Yahaya Bello: While It Is Day »

Not even sickness can prevent my monthly piece.

I have been a bit under the weather for about a week. This story, which I had started writing upon the happenings across the nation and Kogi state in particular in the past few weeks, has been sitting in my archives for about a week awaiting final touches. However, a serious bout of malaria and typhoid said otherwise and instead of releasing this piece on the 15th of August (as is my custom to release these pieces on the 15th of every month), I am dropping it today for your reading pleasure. As for the many people who called and texted to ask why they didn’t get any notification of my monthly piece, I need you to know that it means a lot to me.

You guys read my stuff and I love it.

Moving on.

If you read my articles often, you will know that I thrive on my message being easy to understand. To enhance this, I provide references that serve as the backdrop to the point I am trying to paint, with my entire article serving as the proverbial pot of rice, and the reference providing the desired stew. They both go together, and in the end, only those who have made up their minds to not see anything good with what is happening at the Confluence will claim not to have understood the gospel.

My reference today was drawn from John 9 verse 4.
The Bible says in that verse that “I must do the work of him that sent me while it is day”. While it is day.

While it is day.

I have come across that verse several times and it hardly caught my attention until a few weeks ago. It was trying to explain the urgency behind the fulfillment of a goal or a desire when you still have the opportunity. The word “day” contained in the sentence is a metaphor for the time in a man’s life when you can easily achieve your dreams and aspirations if you put your mind to it. There are things you will be able to do during the day that nightfall will disallow. In the same vein, an old man will not necessarily be pleased about fighting Anthony Joshua for one round, whilst a youthful person might relish the same bout. It is the reason why youthful people are often described as being at the peak of their lives whilst elderly people are often described as being in their twilight.

Time and seasons.

In essence, in this world which we have come into, it is very important to do things when you ought to do them else, you suffer regret. This rule can be applied in many sectors of life and still yield the same result. If you attend school when you should, you will be able to marry when you should and bear children when you should. Barring unforeseen circumstances, if you read, you should pass your tests and examinations. Except you are Manchester United, if you buy good players, you should be able to have a fine footballing season. These rules apply to almost very fruitful results in whatever aspect of life you apply them.

Why is it difficult to apply in Nigerian politics?

It is a wonder to me when things begin to happen and so many of our leaders simply give up on proffering immediate solutions until the case gets out of hand. We have witnessed it severally with economics, natural disasters, infrastructure decline, forex, healthcare, and insecurity. Many times, proactiveness might have solved an issue before it degenerates, but it has become one of the most discarded governing tools in this country. It is almost as if chaos is beneficial to some people in leadership positions.

Yahaya Bello does not think so.

A few weeks ago, Kogi suffered a couple of dastardly attacks that seemed to taint the flawless record Yahaya Bello had been recording in the arena of insecurity as long as the current Nigerian state is concerned. Unlike in other states where the Federal Government will have to be cajoled to come to their aid, residents of Kogi have grown accustomed to a Governor that nips things in the bud before it deteriorates. Within a week, the security architecture has been thoroughly beefed up, the criminals are being attacked before they plan other attacks and a series of crucial meetings with stakeholders concerned with the security of the lives and properties of the people have begun to yield fruitful results. Was that so hard to do?

While it is day.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire world was thrown into a quagmire of unimaginable proportions. Even the countries with the best health sectors were stretched to the limits, with many succumbing to the fact that a lack of proper planning and upgrading of the health sector had put humanity as a whole at risk. If the world were to be hit with another, much more terrible pandemic, the results thereafter might be shocking to witness. In Nigeria, many cried and wailed for assistance from foreign bodies, and whilst it came, the monies have simply sunk into the unknown territories of the human pockets. A typical Nigerian story, but for Kogi, it is different.

Yahaya Bello has invested heavily in the health sector, building a world-class General Hospital and EIGHT other hospitals in the Nine Federal Constituencies of Kogi state to accommodate any health issues and ensure that any sick person is within the shortest distance to proper healthcare delivery. Kogi’s medical tourism has jumped from the back of the line to the forefront as we speak. In a few years, it will be the desired location for whatever This is proactiveness at its peak.

He did it while it was day.

I can continue to make numerous examples of the benefits of how the proactiveness of the Kogi State Government under Yahaya Bello’s rule has continued to solve issues we thought would never let us be. By simply getting ahead of problems, it has become evident that what we always lacked was the lack of imagination amongst the people who have ruled us in the past.

Like John Maxwell once said, “If you’re proactive, you focus on preparing. If you’re reactive, you end up focusing on repairing.”

We are always reacting to things in Nigeria because our leaders are not proactive. It can be said in Insecurity, where the bandits are often allowed to commit a dastardly crime before being met with the full force of our security architecture. It is the same for the economy, where instead of getting ahead of the worldwide inflation, we allowed it to come to us and now we are suffering the dire consequences. Is it infrastructure? Disunity? Poverty? Sports?

Almost every Nigerian problem can be linked to a lack of early action.

Yahaya Bello represents the crop of emerging leaders that do not crave a stain on their record. Yahaya Bello does not desire it to be during his tenure that the economy will suffer a relapse, he embarks on stringent measures to put a stop to that. Yahaya Bello ensures that as long as he is Governor, Kogi will never be labeled as insecure. He guarantees that his government will never be known for a lack of payment of staff salaries, tribal warfare, religious imbalance, and strife.

He toiled during the day to ensure this became his story, and for that reason, the twilight of his government is witnessing a stark difference of excellence that only a handful of Nigerian governors can currently rival.

This is the sort of leadership that we, as Nigerians, must demand from those who rule and desire to rule us in the future. Nigeria will be great if we have the right leaders spearheading new techniques to solve preexisting issues.
It is not rocket science. It is simply proactiveness.

As for Yahaya Bello, his first foray into the deep seas of national politicking brought to the fore many important lessons. His next journey will be far more fruitful even as the Nigerian youth get more involved in the politics of Nigeria than ever before.
Nigeria will be great. With the right leadership, it will. With the right people leading us, we will prosper.

People like Yahaya Adoza Bello.

So shall it be.

Shalom.

Written by Sam Aina