The COVID-19 has voluntarily opted to wind down, courtesy of the World Health Organisation (WHO). And the pandemic has gracefully elected to end its venomous attack on us.
Let us remember Yahaya Bello. He firmly holds sway in Kogi State as governor. We cannot honestly feign ignorance of him this critical time. That would be unfair on him and a dis-service to humanity.
For all intents and purposes, he defended his state against the COVID-19 onslaught. That is a given. The reason the pandemic could not penetrate the state.
He is the hero of COVID-19. Nobody deserves it better than Bello. He stood his solid ground. He sailed through successfully. He refused to be dragged in mud.
The governor stuck stoically and stoutly to his guns. And this paid off handsomely. Like the Bello he is, he remained as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.
He could not be moved or swayed or negatively influened. He captured his territory and maintained his lane. He did it with uncommon dignity.
He denied COVID-19 and its agents entry into Kogi State. And the state is better for it. Many times, they attempted it, and all the time they failed. All their efforts fell flat.
Bello would not trade the health of his people for anything. They tried all manner of tricks. They lured, appeased, cajoled and blackmailed, all to no avail.
Those plots, ploys and schemes could not break him. His strong character would not allow that. They all collapsed like a house of cards.
He is the only COVID-19-resistant governor in Nigeria. He refused to be convinced. His conviction that COVID-19 was a fraud, a swindle, was unmatched.
So, while the pandemic lasted, he never abandoned his people. No, he would not contemplate that. He stood out to be visibly and physically counted. Even among his peers and governor-colleagues.
None of them could match his doggedness on COVID-19. From start to finish, he didn’t falter. He neither lost steam nor momentum.
He made his position clear to everyone who cared. He insisted his Kogi had nothing to do with COVID-19 and its vaccines. And so never was anyone quarantined or isolated in Kogi. Not a single isolation centre was thought of.
Yahaya Bello was on the forefront. He took the bull by the horns. He didn’t fight COVID-19 to a standstill. He fought to its grave. He came, he saw and he conquered the pandemic.
We ought to celebrate him for being outstanding. He treated COVID-19 quite differently, because he understood its language. He achieved results and good success.
He saw what the rest of us failed to see. We doubted him to our own detriment. And we paid heavily for it with our meagre resources.
On COVID-19, Bello laughs last and is still laughing the best.
