“What you do has far greater impact than what you say.”-Stephen Covey
By Ishaq Dan-Imam, Lokoja
As the famous American Leadership Expert, Warren G. Bennis, the founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, says, “Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality.”
This pithy aphoristic saying gives meaning to the leadership capacity of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, as the man in the saddle of leadership of Kogi State in nearly eight years of transformational leadership as evidenced in the plethora of development projects of monumental impact.
He is astute in the art of governance and political Leadership in a state known for its cultural plurality and complexity.
Justifiably, the efforts of Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration at agricultural transformation and the implications of the aggressive and sustained policy on food production to guarantee food security, lends credence to his leadership acumen. His administration’s resolve towards food Security; a significant mantra of the GYB administration in Kogi State, North Central Nigeria, has significantly improved agricultural production in the state.
This has brought about a plethora of verifiable projects in the agriculture sector and beyond.
Bello’s administration’s policy response to food security is in the areas of nutrition security, promotion of sustainable agricultural technologies, increased nutrition and building farmers’ resilience to shocks, arising from post flood losses.
The government’s investment in agricultural development as one of the key priorities of the administration, has brought to fruition a 571-hectre irrigation project at Omi Dam, Kogi West Senatorial District.
The project is designed to support massive food production with all-year-round farming in the area, where the GYB-led administration also built the Kogi Confluence Rice Mill.
The Rice Mill is perhaps the largest Rice Mill in North Central Nigeria. The factory mills large tones of rice grown in the area, and processes it with the attendant benefits to businesses within the rice value chain.
On 18th of October, 2020, Governor Bello’s administration distributed 100 tractors to some farmers at the Muhammadu Buhari Square, in Lokoja, the Capital of Kogi State. Since then, the tractors are being put to use to cultivate large hectres of arable land for crop cultivation across the state.
Available data on the state website (www.kogistate.gov.ng), show that the administration has in the past eight years established a bio-fuel factory and sugarcane plantation at Ibaji; Kogi Green House; Earth Ponds for fishery development; while 700 youths have been trained and mobilized in cassava production in Adavi; Okehi; Ibaji; Olamaboro; Dekina; Lokoja and Kabba-Bunu local government areas (LGAs).
According to the listings by Kogi State ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the administration has provided irrigation and fertilization solutions to 1,000 small landholders, provision of tillers and other agricultural technologies to the farmers in the state, in addition to the seasonal distribution of pesticides and the upgrade of the state agricultural training centre at Ochaja to College of Agriculture.
Last year, the government empowered 150 local farmers with various sums of money through the office of Kogi State Governor as start ups, as an encouragement to commercial agriculture.
In the area of state counterpart funding to agricultural partnership projects, the administration of Yahaya Bello has made prompt payments to international donor agencies and development partners such as the World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to implement the Appeals project with bearing on agriculture finance, which supports the state food sufficiency drive.
In August, 2023, Kogi State Government performed the inauguration of the construction of market infrastructure for farmers and women in the agrarian community of Oke-Ofin, in Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of the state.
Commodor Jerry Omodara (rtd), an indigene of the community, says traders come from the northern parts of the country to load yams and other farm produce without necessary market infrastructure like stalls and warehouse, which the state government has now provided to the farming community.
Governor Bello’s administration in partnership with IFAD under its Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), funded the market projects to facilitate seamless marketing of agriculture commodities in the Oke-Ofin commodity market.
State Programme Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP, Dr Stella Adejoh, says the market at Oke-Ofin, was built to improve the livelihood of the people of the community aimed at reducing poverty among the rural farmers and ensure food security.
The leader of the market women traders association, Mrs Funke Joseph, says:
“Market infrastructure is one of our major needs in this community because we are farmers and business women, but we have no suitable market infrastructure before the joint intervention of Governor Bello and IFAD.
“We are very grateful to the governor and the IFAD/VCDP intervention that solel improve our standard of living,” Mrs Joseph, says.
In the area of child nutrition, which is closely related to food security, the administration has excelled with the building of the state ‘Nutrition House’ in support of the ‘Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria’, ARIN project of the World Bank which supply nutrition supplements and other supports to women.
The project, which currently runs in Kogi State, Kwara, Oyo, Nasarawa, Niger, Kano, Katsina, and Plateau states, is domiciled at the state Ministry of Health in Lokoja.
Aside this project in the health sector, the administration has provided so many health infrastructure including the remodeling, renovation, and upgrade of health facilities at Okehi, Okene, Ajaokuta, Olamaboro and Ofu LGAs at the grassroots level of health care.
Bello health care plus is a maternal and newborn health intervention programme designed to provide free healthcare for indigent citizens in the state. Many indigent citizens of Kogi State are beneficiaries of the scheme.
Disability Inclusion
Much more than previous administrations in the state since creation, the Bello administration has indeed given hope to the neglected community of People With Disabilities (PWD). Today, PWDs fair better under the GYB administration in comparative terms as they now have a government agency of their own responsible for their social needs.
The creation of Kogi State Disability Affairs Office by the administration greatly delights the PWDs. The agency provides the PWDs in the state access to social welfare and social justice through the instrumentality of government. The agency in relative terms gives persons with disabilities in Kogi State a sense of relief as its establishment came to the Disability Community as a big surprise. Comrade Solomon Yahaya, State chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPID), says, the Disability Affairs Office, “is a source of pride and fulfilment to the PWD population in the state.”
Ten PWDs have been given appointments as Senior Special Assistants (SSA), Special Assistants (SA) to the governor on disability matters, Board Chairman and two others as board members. Equally, there are three PWD Supervisory Councillors appointed by Governor Bello through executive fiat for the love and interest of the PWDs in order to give them the desired political inclusion in line with the ruling APC manifesto.
Ganiyu Rufai, Kabiru Omele Oseni, now serve the state as political aids to the governor on disability matters as they now exercise authority in the discharge of their responsibility as government appointees. Hassan Amadu, an amputee in his 40s, serves in executive council of Ankpa local government area as a supervisory Governor Bello’s administration brings life to the downtrodden.
In the last mass teachers recruitment in the state, a sizeable PWDs applicants were offered teaching jobs and they are now serving the state at different secondary schools where they impart knowledge to students.
Of course, Governor Bello’s gesture seems to be a good beginning for the PWDs in the state as more PWDs now hope for political appointments from Bello’s administration and possibly the next administration, after Bello’s exit from power. Governor Bello has done the utmost best for this category of deprived Nigerians.
The GYB administration has fully set the stage for the PWDs to gain more opportunities in terms of political appointments in the governance of the state as Robert M. Hensel, says, “There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more,” while Francis Bacon, says, “We rise to great heights by a winding staircase of small steps.” The philosophy of these maxims suggest that a lot more can be achieved looking at a bigger picture of political inclusion in Kogi State and even beyond.
Comrade Yahaya however sings the praises of the governor’s uncommon commitment to the disability inclusion.
“Much as we appreciate the governor’s kind gesture, we earnestly plead with the Governor to ensure the upgrade of the Disability Affairs Office to a commission and sign into law, the state disabilities law earlier passed by the state assembly before Governor Bello leaves office as Governor,” Yahaya pleads.
In the works and Housing sector, Bello’s administration has carried out massive construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation and repairs of both urban and rural road network spanning thousands of kilometers.
According to the state ministry of works and Housing, about 300 network of roads including intra-city and feeder roads across the state have been rehabilitated to provide the road infrastructure for agricultural enterprise.
The roads now ease the movement of farm produce from the rural to urban markets.
The positive developments in the health and works sectors directly impact on the agricultural transformation of the administration as the sectorial performances of these critical sectors are the enablers of agricultural growth and productivity, positive transformation and over all economic prosperity of the state since these key sectors are interdependent.
Data from Kogi State statistics board show that the impacts of these transformation in the agriculture sector have led to increase in food production and agricultural productivity, thereby giving a boost to food security in the state as governor Bello had maintained that food security is the panacea for national security.
These are parts of the efforts of Governor Bello’s administration towards addressing the prevailing challenges of food security in the state as Kogi State Agricultural Development Project (Kogi ADP) says,
“The impacts of these policy measures on agricultural productivity and growth, reflects improvements in farmers’ production efficiency and technological progress.”
According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), “Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food Security.”
Food Security, as defined by the United Nations’ committee on world food security, “Means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meet their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.”
These variables, according to Hon. Imam Salih, and Pastor Solomon Musa, underscore, “The need for the APC government in the state to sustain the gains recorded under the Yahaya Bello APC administration as the APC Governorship Candidate, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, is much more familiar with the policy direction of the current administration, as one of the egg-heads in the Bello’s administration, likely to achieve sustainability in the government’s food sufficiency programme, anchored on the national food Security agenda of the governing APC in Nigeria.
Salih, says “Like the popular word of wisdom, Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice,” because in his opinion, food security is a human right issue that should be addressed in a holistic manner.”
Gov. Bello’s achievements as Decisive factor for Succession Bid of Ododo
In the words of famous American Writer and political Commentator, Walter Lippmann, “The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.”
Governor Bello’s support to the succession bid of Ododo Ahmed Usman, as Gov. Bello’s successor in office come November 11, is neither ill-conceived nor misguided. Be that as it may, the substance of Lipmann’s aphorism in this context may have some relevance to our political thinking. After all, in politics, interest defines every political action or decision of leaders.
Ododo’s adorable personality, and deep sense of fairness in politics, is a saleable part of his political credentials we are all proud of as a people united by common destiny.
A Hard-headed appraisal of his public service records, has proven to Kogians that Ododo is a hard-nosed public servant who is completely meticulous in his approach to pragmatic politics. His admirable personality and high-spirited posture to public good and meritorious service to the state and our great party over the years, have made his candidature quite attractive, acceptable and a worthy political venture to the APC stakeholders in Kogi state, which is why party members sing and dance the song of Ododo sloganeering in their political preoccupation.
The substance of the above maxim again gives reasonable credence to the political thought of Governor Yahaya Bello in this regard.
Governor Bello’s monumental achievements in all sectors and the overall impact of the multi-sectoral transformation on development of the state and its people, will positively enhance the chances of Ododo’s candidacy in the forthcoming November gubernatorial election in Kogi state as the choice now lies in the hands of Kogi citizens to choose their next Governor out of free will.
Like Brian Tracy said, “leaders are innovative, entrepreneurial, and future-oriented. They focus on getting the job done.” Indeed, Governor Bello has done the job of building Kogi state. GYB in his own time, and in his own way, has laid the foundation for future growth of Kogi state with focus on the future prosperity of Kogi state as his legacies are indeed, on the sand of time for posterity.
