AbdulAhad Otuoze
The Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has alleged that some state governors were playing politics with insecurity and other challenges confronting their states and that rather than shun the act, address the issue after escalating, they run to President Muhammadu Buhari for solutions.
Bello, who did not disclose the names of such governors, made the allegations while reacting to students and others abduction in Niger state during an interview on a popular talk show on Thursday
Bello said that except for few states, the maladministration currently ongoing in some states resulted in an increase in cases of insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping including the abduction of students, staff, and their families from Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State.
The governor’s allegation came less than 12 hours after the Niger State Governor, Sani Bello, and his Zamfara counterpart, Bello Matawalle, joined the league of governors that have visited the Aso Villa and held separate meetings with the President, seeking his support to address insecurity within their states.
While arguing that the strategy used to address security in some states could be adopted in others, he noted that even when the idea were shared at Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), some of the governors would not consider it a priority.
“Kogi State used to be a hotbed of criminals. Kogi State is a microcosm of Nigeria but I have put a stop to communal clashes and farmer-herder clashes and all of that,” he said.
According to him, NGF is a forum for governors to compare review mechanisms but, however, the experience you share in the NGF, will depend on the priority of each and every one of us. I must say straight away that there are some of us that are more serious on our jobs than the others.
“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”.
The governor also took a swipe at his counterpart in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, describing his actions on the clashes recorded in Shasha community, Akinyele Local Government, Ibadan as an act of maladministration and insensitive to the peoples’ plight.
“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 reason 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 for 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.
“For crying out 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.”
End.
