Opinion

AMIDST a crunching petrol scarcity, high prices of diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and lubricants.

The Federal Government has again missed the argument and crux of the protracted petrol subsidy payments. In a rehashed and worn-out idea akin to scratching the surface of the matter, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, hinted on the sidelines of the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the government was ending the subsidy regime gradually from the second quarter. For long, the issue of subsidy has been clouded by sentiments, half-truths, corruption, and official incompetence.

On the back of hefty but opaque subsidy payments, Nigeria, back as Africa’s No.1 crude oil exporter, has been ensnared in a prolonged petrol scarcity since January 2022. Ahmed said, “We also have to exit fuel subsidy, because that is also a significant contributory factor. You can look at it in two ways – it is revenue that would have come to the government, but it doesn’t because it has been spent on fuel subsidy. But also, where there is nothing for the government to buy the refined petroleum products, we have to borrow to buy the petroleum products. So, if you take that out, that’s about N3.25 trillion; that is a significant relief.”

This is confusing. Despite subsidy payments by the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited not remitting oil sales proceeds regularly into the Federation Account, petrol is selling far above the regulated N185 per litre in many parts of the country. In some cases, the product is selling for N300 to N600 per litre.

Still, the Federal Government appears confident that once the subsidy payment, currently worsened by the forex crisis, is discontinued in June, the bottlenecks in the nation’s oil sector would be over. This is a totally defective thinking because the problems facing the country’s oil sector are multilateral.

Apart from subsidy payments, there are critical issues in Nigeria’s oil downstream sector. The major ones are government’s refusal to privatise the refineries, the involvement of the regulator (NNPC) in retailing products and shallow domestic refining.

Data by Blackgold Energy Authorities, an oil and gas consulting and advisory firm, states that Nigeria imports petroleum products with $28 billion per annum. This is more than half of the N21.83 trillion 2023 budget. “Nigeria’s per capita refining is about 0.002 barrels per day, that’s very embarrassing,” Blackgold argued. Plainly, subsidy is not the problem but the woeful domestic refining capacity.

Petroleum products prices will be unsustainably high in Nigeria long as the country imports them. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and his cohorts should realise that the first major step out of the quagmire is to refine domestically.

Nigeria has four refineries; two in Port Harcourt, Rivers State; one in Warri, Delta State and one in Kaduna, with an installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. But monstrous inefficiency, corruption and lack of focus have combined to persistently keep their operations far below their installed capacities for decades. It is curious that successive governments have neglected this direction. The refineries keep gulping millions as running costs annually, with taxpayers’ money continually earmarked wastefully for turnaround and rehabilitation works. Over a period of 25 years, the Federal Government wasted a whopping $25 billion on them, a report stated.
In 2021, the Federal Government voted $1.5 billion to repair the Port Harcourt Refinery. This is a refinery that generated a total revenue of N10.33 billion from 2015 to 2019, according to its 2019 audited financial statements. It reported a total loss of N229.14 billion during the period.

Several stakeholders, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, have canvassed the benefits of privatising the refineries. In 2020, Osinbajo said that the government had no business running refineries. He said, “If the refinery is left in the hands of the government, it will continue to experience the same problem it is experiencing now. I do not think that it is the business of the government to run the refinery. It should be the business of the private sector, which is why we are trying to focus on assisting the private sector to develop modular refineries.”

Indeed, Nigeria has issued 65 licences for modular refineries since 2015. Only about four have taken off the ground; these ones complain about lack of access to feedstock (crude oil). This shows the leadership is just paying lip-service to domestic refining.

Political brickbats and labour unions’ strident outcry over the privatisation of the refineries chiefly reflect a nation unprepared for a diversified economy. At the tail end of his administration, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo sold the controlling stake in two of the refineries to the Bluestar Consortium for $721 million in 2007, but his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, irrationally reversed it.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan failed to achieve their privatisation. His successor, Buhari, has stuck primordially to public ownership of the moribund assets. This sets back the economy in several ways.

One of these is that the Buhari regime has been borrowing to pay for subsidies. That is bad economics. By privatising the refineries, Nigeria can free itself of spending on the refineries and allow the private sector to refine, as is the practice elsewhere. Singapore, a minor crude producer, is a major hub for refined petroleum products with a capacity for 1.5 million bpd, says the International Trade Administration.

The subsidy regime is significantly tainted by corruption, and the government’s unwillingness to eliminate oil theft, which the Senate said cost Nigeria $2 billion in eight months during 2022. This year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission noted it recovered about N13 billion as proceeds of illegal payments made under the subsidy regime between 2017 and 2021. In 2011, the Jonathan administration could not account for N2.57 trillion subsidy payments.

Therefore, the starting point is to privatise the country’s moribund public refineries to allow strong competition and promote self-sufficiency in petroleum products within a virile commercial framework.

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DIRISU YAKUBU writes on the much talked about general election, which is now a handful of weeks away, and the fear of insecurity that poses a threat citizens’ high expectation

In its over two decades of experimentation with democracy, Nigeria again has a date with history as millions of her citizens take off a day to exercise their civic responsibility of electing a new president on February 25th this year. Like in the past, a good number of Nigerians living within and abroad see the election as an opportunity to reposition the country which continues to be in the news for the wrong reasons.

Unlike previous elections held from 1999 to 2019, the 2023 elections offer a ray of hope to the hopeless. For the first time, election results will be transmitted in real time electronically, making it impossible for any returning officer to be cajoled to manipulate figures in favour of moneybags. The Bimodal Verification Accreditation System simply known as BVAS, which replaces the card readers of old, is expected to impact positively on the character of the elections. All these speak to the determination of the Independent National Electoral Commission to deliver credible elections to Nigerians, as promised not only by its Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, but the President himself, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Speaking on the uniqueness of the 2023 elections recently at an event in Abuja, Yakubu, represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, said, “We are aware that there is a new Electoral Legal Framework that will guide the 2023 election as a result of the enactment of the Electoral Act 2022, which prompted the review of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Conduct of elections 2022.

“Sections 47(2), 60(1, 2 & 5), 62(1), 64(4a & 4b) and 64(5) of the Electoral Act 2022, which confers INEC with the power to use any technological device to transmit or transfer election results electronically are instructive in this regard.

“Emboldened by these legal protections, the commission introduced new innovative technologies and procedures and made commitments to the Nigeria People that (a) Continuous Verification, Accreditation and Voting will be conducted at the polling units using BVAS, and (b) Real-Time Polling Unit-level results will be uploaded on to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS,” he noted.

Despite the optimism that technological innovation is expected to play in this year’s exercise, a dark cloud hovers around the polity in the form of insecurity.

The INEC boss at the same event was quoted to have said, “We all appreciate the fact that election security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of an enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process.

“Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 general elections, the commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security is provided for election personnel, materials, and processes.

“This is particularly significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts of the country and the fact that members of the National Youth Service Corps constitute the core of the polling unit election officials,” adding however that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis. This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen.”

If that is not worrisome enough, INEC has in its own independent report, published on its website, noted that about 50 attacks have been launched on its facilities from 2019 till date. The 50 attacks, according to INEC, occurred in 15 out of the nation’s 36 states, a development that has left many Nigerians wondering if the commission will be ready for the exercise in line with its electioneering timetable.

In a tell-it-all conversation with Saturday PUNCH, former Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Lawrence Alobi, noted that the irreducible minimum expected of the outgoing administration is to do everything possible to deliver credible elections. To do this, the ex-police boss called for intensive training of security agents on election security, even as he called on sister agencies to assist the Nigeria Police in manning polling units across the federation during the exercise.

He said, “The wish of INEC and every patriotic Nigerian is that the elections should hold in a peaceful and violent-free environment where people can exercise their franchise without any form of intimidation. Elections are all about democracy and good governance. When elections are peaceful, the electorate will be responsible when casting their votes and they are likely to be politically knowledgeable to elect leaders of their choice. When elections are not done in a credible manner, democracy is threatened.

“President Muhammadu Buhari should know that this is a challenge he must address to bequeath a lasting legacy to Nigeria. He has promised Nigeria, the United Nations and the rest of the international community that he will conduct credible and transparent elections. He can do this only if he has the political will.”

According to the retired former police officer, the political will entails that “all security agencies should be mobilised and trained on election security management. There should be collaboration among the security agencies with the police as the lead agency. They (security agencies) should be neutral in their responsibility and say no to violence, vote-buying and election rigging.”

While calling for a replication of the 1993 presidential election won by the late billionaire businessman, Moshood Abiola, Alobi charged citizens to collaborate with security agencies in the maintenance of law and order before, during and after the elections.
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• DIRISU YAKUBU writes on the much talked about general election, which is now a handful of weeks away, and the fear of insecurity that poses a threat citizens’ high expectation

  In its over two decades of experimentation with democracy, Nigeria again has a date with history as millions of her citizens take off a day to exercise their civic responsibility of electing a new president on February 25th this year. Like in the past, a good number of Nigerians living within and abroad see the election as an opportunity to reposition the country which continues to be in the news for the wrong reasons.

  Unlike previous elections held from 1999 to 2019, the 2023 elections offer a ray of hope to the hopeless. For the first time, election results will be transmitted in real time electronically, making it impossible for any returning officer to be cajoled to manipulate figures in favour of moneybags. The Bimodal Verification Accreditation System simply known as BVAS, which replaces the card readers of old, is expected to impact positively on the character of the elections. All these speak to the determination of the Independent National Electoral Commission to deliver credible elections to Nigerians, as promised not only by its Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, but the President himself, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

  Speaking on the uniqueness of the 2023 elections recently at an event in Abuja, Yakubu, represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, said, “We are aware that there is a new Electoral Legal Framework that will guide the 2023 election as a result of the enactment of the Electoral Act 2022, which prompted the review of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Conduct of elections 2022.

  “Sections 47(2), 60(1, 2 & 5), 62(1), 64(4a & 4b) and 64(5) of the Electoral Act 2022, which confers INEC with the power to use any technological device to transmit or transfer election results electronically are instructive in this regard.

  “Emboldened by these legal protections, the commission introduced new innovative technologies and procedures and made commitments to the Nigeria People that (a) Continuous Verification, Accreditation and Voting will be conducted at the polling units using BVAS, and (b) Real-Time Polling Unit-level results will be uploaded on to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS,” he noted.

  Despite the optimism that technological innovation is expected to play in this year’s exercise, a dark cloud hovers around the polity in the form of insecurity.

  The INEC boss at the same event was quoted to have said, “We all appreciate the fact that election security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of an enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process.

  “Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 general elections, the commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security is provided for election personnel, materials, and processes.

  “This is particularly significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts of the country and the fact that members of the National Youth Service Corps constitute the core of the polling unit election officials,” adding however that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis. This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen.”

  If that is not worrisome enough, INEC has in its own independent report, published on its website, noted that about 50 attacks have been launched on its facilities from 2019 till date. The 50 attacks, according to INEC, occurred in 15 out of the nation’s 36 states, a development that has left many Nigerians wondering if the commission will be ready for the exercise in line with its electioneering timetable.

  In a tell-it-all conversation with Saturday PUNCH, former Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Lawrence Alobi, noted that the irreducible minimum expected of the outgoing administration is to do everything possible to deliver credible elections. To do this, the ex-police boss called for intensive training of security agents on election security, even as he called on sister agencies to assist the Nigeria Police in manning polling units across the federation during the exercise.

  He said, “The wish of INEC and every patriotic Nigerian is that the elections should hold in a peaceful and violent-free environment where people can exercise their franchise without any form of intimidation. Elections are all about democracy and good governance. When elections are peaceful, the electorate will be responsible when casting their votes and they are likely to be politically knowledgeable to elect leaders of their choice. When elections are not done in a credible manner, democracy is threatened.

  “President Muhammadu Buhari should know that this is a challenge he must address to bequeath a lasting legacy to Nigeria. He has promised Nigeria, the United Nations and the rest of the international community that he will conduct credible and transparent elections. He can do this only if he has the political will.”

  According to the retired former police officer, the political will entails that “all security agencies should be mobilised and trained on election security management. There should be collaboration among the security agencies with the police as the lead agency. They (security agencies) should be neutral in their responsibility and say no to violence, vote-buying and election rigging.”

  While calling for a replication of the 1993 presidential election won by the late billionaire businessman, Moshood Abiola, Alobi charged citizens to collaborate with security agencies in the maintenance of law and order before, during and after the elections.
  punch

There’s been so much hoolabaloo on Tinubu’s visit to Chatham House and I’m still wondering why.

Several takes have come out of the visit and the visit is still the talk of the town even 48hrs after. Yet, PDP candidates held a reunion of aspirants at Arise TV debate to discuss what they plan to do should they become president and none of them could come up with anything meaningful to warrant discussions or next day’s headlines. But all eyes are on Tinubu’s visit. What more indication do we need to know Tinubu is the man to beat?

Issues came up about him delegating members of his team to respond to some questions. I’ve not heard one person complain that the people he delegated couldn’t answer or did a bad job of it. The man has clearly exhibited once again as he did when he was governor of Lagos state that he’s a team player and everyone on board knows and understands the mission. This ought to be something commendable but “bad belle” won’t let them see straight.

Tinubu has once again from his visit, proven he’s a pacesetter. When I hear people complaining it’s never been done before to delegate another to answer a question. Now here it is; an African of Nigerian decent has come to UK to teach new ways. Why must we always do things the way it’s done by the colonial masters? Are we forbidden as Africans to be innovative to show new ways of doing things and be accepted? Why must everything be the white man’s way? Rather than extol this man’s virtue and his confident sense of innovation, we are shouting “kill him kill him “. If I wasn’t his supporter already, his performance at the Chatham House would have been for me a reason to convert.

What really is the grouse here? Many were waiting for a gaff or for him to say something they could joke about or for him to slip in his speech so they have something to laugh about, but they were all disappointed. The man gave an excellent speech with no hick up, and that was annoying so they latched on the fact he delegated some his responses.
They also failed to let us know he answered some questions. Could they fault his response about the diaspora voting? Did he not sound like a man obviously in the know of the challenges?
But that was ignored because it will be in Tinubu’s favour to admit that. He responded clearly about his background and has challenged them to come take his DNA. How about the insight he gave about the presidential candidate that’s been rumored not to be a Nigerian? That also didn’t make news. He was also clear when he said he knew politics is like playing in the dirt and he has accepted it’s nature but intends to come out top. That didn’t sound like a man without capacity.

Why must we always deride our best only to cry “had I known” later. We have lost many great men to this kind of shenanigans. Tai Solarin is a classic example. It was all about why he had always wore khaki but sold his soul because he wore people’s bank Ankara but forgetting his great achievements with the people’s bank or the leaders he raised at his Mayflower school. It was sad that a great man would be reduced by same people he was striving to help because of his choice of garment. Are we really truly okay as a people?

In spite of the wonderful submissions by Tinubu in his speech and the fantastic road maps he drew, we beclouded ourselves and serious minded citizens with how come he delegated a response. Were the responses we got cogent or flimsy?

I’m quite delighted that for a man they claimed is senile, has gone to Chatham House to show the oyinbos that there are many ways to skin a cat and not necessarily their old ways. I dare say in the nearest future, this will become a trend and many leaders won’t shy away from Chatham House invites, knowing there’s no law to compel them to speak English or have to respond directly. What if Tinubu had opted for an interpreter? Would it have made any difference?
Why must we always crucify our true and genuine leaders in the name if envy?

—Austine Eneduwa-George,
Member, APC PCC Committee on Grassroots Engagement and Mobilization

The Civil Liberty Advocates of Nigeria (CLAN) has noted with alarm the continued killing of innocent Nigerians in the southeast of the country by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) linked terrorists of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) operating under the franchise of Unknown Gunmen as we have now concluded true Nigerian patriots must be bold in condemning the criminal acts.

What we find more worrisome and more odious than the killings is the loud silence from the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, who has refused to categorically speak against the carnage that IPOB and ESN have unleashed in the southeast even when is arguably the most important person from the geo-political zone to weigh in on the matter on account of his current political enterprise.

It is on account of this that the expectation among right thinking members of the society is that Mr. Obi would have by now roundly condemned the wanton waste of human lives by the terrorists under the pretext of agitating for self-determination, which actually undermines the Labour Party candidate’s interest since he can only become president of a united Nigeria and not one fractured into ethnic enclaves as his kinsmen are agitating for.

In our view, irrespective of the political sensitivity associated with calling out those behind this wanton waste of human lives, Mr. Obi’s refusal to swallow the bitter pill and demand an end to the killings by IPOB/ESN is a red flag that we are not taking lightly. The implication of his deafening silence is that he would be nonchalant when IPOB/ESN take their killings to other parts of Nigeria under his watch as president, assuming he was so elected.

CLAN has carefully evaluated Mr. Obi’s indifference to the killing of Nigerians by these terrorists in the southeast and have concluded that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Labour Party candidate to justify that he does not endorse the criminality of IPOB/ESN on account of ethnic sympathy because his stance on them or lack of it defies logic. From all indications, the terrorists interpret Mr. Obi’s failure to censure them as encouragement to harm more people.

The lame excuses some of his associates have put up on his behalf are not tenable. For instance, arguing that there are terrorist killings in other geo-political zones is not contextually similar to what is going on in the southeast; the terrorists operating in the northeast and northwest have been the subject of denouncement and condemnation by some prominent politicians and influential people from these areas, who took such bold steps even when the perpetrators are of the same ethnic and sectarian stock as them. Besides, the terrorists in these other instances are acting on the basis of extremism and not separatism as is the case with IPOB.

We find it tragic that because of Mr. Obi’s silence on this matter there are now insinuations that he has failed to properly respond to the threat posed by IPOB/ESN because the terrorists have collapsed the political wings of their organizations into his OBIdient movement. The explanation from those holding this view is that IPOB’s hostile anti-Nigeria rhetoric have grown silent as such vituperations are now the hallmark of members of the OBIdient movement, some of whom are known IPOB online propagandists before their new roles as campaigners for the Labour Party candidate.

CLAN therefore insists that Mr. Peter Obi’s silence on the killing of Nigerians in the southeast is no longer golden. We therefore demand that Mr. Obi calls IPOB and ESN to order to stop killings of innocent Nigerians, including his kinsmen and people of other sectarian and ethnic affiliations. He must speak out and not be a hypocrite.

–Maxwell John Eche,
Executive Director, CLAN

By Silas Momoh

At all levels of the Nigerian federation, the Constitution thrust the management of security of lives and property on the president, governors and local council leaders.

Specifically, Article II of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria vested the executive power of the state in the governor and charges them with the execution of state law. In view of the foregoing, the primary responsibility of any governmemt is first the security of lives and property.

The current administration in Kogi State, under the leadership of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, inherited a state that is divided into religious, tribal, and class lines, which culminated in a lot of security concerns. He inherited a state where division, oppression, deprivation and injustice were the order of the day.

In terms of geography, Kogi is not only the hinge that holds the southern and northern parts of Nigeria together, Lokoja, the state capital, occupies an enviable place in the historical trajectory of Nigeria, having  served as the first administrative capital of Nigeria.

Still standing on Mount Party, 1500 feet above the sea level, is the First Governor General Lord Lugard’s Guest House, where the British Journalist with Times of London, Flora Shaw, suggested in a newspaper article, that the place around the River Niger be named Nigeria.

Also, not only is the state a melting pot of the Nigeria nation, it is bordered by nine states of Nigeria. The states of Edo, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Ekiti, Benue , Kwara, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory borders Kogi. This scenario and it’s delicate ethnic balance make Kogi vulnerable to all manner of crimes and criminality.

True to expectations, Kogi became the epicenter of security concerns. In fact, pre 2015, all the three senatorial districts became a hot bed for kidnapping, political thuggery, armed robbery, youth cultism, herders-farmers clash, ethnic clashes, Boko Haram terrorism  etc. Criminals had field day because of its accessibility through multiple points.

At the time, Kogi was daily in the news for every wrong reason.  The government at the time was overwhelmed and helpless as security agencies could practically do nothing to remedy it. Kogi was a lucid example of a near-failed territory. Not to mince words, Okene, one of the major towns in the state used to be the operational base of ISWAP and other criminal elements.

Then comes Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, a youngman considered by the political establishment as an underdog, lacking experience, guts and clout. Frankly speaking, many political leaders underrated him. Some even derided him to his face. As at the time he was sworn-in be on 27 January, 2016, some pundits and political bookmakers gave him six months to wear out.

Bello first took his battles to two purveyors of conflicts: the traditional Institutions and politicians. He sounded a clear note of warning to the traditional rulers, mandating them to do everything to secure their domain, while vowing not to spare them, if they are found culpable of fomenting troubles.

He also read a riot act to politicians in the State, that irrespective of their political persuasions, the heavy and long arms of the law will not spare anyone, found to be involved in act that could cause crisis in the State. This strategy worked like magic. Since then, many local council leaders, traditional rulers have paid prices for security breaches in their  domains.

Less than three months after he took office, the tides began to turn.Those who had earlier underated him began to feel the heat. Those who think that they owned the State and that without them, nothing can work became jittery. Even criminal gangs, who were celebrating because a supposed inexperienced governor had emerged began to adjust.

Two things worked effectively for Governor Bello: the purity of his motives was not in doubt and courage to dare the powers behind the criminal enterprise in the State. He drew the red line for those who cared to take him serious. He began tightening the noose around kidnappers. His team went all out for their establishments. Their hideouts were invaded. Any house, suspected to belong to a kidnapper or kidnapping gang, were pulled down under his supervision.

One of the problems with fighting criminals in Kogi State before Bello, was the lack of courage to met out punishment to apprehended culprits. Bello’s style has no regard for sacred cows.  Soon,  the young men, who had settled in the believe that crimes pays faster than hard work, realised that they are out of  jobs. They were put to flight. They dispersed in all directions to the bordering States. Suddenly, huge relief began to  permeate the land.

Okene that was the den of ISWAP, soon came under Bello’s artillery. That’s where he hailed from but the heavy hand with which he descended on criminal hideout there, sent a clear message to the undesirable elements that the honeymoon was over. Having  successfully set example with his own people, it wasn’t difficult for other area to ‘get sense.’

Apart from motivation for security agencies in the frontline, with logistic and other supports, the Kogi Government in partnership with the Nigeria Police Force also established two Mobile Police Squadron Bases along Obajana-Kabba road and in Okene. He also facilitated the location of a Naval Base in Lokoja, established to ensure adequate security of the waterways in the confluence state.

He personally commissioned the Nigeria Navy Ship Lugard and Navy Barracks.

In recognition of Governor Bello’s astounding performance in the security sector, he has been honoured with several prestigious awards from around Nigeria and beyond, amongst which is: President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, 21 October, 2022, at the presidential villa, Abuja, honoured him with a distinguished Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service.

One of Nigeria’s leading newspapers, Blueprint, honoured Bello at it’s 2021 Annual Public Lectures and Impact Series/Awards, the award was in recognition of his “outstanding leadership qualities and decisive handling of the security situation in the state.”

Also, the Nigerian Police honoured Bello for his unparalleled achievements in securing Kogi, the only State in Nigeria, that borders about 10 States.

He also won the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) ‘Torch bearer of Security’ award.

Similarly, the Association of Nigerians in Diaspora, bestowed its “Icon on Security” award on Governor Yahaya Bello in 2021.

Given the prevailing peace in Kogi state today, at a time other parts of Nigeria is in security turmoil, we can only but say thank you to Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, for that will serve as spring under his feets to do more.

—Momoh is a security expert based in Idah.

By Usman Audu

The White Lion, as Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello is fondly called, has four things as his work tools: diplomacy, emotional inteligence, courage and influence. These has helped him to dare and conquer on many fronts.

The Wednesday’s announcement, that Kogi, for the first time, has received it’s share of monthly 13 percent derivation, during the weekly State Executive Council meeting at the Lugard House, Lokoja, closes an epic story of governor’s unparalleled and deft power of diplomacy, leadership acumen and emotional inteligence.

Though Governor Bello’s serial leadership wins had for umpteenth time, proven that wisdom is better than strength, the latest development marks the end of history in the evolution of Kogi’s trajectory. This is because, most likely, no event in the future can be more than enlistment of Kogi as an Oil producing State.

With this latest feat, Bello has once again demonstrated what’s possible, where a leader thinks transgenerstional  possibilities; where a leader prioritises common good above pedestal and narrow interests.

Bello’s foray into politics didn’t mean much to many at inception. But as the old saying goes, time is the revealer of truth. As time goes by, it has become clear that Bello was on a divine mandate to fix and give Kogi back to Kogites. This is what the latest development underpines.

Those who saw nothing good with anything he does before, now celebrate, throwing him Toscanini complement “tenacious in battle, wise in councel and magnanimous all round victory.

In retrospect, Kogi’s journey to Oil Producing Status was characterised by tears, blood and sweat of the people of Ibaji, who daily laid down their lives to ensure that Kogi’s boundary to Ibaji flank, is not lost to Anambra state. Until Bello’s era, successive administrations in the State merely paid lip service to Ibaji plight and the brazen denial of Kogi state of what rightfully belongs to it.

However, with Bello’s ascendence in 2015, the struggle received renewed zest and impetus. Seeing the complication in the Kogi/Anambra contestation for the large shunk of the Oil deposit, Bello immediately oiled and deployed his power of diplomacy and emotional intelligence. Under Nigeria’s government structure, the authority to determine who gets what, where, when and how in terms of resources lays with the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation Development and Fiscal Commission (RMADFC). Thank goodness that Bello is not new to RMADFC, as he has had stint with the revenue. allocating Commission during his time in the public service.

The Agasa born politician realised early in his political journey, that though, no one fectches water because he/she wants to wash the cheek but it’s through the influence of the face.’ An African saying has it that, “a child who washes his hands clean, will eat with the elders.” Not undereatimating the power of influence and association, Bello began to positioned himself to court the admiration of who’s is who in the Nigerian polity. I stand to be corrected, today, there’s no cross generational politician like Governor Bello. He has successfully earned the trust of the older generation and court the admiration of the youth belt. In order words, Bello is a generational bridge of today.

Leveraging on this goodwill, the governor has attracted unphantomable development to the Confluence State. From federal government projects to interventions from World Bank and other multilateral institutions. A time-tested saying goes: ‘the taste of a pudding is in the eating”. Elsewhere, leadership exists in theory but the Governor Bello led Kogi State, leadership is with demonstrable results. That’s why the foes and critics of Bello School of leadership are having their tails between their legs. Because they mocked and underrated his capability from inception. Today, evidence is the end of arguments.

One remarkable leadership lesson to take home from Governor Bello is noiseless impacts. Doing so much, yet making little noise. For him, let the people judge. Or better still, “if the clouds gathers and the blind man does not see, he can certainly not deny it, when starts raining. For instance, he has been following up on commencement of payment of 13 percent derivation to Kogi, albeit, without fuss, now that the meal is ready, even his critics cannot deny the aroma.

With the issue of 13 percent derivation done and dusted, comes the fear of Oil curse. One of the sore points of Oil discovery and exploration in Nigeria, is the inability, lack or unwillingness of the governing elites to make Oil wealth reflect in the economic wellbeing of the people and accelerated development of the country. One can without bathing an eyelid, vouch that Kogi will be different. Kogi’s example will be so real like that of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia etc. The reason for this broad optimism is based on Bello’s track records of entrenched probity and accountability in governance, for which he has been roundly commended and won many awards and commendation of the World Bank.

Let Kogi become the springboard for what good Oil money can do! Let the blood of Ibaji people, who died in this struggle not be in vain. Let Bello follow up with the setting up of Kogi Oil Producing Community Development Commission to accelerate the economic fortune of the area and Kogi as a whole.

In every steps of the way, Bello was never unmindful of the divine orchestration behind his emergence. Hence, he takes every decision as service and gratitude to God, to whom all power belongs.

The point those who criticised Bello from the onset missed was that, compassion for the people drives good leadership than long years of experience. When you have compassion and zeal to make things work and make life bearable for the people, nothing would be impossible for you. Its that passion that engendered the prevailing peace in Kogi State, despite bordering nine states of Nigeria and delicate ethnic balance. The spirit is the same. All appointees are held accountable for their actions and inactions. That’s why traditional leaders and local council leaders are the first line of accountability. In Bello’s political paradigm, ‘he who can hire can also fire, if a gap is noticed in expectations and delivery.

More than anytime in the history of Kogi State, no governmemt has made deliberate efforts to make youths centerpiece of societal transformation like Bello.

As Kogi joins Oil Producing States, it’s important, we assure Kogites that Bello posses the capacity to lay enduring foundation for optimal utilisation of the 13 percent derivation in such a way that Kogites and Nigerians in general will live to relish.

—Audu is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja.