By Tosin Olatokunbo
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state has lashed out at some of his counterparts in the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF for failing to protect their people in line with their oath of office.
Bello has recently expressed his intention to contest the 2023 presidential election and not a few insist that his comments on salient national issues is deliberate, to position him for the top job in the country.
The controversial Kogi helmsman spoke on the crest of the abduction of over 40 students in Kankara, Niger state by bandits on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered security agencies in the country to find the abductees and rescue them, even as Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger state met the president in Aso villa yesterday night.
Governors Rotimi Akeredolu and Seyi Makinde are some of the governors that have also consulted with the president, in the last few days, on how to confront the spate of insecurity in their states.
But the Kogi governor said the governors must wake up to their responsibility instead of running to the president like a weeping child, whenever they experience security problems in their various states. He said the governors have not proven themselves as true chief security officers and have let their people down.
He stated this on Channesl Televison on Thursday, where he urged other governors to take a cue from how he handled insecurity in the state, rather than throwing their hands up in helplessness. He said Kogi used to be a hot bed of criminals such as bandits and killer herdsmen, but that is in the past now after his government dealt with them.
The Kogi governor said “I must say straight away that there are some of us that are more serious on our jobs than the other. I won’t call names, there are some of us who are prioritising our jobs and are doing it very well in our various states and some are simply playing politics and the earlier we stop that, the better. Let’s reduce the burden of Mr President and let’s save the lives of our people.
“What happened in Shasha in Ibadan is most unfortunate. These are victims attacking victims. The Yorubas attacking Hausa Fulani are victims. The Hausa Fulani attacking the Yorubas are victims of maladministration, successively, from the past and even currently.
“So, when you share or compare experiences, it is just advisory, you must necessarily take somebody’s experience. And sometimes, it depends on (the) peculiarity of where you are operating from.
“In Kogi State, we are having a heterogenous kind of composition –religious wise, ethnic wise and various divergent backgrounds and we are handling it very well. So, I see no reasons why in some states where you have two tribes and they will be attacking each other.
“We should be able to stand up and stamp our feet on ground and put a stop to the menace. It is not needed. We (are) required to have empathy on our people, we should preach love and affection among our people and let us get involved in the governance of our states and let us get connected.
“At least before it gets to the level of burning houses, killing one another, burning livelihoods, markets and destroying our lives, we should have enough intelligence, we should be able to nip it in the bud and not allow it escalate before we are now talking of governors visiting each other, calling on Federal Government.
He cautioned his colleagues to stop running to Aso Rock whenever there are security breaches to be handled in their states.
“For crying our loud, are we expecting Mr President to be in Oyo State in Shasha to prevent that mayhem? Are we expecting Mr President to carry AK-47 and be safeguarding all schools? Are we expecting Mr President to be on the highway? We should get connected to our people and ensure that are connected with us as well and come up with solutions to solve this problem once and for all.”
Meanwhile, his comment is likely to elicit reactions from his colleagues who recently scolded him after he claimed the COVID 19 vaccines are meant to kill Africans.
