Every Challenge you Throw at him, he Shines with it
By Nafisat Bello
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”
– Dr Martin Luther King Jrn.
Since bursting onto the scene in 2016, Governor Yahaya Bello has proven time and time again to be an enigma. An undoubted political juggernaut whose status cannot be questioned by anyone in any part of the country. He is a household name across the country at the moment and if he had taken him five decades to achieve that, it wouldn’t have been news. But it has actually taken Bello just about six years to rise from obscurity to become one of the rallying figures of the Nigerian polity. That is not a mean feat!
He earned his position as the hardworking governor of the state. The work he has put in to transform the state has also earned him a nationwide reputation as a performer. The fact that he is a young, vibrant governor with a lot of fondness for youth and women in his administration has also attracted a lot of attention of youth and women groups from across the country to him. In fact, it is the voices of these hundreds of youth and women groups that forced Bello out of his comfort zone to seek the highest office in the land.
And since he announced his intent to answer the clarion call of these patriotic groups and he acquired the nomination and expression of interest forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the momentum for him has increased in geometric progression.
As part of preparations for the primary election, Bello appeared before the John Oyegun-led Screening Panel recently where he dazzled the wise men with his erudition, determination, conviction and his record of performance in the state.
The party is in search of a candidate who can build on the strides of President Muhammadu Buhari to bring a lasting solution to the security problems in Nigeria. Since insecurity has been one of the knotty issues bedeviling the country and the administration, the issue dominated the discussion Governor Bello had with the Screening Panel on that day.
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“In fighting insecurity, there are certain actions that you will take if you are not careful it will seem as if you are being repressive but sometimes you are bound to do so. I have led a team of security personnel to the three senatorial districts in Kogi state to demolish houses and property belonging to kidnappers and armed robbers. We have also demolished religious centres known to have warehoused illegal weapons in Kogi State. When it becomes critical situations, I volunteer myself to be part of the security teams and that boosts their morale and has been a huge source of encouragement to them. In 2017, we moved into the enclave in Kogi Central and dislodged the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) from where they were producing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) and we eliminated them. I don’t stay behind when the lives of my people are being threatened”, he said.
He continued: “Today, Kogi state is one of the safest states in Nigeria. To fight insecurity, you must be firm and must be able to deal with situations decisively no matter whose ox is gored. You must ensure there is perfect synergy and sharing of intelligence between various security agencies in your locality. You must ensure that those you are hiring to do the job are very sincere and they share in your dreams.”
“Crimes are committed on land, sea and everywhere and every inch of the land is owned by the people, what I did was to ensure that I got the people involved; from the traditional rulers, various levels of government, religious bodies, and so on. Sometimes, I go to the extra mile to sacrifice so much in such a way that I don’t care even releasing what belongs to me by law just to be able to fight insecurity and we are seeing the results today”, he added.
Impressed by his sheer brilliancy, Chief Oyegun commended Governor Bello, saying: “Thank you very much. I want to thank you sincerely on behalf of the committee. It has been a learning experience with you and you have proved a point. I wouldn’t tell you what point but on behalf of everybody here, we wish you the very best of luck in this journey. It will be a good thing for us to have the courage to bring a young, brilliant mind like you to lead this country.”
To succeed in securing the state from criminal activities, Governor Bello had to procure over 200 utility vehicles for all security agencies in the state while equipping vigilante groups with over 500 motorcycles to work in tandem with forces to stem the tide of criminality in the hinterlands of the state, in line with his Operation Total Freedom. He also used his influence within the Nigerian military circles to cause the establishment of the Nigerian Army Forward Operational Bases located across the state. Aside the symbolic presence of these operational bases, they have also aided the apprehension of criminals, scaring potential criminals away and the general security of lives and property in the state.
