By Wilfred Eya
Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yayaya Bello has given reasons why he is the right person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. At a recent ‘Second Annual GYB Seminar for Nigeria’s Political and Crime Correspondents’ in Abuja, he spoke on various issues while responding to questions by participants.
Nigeria is currently plagued by insecurity and most of the citizens are facing existential threats. What are you going to do differently to secure Nigeria if you become the next President?
I will start from where I am so as to look into where I want to be or what we should expect when I become the Commander in-Chief. You will recall that Kogi State used to be the crisis capital of this country before our administration came on board, but today, the reverse is the case. One of the key elements of this widely talked-about achievement was that I refused to politicize the security of the state. Take it from me today and I won’t mince words, President Muhammadu Buhari is a man who loves truth and reality. He loves those who tell him the truth at all times.
He is my president, my father and our leader. At all times, I always tell him whatever I observed. Mr President loves this country. No past leader loves this country more than Mr President. Let me mention some of his achievements. I’m sure we wouldn’t have gathered here if it were in 2014/2015 because of insecurity especially in Abuja and even in the North-East. At a point, we were even afraid in Lagos because of possible bombing. But that is no longer happening again.
Number two, this insecurity of a thing is not the making of Mr President, even though we shouldn’t pass the buck because that is why he came on board or we all came on board. It is a successive failure of various past administrations and let me remind us once again that certain military and police hardware were last purchased by the administration of President Shehu Shagari; even crash helmets.
After the detonation of bombs at Ejigbo, did Nigerians ask whether those arms and ammunitions that detonated and killed people were replaced? They were purchased by certain people. Have we ever asked whether they were replaced since then? Now, after the various decays of arms, Mr President spent a lot of money to replace some of them. Boko Haram has been pushed to their enclaves even though we are still having some of these existential challenges of kidnapping and different attacks but let me tell you, Mr President will not sit in the Villa and use AK-47 to protect people.
But he is the Commander-in-Chief and should be held responsible…
Yes, he is the Commander-in-Chief, but Mr President will not sit in the Villa and also be the one to form guards and protect people on my roads in Kogi. You see, some of these crimes that we see today are more than the way we are looking at them on the surface. Yes, there are some lapses on the part of state officials, but you can ask yourself when last did the police or military really get any training, equipped, their welfare and what have you. It was during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that allowances and salaries were reviewed so many times. Even down to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) allowances were also reviewed.
Let me tell you, I will never come out here and point out the failures of Mr President, I will never do that. Whenever I observed any loopholes or lapses, it is between myself and President Buhari. I will never be that governor that will come here and tell you that President Muhammadu Buhari has not come to secure my state, did not come to secure my schools or highways, I will not do that. That is why as the Chief Security Officer of Kogi State, I ensured that I brought the rate of crime down more than it was before in my state. And Mr President is assisting me to succeed in that area and I’m sincere about fighting crime and criminality in Kogi.
If each and every one of us as chief executives is doing our job the way it should be, Mr President’s job would have been reduced drastically.
But you know what, as the next Commander-in-Chief by the special grace of God, I will ensure every chief executive of various security units sit up and do their jobs. I will not tolerate any lackadaisical attitude or passing the buck to the centre. I will ensure that the various units are strengthened, so that they can take responsibility for whatever happens in their states.
Don’t you think technology is the way out from this recurring insecurity issues in the country?
I agree that technology needs to be deployed and embedded in our security architecture. And I can tell you that Mr President is doing his best to ensure that technologies are deployed. But you see, majority of some of these crimes we face today are politically motivated especially the recent ones we are witnessing. Issues of security can never be discussed in the public else you expose the country to danger. Sometimes, the way and manner the press or the people want issues of security to be discussed outside, we can’t do that as security officials or commander in-chief because sometimes we see some crimes taking place or certain insecurity taking place but what has been done to mitigate those incidents are in multiples of what we see happening out there.
And no government will come out and tell you that one particular big man has been called to order or certain IEDs or plans to attack and disrupt the society has been foiled. What I’m saying is that reporting all the threats or information about insecurity would frighten society and that is the reason why nobody really wants to come out. In fighting insecurity, there are so many things underground that no responsible government would come out to report to the public. Let’s get that in mind. I agree with you that a lot still needs to be done.
As the Commander-in-Chief, I will give responsibility. If I give you a task, I will monitor you and supervise you. I will give you credit when you perform and at the same time, I will punish you if you don’t do your job. In Kogi State, I ensured that every citizen is a law enforcement agency of themselves. They are intelligence agencies unto themselves.
The police, the army and all other law enforcement agencies you see in Kogi State are not manufactured or imported. We didn’t import them outside to come and secure Kogi State. They are still the same Nigerian Police, the same Nigerian army, the same Nigerian Navy, the same Nigerian DSS or Civil Defence. But because we as a people have chosen to live in a peaceful environment because we as a government opened our books, we make sure that we brought the government to the people, they own it and they decided to protect the government and secure themselves.
That is why any crime that takes place in Kogi State in less than 24 hours, we don’t just detect it, we make sure we bring them to justice. There are so many things that take place that everybody would not know but what is important is to let our people be secure and live in peace. I will tell you that Mr President, like I said, is a man that accepts and believes in truth.
Can you share some of the instances where you spoke with Mr. President on issues of national importance and what was his response?
Aside from the issues of insecurity, which I will not disclose to you, let me tell you one thing that I once discussed with Mr President. It is a secret and he didn’t ask me to tell you but I will tell you.
And of course, before I will tell you, you know it is an open secret and it is to tell you that Mr President is not someone that you would be afraid of telling the truth. When COVID-19 started, before I came out to say that I don’t want COVID-19 in Kogi State, I sat down with Mr President and we discussed it. And I told him that I do not believe in COVID-19. I told him what will happen if he keyed into the COVID business and all of them happened. Mr President believed me and urged me to go and secure my state and prevent COVID-19 from coming to Kogi State because that is my immediate responsibility.
I returned to Kogi State and prevented COVID-19 and COVID-19 business from coming into Kogi State. And everything I envisioned about COVID-19 happened, including the mismanagement of resources and all the attendant hardship. The point I’m trying to make is that Mr President is someone that welcomes any idea or criticism likewise the issue of insecurity. And that is why Mr President has that strong belief in me when the issue of a food embargo on this country came on board. He called me and said you are in the middle of this country, you are the one that can speak the language of the multitude of Nigerians, you are the one that links the North and the South, you have a border almost across the six geo-political zones of the country with FCT border making it 10 borders. Nigeria is in real trouble, so do something as quick as possible, if possible within 48 hours to avert the crisis.
To the glory of God, within 48 hours, we spoke the language that the masses understand and today we are still living as a united Nigeria irrespective of the challenges or differences we are seeing today. So, that is the level of confidence and trust Mr. President reposed in me and that is exactly what I want to say.
We saw how the national convention of your party, the APC, was conducted and how the candidates emerged. If you are not the consensus candidate of the APC, what are you going to tell your supporters across the country?
I believe and I accept that I chaired the registration of youth and people living with disabilities in our party and till today I’m still the ambassador for youth and the younger generation in the party and in the government. They believe in me and that was why we were able to mobilize over 41 million Nigerians into our party and we are still counting. I’m sure you saw what happened last Saturday, April 2, when we declared publicly.
Again, APC is a party of peace. APC is the party that will produce the next government after President Muhammadu Buhari. APC would want to win all elections. APC is a party that is strategic. As a party, we must succeed. As a party, we must be solid. As a party, we need that person or leader with historic memory of the evolution of politics and governance in Nigeria. As such, we require such an experienced personality irrespective of where he or she comes from. I, therefore, don’t want to speak about zoning, what is important is that man who will be a leader and put the party ahead. And that quality was found in His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
And the party would not do anything that is going to disturb his emergence and to the glory of God, we had a rancour-free convention and we have a solid leadership ably led by Distinguished Senator Abdullahi Adamu. In order to come from North-Central, what we want is certain qualities to keep the party together. The party is more solid together to produce the next president, vice president, governors and all other political offices. If we had decided to go by sentiment, today we won’t be here discussing APC.
The wisdom of the leadership of the party under President Muhammadu Buhari and all of us the governors, leaders, members of the party, all keyed into that vision of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that such a quality personality takes charge of the party. That was in line with the constitution of our party, the electoral law and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, even though on the ground of the convention, some contestants decided to step down. Nobody was forced, nobody was arrested and I’m sure you have not forgotten so soon about a particular political party whose chairman was forced to resign at gunpoint. That did not happen in APC and it didn’t happen on the convention day to force anybody to step down. In fact, I know how many contestants approached me that they want to step down and they stepped down one after the other.
And some did not and election took place. The votes were counted and the results were declared in the same convention. That is the beauty of democracy.
Now, coming to the presidential election, APC would also win the next election. APC is a party that is in search of quality. APC is a party with nothing less than 41 million members. And APC is aware of that man who mobilizes 41 million members into the party and the mobilization or membership of the party cut across the six geo-political zones. And APC knows the body language of the nation today. APC is aware that the youth and women are clamouring for that person who is detribalized, who is coming to solve the insecurity challenges we are facing today.
They are aware that the man is coming to build on the modest achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari. They know who Nigerians are clamouring for and they know who is accepted both by the North and the South, both Muslims and Christians, even pagan or non-believers. They know that man that is coming to turn the fortunes of this country around. They know that man that can speak the language of the youth and the younger generation. And they know that man who has performed well in his state within the shortest possible time he is saddled with the responsibility.
If consensus is going to be the option, I don’t think APC would go outside Governor Yahaya Bello. And even if other considerations are put forward that are either indirect or direct primaries, Governor Yahaya Bello is the man to beat. I am confident and I trust God Almighty and trust the judgement of leadership and members of my great party, the All Progressives Congress. This time around is the time we must get over sentiments of where someone comes from. If today we are crying over the evils that are living in the country, yet, we still look at ourselves as different people, not Nigerians and we are still looking at ourselves as Muslims and Christians. And it is time to bridge that gap and cement that relationship and values that unite us more than what divides us. You have a man that has practised it and it has become part of our system in Kogi State and by the special grace of God, I have put myself forward to be that man that is going to champion the new Nigeria where all these sentiments do not matter any longer. I don’t think we should continue to dwell on that which divides us. I happened to be an Ebiraman, I happened to be a Muslim and I happened to come from Kogi State or the North-Central or the Northern part of the country but most importantly, I am a Nigerian. I didn’t choose to be a Muslim, I was born a Muslim. I didn’t choose to be an Ebiraman, that is the language I heard my people speaking and because that is how I was born. I didn’t choose to come from Kogi State or North-Central, that is where I was born but we want to make sure that the language you speak, the religion you practice, and where you come from by way of the origin or whatever, does not matter again in our presidency. I have set the ball rolling so that both APC and all other political parties must consider merit for us to have the Nigeria of our dreams.
The economy figures are not kind to the APC government. How do you intend to tackle and reflate the nation’s dwindling economy that has fueled Nigeria’s poverty rate?
I have promised that I would build on what Mr President promised in ensuring that nothing less than 100 million Nigerians are pulled out of poverty by 2030 which is about seven years from 2023, by the special grace of God. The question would be, how many millionaires have we made in Kogi? I will make bold to tell you that within the limit of our resources coupled with various challenges and demands on our resources, we have been able to make nothing less than 2000 millionaires in Kogi State within this short years.
That aside, figures were reeled out earlier, Mr President is spending billions and trillions on various social investment programmes. I will give you some statistics, a millionaire must not necessarily be Dangote before you call yourself a millionaire. And our government by the special grace of God would create that enabling environment that even if you have N1 million in good time you should be able to turn it around and multiply it. I will give you one of the figures for $300 billion that was spent on a project. If you divide $300 billion by 20 million, you are going to have about $15,000. Multiply that $15,000 by the current exchange rate, you will have over N8 million.
If you give 20 million Nigerians and ensure that they have over N8 million and then we reverse back to the principle of apprenticeship, which is a practice of a segment of this country, our South-East brothers, whereby they take people either from the poor or from the rich or indigents and after five years were settled with either N500,000 or N1 million. Give them a minimum of two years you will see them as multi-millionaires. If we have such a situation and you identify various sectors in trade, agriculture, manufacturing and we will ensure that these various Nigerians have a source of money. And the task is that you must have a minimum of five apprentices, within two years or a maximum of five years they must graduate under close monitoring and supervision; we would have pulled out over 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. And it will be counting. This is just one item that was sent to a particular sector of this economy by the administration. Not to talk of the trillions we wasted on COVID-19 and several others, you will be convinced that indeed 2023 is the year of restoration of hope for Nigerians.
Are you not scared about the big names like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, VP Osinbajo and others that are also in the race for the APC 2023 presidential ticket?
The answer is NO because I trust myself and my capacity. I believe in my records and what I am going to do for the party and I know that I will win. I believe in my capacity, I respect the founding fathers of this great party starting from President Muhammadu Buhari who is the leader of the party, down to Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, one of the founding fathers of our party, among others. They are the foundation-laying fathers and members of this great party; one cannot ever have a building without a foundation and at the same time, that building will never be completed without roofing because the foundation alone is not a complete building. A beautiful building consists of a foundation and roofing, we are building on what they have laid on the ground. I am confident that at an appropriate time, if they cherish what they have started, they will look for the right young man who has a capacity for what has been laid down and I fit perfectly into that particular choice.
Also, I know there are other champions in the race, if one wants to be a champion, the person should get ready to beat a champion. I believe I will beat other champions to become a champion. Politics, generally, is a game of numbers that includes democracy; I represent the majority as far as the politics of democracy is concerned, I represent the majority of the Nigerian youth, that is why they are saddling me with the responsibility to lead this great nation. It is not by mistake that the party chose me to lead the committee that drove over 41 million members into the party, which is also part of the record for us. They saw the founding fathers and saw we the builders of the party and Nigerians found it very interesting and they have decided to heed our advice and calls, they are seeing the performance of the man that was leading or championing the drives and the performance of APC led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Sometimes, a report is different from reality, the records are there for all to see. We have recorded over 21 million Nigerians with their PVCs who are ready to vote GYB into the presidency for 2023, records are there, the data are there, these are facts that are verifiable. I don’t think whoever possesses these credentials and more will then be afraid to go into a contest; we are in this race to win, we are in the race to restore hope to Nigerians.
It appears your focus is on young Nigerians and you are leaving out the older ones. Is there any explanation for this?
Even though there have been the likes of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, let’s look at this analogy; as fathers, we pray that we grow old and our prayer as fathers is that our children should succeed us and do better than us. I know surely that reasons will prevail on our elders and fathers that we the upcoming ones are ready to build on their legacies if given the opportunity, so that Nigeria will actually have hope and a future. Of course, governance is not an easy task. Aside from experience, one needs energy, not only energy to sleep and eat, but the energy to move, to be where things are happening, and take proactive steps. A lot of achievers that are being mentioned in this country today were recorded at their young age, let us say they are recording more successes that have been achieved today too but we could do more with a younger generation. Today in Kogi State, we are able to manage the little resources given to us because young men that are serving the responsibility along with me are putting in their best to ensure that we utilize the little resources and have maximum output, though we can do better. We the younger ones have made governance practical and we are seeing it today. We will not stop calling on the younger generations to come on board because we have the numbers and I think we can use them in better and judicious ways.
Do you compare notes with your colleagues in the North East and North-West on how you have been able to stem insecurity in Kogi State?
As for the issue of tackling insecurity in the North East and North West, as I have said earlier, issues of insecurity can never be discussed openly. No serious administration comes before the media to divulge the strategy and tactics it is going to use, but sometimes, what happens physically that we see and call insecurity is just an end product of the process and procedure of all the plans that were cracked before they were hatched. My strategies, tactics, and methods will not be disclosed openly. What I can assure is that if we can achieve it in Kogi State which is a lot more difficult than in the North East, it is even more difficult and complex than the whole country.
Our porous borders and entry points have been a major lapse in our security architecture. How do you intend to protect and police the Nigerian borders if voted to office as president in 2023?
To secure our borders and lands, will require technology, it will require operations and reinventing our system. We are going to ensure that everybody lives up to their responsibilities. Just a while ago, I gave an instruction to some of our people back in Kogi State and the response has been so wonderful. If you permit me, I will just narrate it to you. I sent a message to a local government chairman and told him that his job is at stake if criminalities continue in his domain and that it will not be tolerated again. I told him that he is the chief security officer of the local government, if he can’t secure it, I will take over the job and secure it. I wrote to him that he has 72 hours only to do the needful and the time starts counting now and this is applicable to all other local government executive chairmen. I said this is the very last warning and that before you cause embarrassment to our government and stain our good record, I will take decisive action against you. This will not be different when I become the president and commander in-chief. The record has been so wonderful and I can assure you, you are going to see a new Nigeria, I am in charge of Kogi State and that is how we can tackle it and even more.
How do you intend to unite the country’s ethnic tribes and bridge the gap of divisions across the country?
In Kogi State, we have done it and we will apply it to Nigeria. First of all, I ensure that you see who I am and you should understand that I don’t tolerate segregation and division. That has been put to practice in Kogi State, in fact, it will interest you to know that in Kogi State Executive Council, when the state cabinet is sitting, no one that is in the same group, religion or language must sit together. If a particular person is from North East and the other is also from the same zone, we ensure they will never sit close to each other, even if they are practising the same religion, they must not sit together. Our sitting arrangement in the cabinet is mixed, that is where it starts from. We ensure that whatever touches one, touches all, whether good or otherwise. We solidarise and sympathise with one another, we are the ones citizens of Kogi State are looking up to, how we conduct ourselves from the seat of power matters a lot and that is how it trickles down to the grassroots. We ensure that even those who are said not to be from the state originally are part and parcel of the traditional council process. If you are an Igbo man, Yoruba man, the so-called non-indigenes, or a Fulani man, everybody is represented in my government; in traditional councils, any form of organization or association in Kogi State. That is how inclusive we made it and judging from that body language, everybody coming together, I ensure there is an equitable distribution and utilization of major resources that are available to us in Kogi State. You can never see in any district or local government in Kogi State that one has more than the other, we balance it in our decision-making starting from budgetary provisions to the execution, even in civil service.