A Change In Governor Without Change In Government And Governance: A Tale Of Kogi State, By Comrade Olumuyiwa Onlede
IT is often said that you are not a successful leader if your successor do not succeed. But this wise saying did not envisage a situation where a leader will deliberately wish his successor fail even when the leader singlehandedly chooses the successor.
The Government of Kogi State for the past eight years has left sons and daughters of the state but home and away to ponder on whether good governance will ever be achieved in their lifetime. Ranging from health to economy, from basic education to infrastructure, from welfare of workers and Citizens to retirees the story is the same, the lackadaisical performance of immediate past government under the leadership of Alhaji Yahaya Bello is a situation that kept all indigenes and residents of the state talking and gnashing their teeth.
Democracy as it is, is supposed to be a government of the people by the people and for the people and not government of the few. But as the reality of the past administration in Kogi State is still facing the entire state, one will ponder a lot about how best our leaders can translate the education that they acquired into transformational leadership. In short, the attitude of most leaders speaks volume about the ability of education to transform their mind and hearts hence the fact that education that is free from knowledge is free education and education that does not transform the heart and mind is just like clothes worn in the morning and removed in the evening.
The greatest surprise faced by teaming Kogites who believed that the monumental failure of the past administration in the state will come to an end on the 27th January, 2024 when the tenure of the governor must have come to a constitutional end, but unknown to the people the immediate past governor has other ideas to extend the dead regime that has been a thorn in the flesh of the people of Kogi State.
The hope of having new idea in governance and breathing a fresh air was dashed when the new governor Alhaji Usman Ododo announced the reappointment of 80 % of those that served in the past government right there on the inauguration ground.
Opinion leaders were taken aback by that action and some are still asking questions, not many people believed any illustrious son or daughter of Ebira land will be so weak not to have a mind of his or her own when it comes to decision making and leadership, but for now what happened at the Muhammadu Buhari Mini Stadium Lokoja, Venue of the inauguration on the 27th of January 2024 is still ringing in the minds of not only Ebira people but the entire sons and daughters of the state who could not believe the unthoughtful and backdoor extension of Alhaji Yahaya Bello through a surrogate will become a reality.
Even now the unconstitutional running of government of Kogi State from outside her territory, precisely FCT has continue to be appoint of concern as the surrogate governor is tied to the apron of his God father, so that if Alhaji Yahaya Bello is in Abuja His Excellency Alhaji Usman Ododo must relocate to Abuja without recourse to the numerous challenges facing the state that needs his attention.
Maybe it is too early to jump into conclusion, but time will tell about a possibility of a radical paradigm shift that will see an Ebira man succumb to a godfather without dissenting opinion and ideas.
But in all these one thing is sure that the people of Kogi State will win at the end, it is just a matter of time.
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