauling pebbles. Undoubtedly, grit and spunk is required to govern an intriguing State like Kogi. Bello has both. I hope Ododo does too, because just like the great men before him were betrayed and persecuted by their own people, Ododo will have his share of detraction and detestation even if he conducts himself saintly. This is how we are rewired. Naysayers often ignore decorum which requires criticisms to be premised in the constructive and opposition played according to the books, to pursue selfish delusions. Observe patience. Four years from now, time would have thrown up enough touch points by which to judge the leadership, and in the improbable event of nonperformance, a legitimate process by which to change it. Until then, Ododo insists it is unequivocally, unwaveringly, State above parochialism.
I employ this medium to offer salutations to our respected traditional rulers, the Attah of Igala, HRM, Mathew Opaluwa Oguche; Obaro of Kabba, HRM Oba Solomon Oladele Owoniyi (Obaro Otitoleke Oweyomade I); Ohinoyi of Ebira land, HRH Alhaji Ahmed Tijani Anaje; Ohimege-Igu of Koton-Karfe, HRH Alhaji Saidu Akawo Salihu and Maigari of Lokoja, HRH Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Kabir Maikarfi IV. You have all stood firm in the preachment of sustainable peace in our land. We are grateful. Your royal highnesses sir, I plead that you do more until tolerance and brotherly love becomes a staple amongst our peoples: a people of destiny. We have endured suffering and strife in times past, but indeed, in the aftermath of hardship comes ease. Kogi is gifted with such abundance of resources as can bring prosperity to every single household and revolutionize her economic fortunes. But first, we must recognize the worth of the life-changing instruments lying dormant in our domain, and then without acrimony, bad blood or ill will, organize and deploy our best brains and hands to work harmoniously and assiduously at exploiting them to our full benefit. There is no graceful way to carry hatred. Let the past be forgiven, the present accommodated, so that the future can be assured.
It’s time we all wake up and take a sip of the curative coffee.
A renaissance Kogi is possible, if we work together.
Dedicated to my longlist of Igala friends.
You can reach me @ ahmadtjsani@gmail.com
