I
congratulate your Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, on your pyrrhic election
victory as Governor of that land locked State; your victory, you will agree
with me is providential in the sense that someone with much more bigger clout
than you had to die for you to emerge!
That was simply the work of God.
Now
that you are there, I want you to know that Kogi State is blessed. But they have suffered considerably from bad
leadership.
Please
I like you to know quickly that am not from that State, but as a concerned
Nigerian who traverse that road enroute my native Edo State, I feel bad as I
negotiate the same sorry state of the road, over and over again – for years!
Having
witnessed the reign of the man popularly called “Ibro”, and his predecessor,
Idris Wada, both of whom left office without any direct impact on those roads,
I am really scandalized; they both received hefty federal allocation for twelve
years; and sadly for those twelve years, they never for once thought it fit to
remove bitterness from Kogites.
The
roads in question are the Kpaku – Inojioni road where you have the Enyindudu
Primary School; the Ogaminana – Inorere federal roads and the spot behind the
Ohinoyi Palace.
Your
Excellency, none of these roads are motorable!
When attempting to drive through, you either sit on the edge of your
buttocks or you close your eyes! They
are not what people should have in a civilized clime. The fact that they are still there more than
a decade since they went bad sends the wrong signals that we may have lost all
forms of human dignity!
Your
Excellency, as a frequent traveler, I had looked on with optimum that at least
“Ibro”, i.e. Idris Ibrahim would give the roads even if pretentious facelift; I
was wrong. He did Eight years, built his
private empire and left the roads in tragic conditions. He wouldn’t even expand the market road that
runs through the old Prison down to the Cemetery as narrow as it is and
dangerous. Heavy Duty vehicles get stuck
for hours and sometimes cause unexpected deaths.
Idris
Wada came and I prayed for his intervention.
My thinking was that this man whom newspaper adverts variously describe
as “Visionary”, “Go-getter”, “Messiah” would do the job. But he came and left without any provision
for the roads! Call it sheer wickedness
and you are right. When you get elected
as a democratic leader, it is based on Trust, loyalty and commitment; but
sadly, the picture being painted is that once elected, you go to the treasury
and “take-your-own”.
Your
Excellency, between the two of us, that’s murder, what prompted this letter was
last week I drove through that same road and flinched, cursed, gritted my
teeth. I never thought we would descend
to this level. But Kogi indigenes
appears benumbed already. They scale the
roads in their tens with Okada, Keke-Napep and whatever. They seemed not bothered. When I asked, their response was: “Na so we
see am”!
Your
Excellency, it is now your turn. I want
you to make the difference. I rather you
get the roads fixed than buy flashy cars!
That’s not life. How would those
cars perform in terrible roads? You have
a change to do what your predecessors never did; you have a chance to put smile
on the faces of Kogi State people. Don’t
let Party Chieftains convince you otherwise.
I know they hide behind the scene to lobby only for their voracious
pockets. Shun them, face your people; do
what is good for them. I want to pass
through that road by December and see the difference. Go ahead and do it. And receive the honour.
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