Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has said that some governors aren’t serious with their jobs as regards the maintaining of security in their individual states.
Governor Bello has blasted governors who fall into this category for always running to President Muhammadu Buhari anytime there was any security challenge in their state. Bello stressed that these governors are playing politics with the life’s of their citizens.
Recall that in recent times that crisis emanated in Ondo, Oyo and most recently Niger state due to kidnappings, banditry, inter-ethnic clashes e.t.c.
While speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, February 18, Bello boasted that he was able to stop violence in his state.
“Kogi State used to be a hotbed of criminals. Kogi State is a microcosm of Nigeria but I have put a stop to communal clashes and farmer-herder clashes and all of that,” he said.
Commenting on the fact that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum is supposed to provide an avenue for the sharing of ideas, he said;
“NGF is a forum for governors to compare review mechanisms but, however, the experience you share in the NGF, it will depend on the priority of each and everyone of us.
He added that some people are more serious in their jobs than others. In his words;
“I must say straight away that there are some of us that are more serious on our jobs than the other. I won’t call names, there are some of us who are prioritising our jobs and are doing it very well in our various states and some are simply playing politics and the earlier we stop that, the better. Let’s reduce the burden of Mr President and let’s save the lives of our people.
“What happened in Shasha in Ibadan is most unfortunate. These are victims attacking victims. The Yorubas attacking Hausa Fulani are victims. The Hausa Fulani attacking the Yorubas are victims of maladministration, successively, from the past and even currently.
“So, when you share or compare experiences, it is just advisory, you must necessarily take somebody’s experience. And sometimes, it depends on (the) peculiarity of where you are operating from.
“In Kogi State, we are having a heterogenous kind of composition –religious wise, ethnic wise and various divergent backgrounds and we are handling it very well. So, I see no reasons why in some states where you have two tribes and they will be attacking each other.
“We should be able to stand up and stamp our feet on ground and put a stop to the menace. It is not needed. We (are) required to have empathy on our people, we should preach love and affection among our people and let us get involved in the governance of our states and let us get connected.
“At least before it gets to the level of burning houses, killing one another, burning livelihoods, markets and destroying our lives, we should have enough intelligence, we should be able to nip it in the bud and not allow it escalate before we are now talking of governors visiting each other, calling on Federal Government.
“For crying our loud, are we expecting Mr President to be in Oyo State in Shasha to prevent that mayhem? Are we expecting Mr President to carry AK-47 and be safeguarding all schools? Are we expecting Mr President to be on the highway? We should get connected to our people and ensure that are connected with us as well and come up with solutions to solve this problem once and for all.”
