The Sun Awards 2020 winners: Why Bello emerged »

According to Chidi Obineche of the Sun Newspaper, the year 2020 was a year of pain, scourge and deaths. The world stood in awe, sear and anguish. It was a year that saw the first-ever pandemic caused by a coronavirus.
Yes, in 2020, waves of gripping panic palpably seized the people. Lockdowns held sway. Businesses ebbed away. Life in itself strung on a kaleidoscope of despair. The big shrivelled and the small and weak panned away.
Interestingly, amidst the throbs of misery, depression and hell, came along men and women who waltzed through, brimming with excellence. They painted an ecstatic canvas of resilience. They forged a world of doggedness and forked out a resilient climate. They lit the way and soared to the mountain top.

They are the high-flyers, the winners of The Sun Awards, 2020. These exceptional Nigerians hugged the broad landscape of excellence, resilience and doggedness with a flourish. Like Eagles, they are far from the madding crowd. The best thrill and drama come in the rebound from the throes of incipient defeat to the glittering ring of the impetuosity of the gallant. From the alluring world of excellence, they stirred a rude awakening to resilience. And from the doggedness of their tour de force, a lease of hope is implanted

Examine Yahaya Bello, a young Turk and governor of Kogi State. Under the sun, he seized the imagination, carved out a panorama, built a niche in a troubled time. His dubiety, scepticism and non-conformist posture to the existence of the rampaging Coronavirus disease raised storms and tantrums.

His head was unbowed. He held the state aloft from the malady and sallied to a berth. In this thread are stimulating samplers that form a rare ingathering of strides in his governance of the state. What he has done to make his state safe is a study in strategy and determination.

This is one undeniable way anyone can describe His Excellency, Yahaya Bello.
While some states spent billions in the procurement of hand sanitisers, nose masks and the building of isolation centres that are currently abandoned amid the pandemic, Yahaya Bello declared a state of emergency on our health sector. By the end of this year, modern medical centres including the gigantic over 300-bed-space Reference Hospital Okene will be inaugurated at the cost of not less than ten billion nairas.

I have interacted with top government officials at the federal and other states in Nigeria who confirmed to me their admiration for governor Yahaya Bello as a true leader who is willing to stand alone even in the face of making unpopular decisions. They told me, with the aggressive panic and fear that heralded the COVID-19, more deaths would have been recorded in the absence of a leader like Yahaya Bello, stating that Bello did not stand to protect the people of Kogi alone but Nigerians and beyond.

Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State was recently adjudged as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, this does not happen by miracle. A certain Yahaya Bello is changing the status quo with a clear sense of urban renewal policy in addition to the peace and security his administration is providing.

It is common knowledge today that Kogi which was once a haven for Boko haram, kidnapping, armed robbery and other social ills is the safest state in Nigeria under the leadership of His Excellency Yahaya Bello. In today’s Kogi state, the youths and women who were hitherto denied political participation are at the centre stage of governance making impactful contributions to the socio-economic advancement of our state.

As a unifier and strong advocate of one-Nigeria, Bello has in his cabinet, appointees of Anambra, Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Borno, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Katsina, Edo and other states of origin serving in Kogi State.

This award to us will spur the bridge-builder His Excellency Yahaya Bello to do more.

By Onogwu Muhammed