Governor Yahaya Bello today began his journey into the last lap of his administration, as he clocked seven years in office of the Governor of Kogi State.
The Governor to mark his seventh anniversary, thanked the people of the state in a statewide broadcast, commending their trust and support to his government.
Governor Bello stated that his fixation on providing transformational leadership and good governance in Kogi state is because President Muhammadu Buhari has laid down solid examples which he found inspirational.
“Mr. President has surpassed every Nigerian president before him in the delivery of strategic infrastructure across Nigeria and I am compelled to follow suit in Kogi State,” he said.
He assured the people of the state that his administration will not rest on the achievements recorded so far but will ensure consistent provision of transformational leadership till his last day in office.
“Let us pause briefly wherever we are now, observe a moment of prayer and of thanksgiving, and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Then, let us tighten our belts and sandals and get ready for the last and 8th lap of this race.
“I assure you that the next one year is going to be hectic as we intend to multiply geometrically in creativity, innovation and productivity,” he added.
Bello said in the last 7 years of his administration, working together as fellow Kogites, the government has been able to “recalibrate attitudes to the point that we have a state today that is more secure, united and peaceful than at any other time since her creation.”
“No single Governor can completely rebuild a society in the time available to one administration, but even if we vacate office today, we can live with a clear conscience, confident that we did our best for Kogites with the time and resources available to us. So, on this 7th year of our Administration in Lugard House, we celebrate our achievements for our people because they are the most important measures of how far and how well we have come.
“We have worked assiduously as an administration to fulfill the mandate which our people have so enthusiastically entrusted to us twice now. We have executed life-transforming projects across the length and breadth of Kogi State – from city to town to villages, even hamlets. At a time when the Naira has been steadily contracting in real value and supply, our Administration can boast of an array of projects numbering in their thousands.
“Many of these projects have been completed, while many more are racing to completion. They include hundreds of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare and educational institutions which we have built from scratch or substantially reconstructed. Others are brand new infrastructure and utilities that cut across all sectors which we designed and built to improve the lives of our people in both urban and rural areas.
“I shall resist the temptation to go into a detailed listing of our projects, there will always be a time and place for that. It is enough therefore to point out that a few, such as the Reference Hospital, Okene which houses both an MRI Centre and Nigeria’s first hyperbaric treatment facility are of national, even continental, significance. The Ganaja Flyover and Interchange at Lokoja is the first, but certainly not going to be the last, in Kogi State.
“Other projects are the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara which we founded, the Confluence Rice Mill, Ejiba, the GYB Model Science Secondary Schools, the Muhammadu Buhari Square (Civic Centre) at Lokoja, hundreds of kilometres of urban and rural roads, innumerable water supply schemes, a state universal healthcare insurance scheme and simply uncountable number of projects sited everywhere you look in Kogi State.
“Our performance matrix is rooted in an overall mission statement as an Administration, which reads thus: ‘To develop Kogi State into Nigeria’s foremost and most secure emerging commercial hub through optimization of the state’s geographical location, natural endowments and human resources for a sustainable future.’ This mission is the passion that drives us.
“I thank the Great People of Kogi State for their trust and support from inception till date. We are going to count greatly on it for the rest of the journey.”
