By Daniel Kanu

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It is obvious that since his emergence as the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello has remained a stormy petrel, generating controversies, some germane while others are adjudged absurdity.   
In fact, after the usual celebration that follows election victory which Bello had, it is arguable if he has had any modicum of peace since the inception of his administration.
At the moment, Bello’s controversial comments and actions on COVID-19 have pitched him against the Federal Government as he has constantly denied the existence of COVID-19 in Kogi State, despite being confronted with evidences by federal health officials.
He has publicly refused to accept the existence of Coronavirus, spinning conspiracy theories and calling it a fraud. He has patently refused to be informed and guided by science following his conviction.
It was obvious and a matter of time that the sledge hammer will fall on Kogi State from Aso Rock in terms of punitive measures for its hard stand. It was, therefore, not surprising that the state has been classified as “high risk” area of the pandemic.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, last Monday in Abuja, during its briefing announced the classification, warning Nigerians to beware of visiting the state.
Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, the national incident manager of the PTF, said at the media briefing that Kogi was not testing at all, had failed to report testing and lacked isolation centres.
“We have states where data is not coming forth. If we don’t test, your data will not be analysed and if your data is not analysed, we won’t know the level of the pandemic in your state,” he said.
According to Muhammad: “States that are not testing are probably at much higher risk than the states that are currently known as high burdened states. Notable among the states are Yobe, Jigawa, Zamfara and Kebbi and, of course, Kogi that has not been reporting at all.
“A state that is not testing at all is an absolute high risk for Nigerians to visit because there is no testing facility and even if you fall sick, there is no isolation centre and they don’t even acknowledge that the disease exists. So for that reason, we put that state at the top of high-risk states.”
Governor Bello has remained unrepentant in his views on Coronavirus. In a report on June 30, 2020, when he spoke at the third-day prayers for the state Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajana, he alleged that COVID-19 is an artificial creation aimed at causing fear and panic among people.
He advised citizens of the state “not to give in to fear and evil of the issues of COVID-19”, adding that “it is a disease that has been imported, propagated and forced on the people for no just cause”.
According to him “whether medical experts and scientists, believe it or not, COVID-19 is out to shorten the lifestyle of the people, it is a disease propagated by force for Nigerians to accept,”
Bello’s government has rejected N1.1billion support fund from the World Bank because of his belief that COVID-19 is a “glorified malaria” and that even the five cases reported in Kogi State is an NCDC creation.
He argued that “these vaccines are being produced in less than one year of COVID-19. There is no vaccine yet for HIV, malaria, cancer, and for several diseases that are killing us…. We should draw our minds back to what happened in Kano during the polio vaccines that crippled and killed our children. We have learned our lessons.
“If they say they are taking the vaccines in the public allow them take their vaccines. Don’t say I said you should not take it, but if you want to take it open your eyes before you take the vaccines,”
The height of his repudiation for COVID-19 pandemic is also seen in his failure to wear facemask at public gatherings
In several photos posted on social media, the governor has been seen exchanging pleasantries with VIPs without wearing a mask.
The truth is that there is more to COVID-19 pandemic giving all the controversies it has continued to generate, even from enlightened quarters.
Not only in Nigeria but very popular citizens of other countries, including some presidents of countries like Bello have continued to raise doubt on the reality of the disease, particularly the hysteria associated with it.
Despite the stigmatization of Kogi State, many have argued that people are not falling down on the streets of Kogi from COVID-19 like locust sprayed with pesticide.
The best approach, according to experts, that spoke with Sunday Sun is for the government to create more awareness to convince the people that, yes , COVID-19 exists, ensure strict observance of protocols and other low-cost Third World remedies and preventive measures, offer protection.
Bello was born on June 18, 1975, in Okene, Kwara State. He attended LGEA Primary School, Agassa In Okene LGA beginning in 1984. He later went to high school at Agassa Community Secondary School, Anyava, Agassa-Okene and obtained his JSSCE and SSCE certificates from Government Secondary School, Suleja-Niger State in 1994.
He studied at Kaduna State Polytechnic, Zaria in 1995 and obtained an accounting degree from Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria in 1999. He further enrolled for a Master’s programme in Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria where he obtained Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 2002. He became a chartered fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria in 2004.