President Tinubu, centre, Ododo, left and Governor Bello

Richard Elesho

Background: Politics in the air

These are not ordinary times in Kogi State. Her nearly four million population are in a frenetic political market shopping for a replacement for Governor Yahaya Adoiza Bello, whose second tenure comes to a mandatory terminal on 27th January 2024. The industry regulator, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed the election for Saturday, 11 November. The off-cycle poll will be held concurrently in two other states, namely Bayelsa and Imo.

Of the trio, Kogi provides a special spectacle. When he assumed office in January 2016, through an act of God, Bello was the youngest state chief executive in Nigeria. He has managed to clutch to that feat to date. More instructive is the fact that whereas the incumbent governors in the other states will be on the ballot seeking their second terms, Bello will not be. At least, not directly.

However, his kinsman and preferred heir, Ahmed Usman Ododo, is the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. He will slug it out with a motley crowd of 17 other candidates, out of which not more than five are really in contention. The other frontline candidates and parties are Senator Dino Melaiye of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Muritala Yakubu Ajaka of Social Democratic Party, SDP; Adeyinka Braimoh of Action Alliance, AA; Jibrin Usman of Accord, A; and Leke Abejide of African Democratic Congress, ADC.

GYB Model Science Schools

The state’s political landscape is fully charged that wherever two or more people are gathered, the imminent poll dictates discussions. All the political actors have been junketing round at all hours, scavenging for support. The emerging scenario is that of a clannish two-horse race between Ododo and, by extension, Bello, on one hand, and the rest, on the other hand.

Without doubts, the man to beat is the APC candidate, who is running on the legacies or wreckages of his mentor. To be certain, Bello’s traducers accuse him of ineptitude, high-handedness, and maladministration. In spite of this, his eight years sojourn in Lugard House, as the Kogi seat of power is known, has brought fresh dynamics to the state’s development. A quick inventory.

Footprints in the sand of time

So much has been said, heard, and written about the outgoing sheriff’s stewardship. The Kogi Revenue House; Ganaja Flyover Bridge (first and only in the 32-year-old state); Graphic newspaper’s office complex; Muhammodu Buhari Square, MBS; GYB Model School, Adankolo; some remodelled roundabouts; renovated and expanded Specialist Hospital, a befitting Christian Ecumenical Centre in Lugard House (despite being a Muslim); and a labyrinth of rehabilitated roads with street lights are indelible footprints of the Governor in Lokoja, the state capital.

Ganaja Flyover Bridge

In the hinterland the Governor’s fans point to the Kogi State Specialist and Referral Hospital, Okene (self-rated among the best); Confluence University of Science and Technology, CUSTECH, Osara; modernised General hospitals at Gegu Beki, and Isanlu; GYB Health Centre, Takete Ide; rehabilitated secondary schools; New Ohinoyi Palace, Okene; some township roads, and the ambitious Omi Rice Processing Mill in Yagba West Local Government Area, LGA, attest to the spread of the achievements.

Model Science Secondary School, Adankolo

Recently, Bello spoke to the heart of the Okun people, killing two birds with one masterly throw. He struck the right chord when he announced the establishment of Kogi State University, Kabba, and the relocation of Kogi State College of Education (Technical) in the ancient town to Mopa, headqurters of MopAmuro LGA.This brings the number of state owned universities in Kogi to three, (one per Senatorial district) and two of which were created by Bello. For the Okun people, it was a dream come true. Education is their main strength, but sadly, the area does not boast a university. Thus, every  year, Okun people have to travel to other areas, where they struggle to crystalize their love for learning. By the way, I just remembered that the administration recently engaged about 1,000 teachers for its understaffed secondary schools.

Specialist Centre, Okene

The intangibles

There is so much about the physical infrastructures that define the Bello years. But the administration may have fared equally well in areas that are easily ignored or overlooked, though germane to the survival of society. For instance, Kogi has enjoyed remarkable peace and security under Bello’s watch. Through the engagement of Geemony, an environmental concern, Lokoja has been elevated among the cleanest state capitals.

The governor has unique ways that make things work for him. Take his rather unconventional solo handling of covid-19, which effectively locked the gate against the pandemic in Kogi. Similarly, his margic wand ensured stable academic calendar in all tertiary institutions owned by the state, at a season when federal institutions and those owned by other states were engrossed in strikes.

Bello’s exceptionally female and youth-sensitive administration may have buoyed the APC. Women and youth have been elevated in ways never witnessed in any part of Nigeria. Kogi boasts a female SSG, Dr. Mrs. Ayoade Arike; Aide de Camp, ADC, to the governor, Iwanger Ifeoma Akaya; youthful Vice Chairpersons, and female Council Leaders in all 21 LGAs. From a dormant position in 2016, when Bello came to the saddle, APC became the party to beat in any election in Kogi.

That is not all. Whereas Bello is not scarce in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, where things happen, he hardly travels abroad. He is not part of the frivolity of some governors who use public funds to frequent other countries in the name of bogus economic missions. Governor Bello travelled abroad less than five times in his eight years of service!

One remarkable telltale that is often used as proof of Bello’s commitment to service is his World Bank award in three categories last November. The categories are fiscal transparency and accountability; debt sustainability; and domestic revenue mobilisation. His supporters say the award confirms Bello as a prudent manager of resources.

SSG, Dr Mrs Arike Ayoade

Who will win the election?

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Bello’s opponents accuse him and Ododo (who was LG Auditor-General) of killing the third tier of government through the percentage payment of salaries at that level. In a contest with heavy ethnic tar, they also argue that Bello is seeking third term through Ododo’s candidacy.

The above legacies and allegations will form the nucleus of the peoples marking scheme as they go to the poll. Luckily, the legal cobwebs that threatened to clog the wheel of Ododo’s victory from the APC Primary have been resolved in the candidate’s favour. Furthermore, the APC has reaped bountifully from other parties. In fact, the rate at which opposition members, including former political office holders, have been abandoning their parties and moving into the APC may well indicate an inevitable outcome of the poll. But, it is not over until it is completely over.

Bello has never disguised his last wish in office, being the determination of a successor. How far can he go?

Time and the electorate will tell.