Bello’s new Kogi paradigms

THE emergence of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the 4th executive governor of Kogi state on January 27th 2016 came as a divine intervention, considering the circumstances that brought him in the political evolution of the state. As the youngest governor to rule the state, he was determined to deliver and bring smiles on the faces of citizens, hence the numerous feats put in place within his eleven months reign in the state.

In spite of various challenges bedeviling the state since its creation in 1991, Governor Bello, on assumption of office, came up with his developmental blueprint to actualise his New Direction Agenda with a focus on the transformation of five key sectors of the state economy, namely: infrastructure, capacity building, security, road development, provision of quality education and agricultural transformation. Governor Bello has made his mark in these five major sectors and other areas of need. The governor came out to rid the civil service of its endemic rot and corruption through the screening and verification of its workforce, aimed at flushing out ghost workers and pensioners on government pay roll. These efforts have, so far, yielded positive results and huge successes with the discovery of thousands of ghost workers, pensioners and schools. This has enabled the state government to save over one billion naira, which can now be used to develop the state and ensure regular payment of salaries and pensions.

Happily, all the staff and pensioners who had no issues arising from the screening have been paid their salaries/pension up till September. The governor, however, has directed the screening committee to make available, the list of the final cleared staff and pensioners so that they would be paid all their salary/pension arrears before the end of the year.  Following the drastic fall in federal allocation to  states across the country in recent times, Bello has ensured that the Board of Internal Revenue witnessed a steady improvement in revenue generation capacity. It is worthy of note that the IGR of the state has been on increased till date.

Bello also keyed into the Federal Government’s fight against corruption to reduce leakages in the system. For instance, his recent setting up of a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to probe the administrations of former Governor Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada’s management of the state’s finances between 2003 to 2015 is a case in point. The adoption of the Treasury Single Account(TSA) by his administration was part of its desire to checkmate fraud and leakages in the system. The administration also gave attention to the issue of security of lives and property to sustain the prevailing peace in the state. The governor recently purchased 104 patrol vehicles fitted with modern communication gadgets which were distributed to all security agencies in the state to enhance their operations. Within its short period in office, the government has initiated a number of projects and inherited others from the immediate past administration in view of its belief in continuity in the system.

Notable ongoing projects under the present leadership in the state are: rehabilitation of Lokoja township roads, Idah-Anyigba road, Agassa road, Kogi State Diagnostic Imaging Center, Lokoja; Ganaja-Otokiti bye-pass, remodelling of Kogi Hotels; beach embankment and shoreline protection works in Lokoja, Sundry Electricity Supply and Installation works all over the state, Renovation of Infrastructure, Supply of books and other learning aids in Educational Institutions, Renovation of Government House and House of Assembly Complex amongst others. In his bid to justify his hard earned mandate, Bello recently flagged off the construction of N3.8 billion road network in the Central Senatorial District of the state. The flag off of the road projects, according to the governor, is aimed at addressing the poor state of infrastructure, particularly construction of access roads across the three senatorial district of the state.

The education sector was equally given a boost, as it is best described as the bedrock of accelerated development in any given society. On assumption of office, Bello swung into action to resolve the industrial crisis at the Kogi State University, Anyigba, and all the primary schools across the state which crippled academic activities for four months before he came on board. His efforts, however, was very successful as the government, the local chapter of ASU and NUT reached an agreement that led to the suspension of the lingering strike, thereby creating an enabling atmosphere that allowed academic work to thrive in the state.

The administration has also witnessed partnerships with multinational companies and other donor agencies to boost quality education in the state. Worthy of mention is a Hybrid Library Complex built by Texaco Company in collaboration with the state government at the Government Science School, Dekina which was recently handed over to government on completion. The Bello led administration is also restructuring education within the context of the educational policy of the nation to ensure the development of technical education geared towards empowering our youths to graduate into jobs of their own and spark a technological revolution in the state.

• Comrade Idakwo is Senior Special Assistant to the Kogi State governor on Print Media.