2023 Presidential Election; Why Nigeria Deserves to Have Governor Yahaya Bello For A Secured Nation »

By Abdulmumuni Danga

The Unity and Peaceful cohesion of Nigeria is seriously being threatened by the high level of insecurity Challenges confronting us as a Nation.

One critical issue that we as Nigerians should ponder upon as we move towards the 2023 general election is who should take over the mantle of leadership from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria as a nation has been through series of events, the good, the bad and the ugly, and many citizens in our usual blame games believe that the leadership of the government of the day at the National level has a lot of questions to answer especially in the area of insecurity, a foremost challenge confronting us as a nation.

Little did they realise that the government is a product of the people and it’s the same people, “the bad heads, not foreigners, that are responsible for the breakdown of the security architecture in our dear country.

Nigeria is not under any attack from any foreign body, we are the ones fighting ourselves. And the fact remains that the current state of security in Nigeria did not just start under the present administration of Mr President!
No, it’s an age long problem that was not well handled and managed by successive governments until it deteriorated to the current level.

Therefore putting all blames on government without making individual and collective efforts to assist the government is a mere noise in the market. Security is everybody’s business and our support and encouragement would remain a key role in the efforts to overcome all of these challenges. Be it Insurgency, Banditry, Kidnapping, and the rest of it.

Graciously, we can not shy away from the fact that the government of President Mohamudu Buhari has made laudable and significant progress in the security sector especially in the fight against insurgency because in the last few years we have been celebrating Christmas and New Year festivities without any incidence of attack on worship Center across the country which is a good departure from the harrowing experience of the past and a laudable feat that needs to be improved upon by the incoming administration.

But still, more worrisome is the fact that Nigeria’s major challenge at this point in the life of our nation is the alarming rate of insecurity and this critical factor alone should form the basis of, assessment, endorsement and electing the next President of Nigeria among other criteria for elections. Because without security, development would remain a mirage.

Therefore Nigerians and indeed Nigerian youths need to look inward and examine candidates with proven records of impactful leadership to take over the mantle of leadership from President Mohammudu Buhari come 2023.

Talking about a vibrant leader with an overwhelming record of achievement especially in the area of security, only one name often comes to mind and it is no other than Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.

Governor Bello’s records of achievement in providing security for lives and property in kogi state is second to none.

Given the fact that Kogi State shares borders with about nine States of the Federation, namely: Benue, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa, Enugu, Edo, Anambra, Ekiti, and the Federal Capital Territory, and all of these States have their varying degrees of security issues yet Kogi State is still being considered and rated as the most secured state in Nigeria. This simply means that the Governor is doing something spectacular which needs to be replicated at the National Level.

Several awards of recognition from the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other security agencies are tributes to the great works of Governor Bello in the field of security.

The latest of the recognitions came from a veritable group of professionals, who are ordinarily the first line of actors when it comes to security matters – the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria.

The association, which is the body of journalists covering security nationwide, honoured Governor Bello as patron of CRAN – the investiture is one of the most prestigious and reputable positions in the crime journalists’ hierarchy

Prior to January 2016, Kogi State was an arena of everything criminal and insecurity. The state was termed as the gateway of violence to the north and south.

The insecurity was creepy enough that it deteriorated the socio-economic value of the state. The Confluence State was at an all-time low during the period.

But like the biblical never-saddled colt prepared for the Messiah’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a young Governor Yahaya Bello, assumed leadership of the state six years ago and changed the narratives of insecurity and crime in the state, just within months of assuming the reins of power.

Right before the eyes of citizens of the state, the harrowing tales of kidnappings, banditry, terrorism and robbery bedevilling Kogi State, gradually fizzled away, and it was done with little or no fanfare, just by determination and applying the appropriate strategies.

Aside from creating an all-encompassing security template that even coalesced citizens into the strategic tactics, the Chief Executive of the Confluence State, also declared full-blown war on armed robbers and other criminals operating in the state by going after known but previously ‘untouchable’ crime kingpins and eventually demolishing their hideouts.

Apparently, most of the heinous crimes are committed in rural areas and in view of this; the Kogi State Government in collaboration with the Federal Government trained 441 Special Constabulary Police at the Nigerian Police Training College, Ilorin.

The Special Police have been assisting the conventional police in information gathering and prevention of crime across the 21 local government areas of the state. Not aware that his impactful strides are being noticed, Bello started receiving accolades and awards in their multiples recognizing him as the best governor in security affairs in the country.

Based on available statistics and reports around the country, Kogi State has consistently remained the safest in the North and one of the safest today in Nigeria, owing to the sound security strategies of the governor.

Another commendable security intervention by Governor Yahaya Bello is the recent arrest of all 25 armed robbery suspects who attacked a bank in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state is yet a new testament of the presidential aspirant who has demonstrated unimpeachable capacity to secure Nigeria given the strategic importance of security in national development.

As we move into 2022, Nigerians especially the younger generation must unite and fight for one common cause by taking up the challenge of securing the country through working for the realization of the presidential ambition of Governor Yahaya Bello come 2023.