When he first assumed office as Kogi State governor, expectations were high that as a youth, he was going to really going to be an ambassador of peace and development.
But Bello’s four years was a disaster. While the first tenure lasted, many groaned in pain and gnashed their teeth. As a result of unpaid monthly salaries to civil servants, some workers died in penury, families got destabilised and many children whose parents were civil servants dropped out of school.
The situation in Kogi was so bad that many residents were so sure that if the November off-season gubernatorial election were allowed to be credible, Bello would not return as the governor. But against all permutations, he returned, anyhow.
Bello’s misgovernance was not hidden. It was glaring even to the blind, so glaring that many chieftains of his party with conscience believed he had no business going back, but because they did not want the state to go to another party, Bello was given huge support even from the seat of power in Abuja to make a forceful return. Before the election; a member of the party’s apparatchik had to kneel down begging Kogites to have mercy on Bello and give him a return opportunity.
And so, Bello came back. While swearing in his commissioners on Wednesday, Bello urged them to be accessible to the people. Many of those who heard him began to ask “what happened?” They doubted the sincerity in his voice and concluded he was merely acting. “Reach out, be accessible, approachable and serve the people with humility,” he said.
You know in Nigeria, politicians are the greatest actors, not those in the Nollywood. In his first term, Bello treated Kogi people with distain.
He believed he was all that mattered in the state. He tolerated no one, especially those who spoke out against his mis-governance.
Today, he is preaching tolerance and ordering members of his cabinet to make themselves accessible to the people. Is this for real? Recall that he engineered the impeachment of his deputy simply because the man didn’t like his ways. Is it possible that this leopard will change its spots? Days ahead will tell.
