Meandering through the Mines
The Kogi State governorship election tomorrow is Governor Idris Wada’s to lose, writes Richard Elesho
Nothing good comes easy. For the Idris Wada administration, it has been a complex maneuver through the trajectories of the tides of power. The take-off of the administration is a perfect introduction. Indeed, the events of Friday, January 27, 2012 in the Confluence State possessed all the elements of an epic theater – suspense, treachery, betrayal, intrigues, power tussle and victory.
In the early hours of that day, the Supreme Court had abruptly terminated the tenure of five governors, including the then Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State. However, the judgment did not make a categorical order on who should be sworn in as governor of the state.
Consequently, Capt. Wada and Abayomi Awoniyi, an architect, who had won election as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively since December 3, 2011 were invited to Lugard House, the state’s seat of power to take their oath of office.
The oaths were administered about 2:30 pm by the President, Kogi State Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Shuaibu Atadoga. Then, the maneuverings that led to the swearing in of two persons into the same office climaxed. No sooner were the Governor and his Deputy inaugurated than another swearing in took place.
This time, it was the then Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdullahi Bello, who was clandestinely sworn in as Acting Governor. The oath was administered by Chief Judge of the State, Justice Nazir Ajana in his office at about 6:30 pm, some four hours into the life of the new Wada administration. It thus, seemed that the new leadership was born into crisis.
But like an African proverb says, ‘a man is known by the way he handles difficult situations’, the governor bore his litmus test with remarkable grace. It is, therefore, to his credit and due to the intervention of other leaders that between Friday night and Monday morning, all matters and confusions arising from the multiple claim of authority to the governorship seat was amicably resolved. By Monday, January 30th the new government took off in earnest.
As if the earlier distraction was not enough, several persons approached the courts asking the judiciary to declare the Wada administration an impostor and an illegality. One of the cases contested his legitimacy as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party under which he contested and won election. Another averred that he did not win the general election. There was even one that questioned his qualification to stand for the governorship poll among others. In all, the governor was vindicated up to the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court.
As the cases were going on, two disasters separately struck in the state. In September 2012, the state was overwhelmed by flooding. The flood affected nine of the 21 local governments, washing away farmlands, houses and other invaluable property. It is to the credit of the administration that in spite of the enormity of the flood, no lives were lost.
The government responded promptly by creating camps and meeting all needs of the displaced persons. They were fed, given appropriate medical attention and fully rehabilitated. A post-flood housing estate allocated to resettle the victims was the peak of government’s response to the disaster. The second disaster came in as the flood water was receding. That was on December 28, 2011, when the governor was involved in a ghastly motor accident. He was on his way from an official engagement at the state University, Anyigba.
The tragedy may have taken enormous toll on the governor’s focus and programme. At the end, he came out more determined to pursue his set transformation agenda for the state. It is worthy of note that one of his flagship agricultural initiatives was nurtured and never derailed by the accident. Once the waters dried, the administration decided to make economic gains from the catastrophe.
And regularly from his hospital bed in Abuja, Wada would work the phones endlessly giving directives on his visions for the state. The flood plains were promptly converted to mechanised farmland for the growth of accelerated rice under the state FADAMA programme. The initiative has remained on course and ensured massive production of Kogi Rice every year.
However, the greatest threat to the transformation agenda is paucity of funds. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was abysmally low even as allocations to the state have been dwindling. Yet, the governor has not wavered in his determination not to abandon any of the projects he inherited from his predecessor. Projects in this category include Greater Lokoja Water Scheme, the Olympic sized Stadium, State Secretariat Phase II, Confluence Beach Hotel extension, roads and Civil Service Commission office among others. A typical Nigerian politician would have ignored them and initiated his own project for cheap political scores, but not Wada. All the aforementioned projects were completed and commissioned and have been in use under his led administration.
To wriggle out of the tight financial conundrum, the administration adopted unique strategies. First, it raised the IGR from a little over a hundred million monthly that it inherited in 2012 to about six hundred million. It then approached the capital market to a bond of N20billion to finance capital projects in the state.
About N7billion of the money has so far been accessed. The bond money has guaranteed prompt attention to other initiatives. Projects being financed from it include a 12-Storey Sky Scraper, the Kogi House in Abuja, Two Bond Estates in Ganaja and Crusher both in Lokoja, construction and remodeling of a new Kogi Hotels and ultra-modern vehicle terminus in Felele Lokoja.
There are others. A new settlement is being opened up through the on-going construction of a 16 Km virgin road from Ganaja to Otokiti. It is a dual carriage way. Another dual carriage is being constructed from Welcome to Lokoja Round about on the Lokoja-Abuja High way through Zango Daji to Otokiti. Then the major express road from Otokiti-IBB Way, International Market is being redesigned and reconstructed. A Reference and Imaging Centre at the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja and a Teaching Hospital for the state University in Anyigba are also near completion.
Aside the above bond-financed projects, the administration has massively renovated hospitals and schools across the state, constructed hostels at KSU, Anyigba and Kogi State Politechnic, KSP Lokoja. Cottage hospitals and water schemes have been provided in communities heretofore considered impossible. Even the face of transport service within the state capital has been altered for good with the introduction of highly discounted Lokoja metro buses. Just recently, a state of the art Korea-Nigeria friendship Centre – an institute for vocational and advanced technology was inaugurated in Lokoja.
Yes, for the administration, disaster may have poured in torrents. But victory has not also been in short supply. The birth of a child is always accompanied by pain and crying and the administration has faced serious challenges. And just as the arrival of a child ultimately brings joy and victory for the family, the administration has lifted its head above waters, unconsumed by it. No doubts, Kogi is working.
Yes, for the administration, disaster may have poured in torrents. But victory has not also been in short supply.The birth of a child is always accompanied by pain and crying and the administration has faced serious challenges. And just as the arrival of a child ultimately brings joy and victory for the family, the administration has lifted its head above waters, unconsumed by it