EDWARD ONOJA’S NOTE OF APPRECIATION TO GOVERNOR YAHAYA BELLO OF KOGI STATE FOR THE ONGOING EXECUTION OF PROJECT LIGHT UP KOGI EAST (PLUKE)
When Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State inaugurated the Project Light Up Kogi East (PLUKE) Implementation Committee on 21 July 2019 at Anyigba during the commissioning of the Igala Unity House, he was performing more than an official duty to expand development in our state. His Excellency was giving life to an undertaking he made to God many years earlier, one which he had carried in his heart since. Simply put, PLUKE is probably more important to Governor Yahaya Bello than it is to any Igala son or daughter.
I connected with the man who will ultimately become my boss, friend and, as we call ourselves, my Siamese Twin brother, in 2003. We were both pursuing accolades in our various callings then – he as a fast-rising business executive and I as a high-ranking oil industry executive – when we were united in a trinity of love for Nigeria, Kogi State and President Muhammadu Buhari, then of the CPC.
One of my fondest recollections of our Governor from those early days is how disturbed he was by the near zero electricity penetration in my native Kogi East Senatorial District and his resolve to do something about it. He would recount how as an officer with a federal agency based in Makurdi, Benue State (before he resigned to pursue private enterprise) he would round-trip from his station to Abuja to Kogi and back to Benue through Kogi East.
Contrasting the entire eastern flank with parts of the western and central zones which he passed as he drove was always a painful exercise. Despite producing all the previous Governors since 1999 at least, the Kogi East areas remained by far the darkest parts of the state as he drove past through the night. He said he would often ask God to give him the power to do something about it and help change the story for the people. He even made an oath to God to bring electricity to Kogi East if God puts him in the position to do so.
Thus, when Yahaya Bello emerged the 4th Executive Governor of Kogi State by divine orchestration in 2016, he knew his vow to God must be kept. Hence, to His Excellency, Project Light Up Kogi East is a debt owed to God, not man.
Today, the debt is being paid, the project becoming a reality.
*Almost right from the moment he took Office on 27 January 2016, Governor Yahaya Bello has paid close attention to the provision of electricity to communities all over Kogi State. Kogi East also received her fair share in that general drive, mainly in Dekina and Omala LGAs.*
*PLUKE is however a special target project to accelerate delivery of electricity to all parts of the Kogi East Senatorial District, the largest in the state. For far too long have my people held (political) power without having power (electricity) and to our dear Governor, it was time to change all that.*
I remember vividly the impassioned words of His Royal Majesty, the Attah Igala when I led the PLUKE Committee to pay homage to him shortly before we commenced work. He acknowledged that much of Igalaland and other parts of Kogi East have been forced by the lack of electricity to remain backward relative to other parts of the state, noting that it has been very difficult to attract and retain major industries.
The revered traditional ruler invoked abundant royal blessings on the governor, saying that ‘he who brings light (electricity) brings better life, steady growth and rapid development’. The Royal Father also reiterated the Governor’s commitment to the unity of the diverse peoples and faiths in Kogi State when he declared that PLUKE has made Kogi ‘the center of detribalized governance in Nigeria’.
My time as Chairman of the PLUKE and seeing the project take off has been gratifying indeed. My boss gave my team full cooperation. If it weren’t for the lengthy 2019 electoral cycle, and after it the Covid-19 pandemic, each of which brought its own disruptions, we might have been talking of commissioning some phases by now.
Still, we are seeing much joy and appreciation for the project everywhere it has berthed. The arrival of materials and the mobilisation of contractors to site has brought hope and anticipation to hundreds of thousands of our people spread across the earmarked communities, hamlets, clans, kindreds and families across the 9 LGAs of Kogi East.
Personally, PLUKE is just another reason to thank God and after Him my boss, Governor Yahaya Bello, as I have thanked them so many times before for so many things. I am grateful and I remain loyal.
The lessons from the saga of Yahaya Bello are legion. Men should desire to do good and start doing it from where they are in life currently. Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is a man who keeps to his word and it is no wonder that God located him from the improbable place, and what some would call “impossible class” when it comes to the Governorship, to lead Kogi State. God never works with human definitions.
I know that there are many devices in the hearts of men, but holy writ makes it certain that only the purposes of God alone shall stand. I do not lay claim to being a prophet but I do have the spirit of God also, and I can tell that this story of Yahaya Bello has only just began!
He is the type of leader that our state and our nation and indeed our world needs going forward. May the Almighty God do what only He can do.
EDWARD ONOJA
Deputy Governor of Kogi State