In this interview with GBENRO ADEOYE, the Director-General, Media and Publicity to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, insists that the state government acted fast to prevent the recent deaths of residents from gastroenteritis
The so-called strange illness that reportedly killed 62 persons in Kogi State has been identified by the state government as gastroenteritis. But some residents are angry that the government acted too late. How would you react to that?
We are still working round the clock, not only to control it but to also ascertain the actual number of casualties. We do not wish to lose any life in Kogi State but we need to set the record straight. We are sure the number (of casualties) was far below the figure being bandied around. We acted as soon as it was reported. Do not forget that it started in Kwara State. Our response was very prompt and coordinated. We are on top of the situation. Some of the people affected have been treated and discharged.
But if as the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Saka Audu, said, it started in Okoloke village in Yagba West six weeks ago, would you still say your response was prompt, considering that the state government just released a statement on Sunday, identifying the strange ailment as gastroenteritis?
Issues like this require a lot of care. Human lives are involved. We needed a lot of caution, meticulous investigations and medical analyses before rushing to the press. We only went to the press when we had enough facts. That doesn’t mean we were not working underground. We evacuated those affected and brought them for free medical care.
There are about five casualty figures being reported. You have said less than 62 persons were killed by the disease and the state government has said it would investigate the actual number of casualties. How far has the state gone with that? Any official figure yet?
None yet! Those Fulani settlements are very difficult to access and what we are doing there is thorough. Our team has covered two of the three settlements and what we have is nowhere near 20 yet. We shall wait until they complete the investigation so that we can present factual statistics.
Is it then true that the deaths were only recorded in Fulani settlements in the state?
From our findings so far, only Fulani settlements were affected.
What is the state doing to contain it and ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again?
We now know the cause and we will surely devise means of curbing it. The Ministry of Health is already putting that in place. The governor (Yahaya Bello) is concerned and he takes daily briefings on the issue.
Many Nigerians expressed shock after Kogi State Government declared a public holiday on Monday to celebrate the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the country. People have been abusing the administration of Governor Bello. What informed that decision?
It is our policy and it was a rational decision. What we celebrated was the safe return of Mr. President, who some people had alleged was on life support. President Buhari is more than a persona, he is an institution. Hell would have been let loose if he had died and Kogi, being the centre of the nation, would have suffered a lot from the ripple effects.
God forbid, if the President had died, hypocrites would have declared many days of mourning. We declared just a day to thank God for sparing the life of our President. Why are they taking pain relief tablets for our headache? The governor used the occasion to visit the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja, where he declared free medical treatment for those on admission and even outpatients. He did that to aid people with health challenges. That is the best way to celebrate a great President. The public holiday was justified. Those who are condemning the holiday probably didn’t want the corruption fighter back in the country. We are happy he is back to continue to fight corruption and develop the nation.
People are saying it smacked of economic insensitivity and sycophancy as the President is believed to have helped Bello emerge governor. And even President Buhari’s state, Katsina, didn’t declare a public holiday.
Katsina is Katsina and Kogi is Kogi. Katsina is not at the centre of the nation. President Buhari has massive followership in Kogi State and the governor has never hidden his admiration for the sterling qualities of Mr. President. No sacrifice is bigger than thanking God for the life of Mr. President. The governor started supporting the President even before he became governor and his leadership ideology is tailored along that of Mr. President.
What is the state doing about the crisis involving the Academic Staff Union of Universities at the Kogi State University, especially now that ASUU National has taken over?
The issue of ASUU is resolved as far as the Kogi State University is concerned. We can’t continue to keep our future hopes at home. A drastic decision has been taken to address a drastic situation. They sat at home and took their salaries. Those who want to work are lecturing now and the government is also in the process of employing new hands to bridge the possible gap in the staff need of the institution. There should be a human face in whatever we do. The governor went to the institution and sat with them for five hours to resolve the issue. Forty-eight hours later, they started reaping the low hanging fruits of the visit. But they remained adamant and the government felt there was more to their stance. We have put that behind us.
What issues are still pending that some of them have been adamant about?
The issue of Earned Academic Allowances generated some ripples. The government has started paying but they are making it difficult by insisting that they must take arrears owed many years ago. The government is a continuum. We do not have any problem with that. But we need an improved financial condition to meet all of that.
They insisted that what they termed “over-taxation” many years back must be refunded and the government agreed to that. The main issue was the 2015 employment. There was an embargo on employment as of the time they were employed. They are insisting that the government must bring them back. But the government was aware of the uniqueness of the university community and directed the governing council to look into the issue.
What is the reaction of the state government to the conflicting claims about salary payments in the state? Some workers are saying they have been paid; some others are saying they have been cleared after the screening exercise but not yet paid.
This is very clear. We published what we paid to each worker on the website of the state, www.kogistate.gov.ng. We did that to be able to silence those who have turned the issue into a political battleground. We undertook a workers verification exercise to ascertain the actual number of members of staff working in our ministries, departments and agencies and local government councils to ensure we weed out ghost workers and unintended beneficiaries. The civil service was bedridden before the advent of the present administration in the state. It was a cesspit of corruption. We are repositioning the civil service and reforming our pension administration in the state. We have saved billions of naira through those reforms.
But are claims by some workers that they have not been paid after being screened and cleared true?
Those who were paid last were those who scaled the hurdles of appeals. After the screening exercise, the state government realised many people might have been categorised as ghost workers or unintended beneficiaries based on facts which might have changed. For instance, someone who didn’t present certificates might go to his or her school to obtain the certificates. The Appeals Committee was set up to address such issues and other related ones. Many workers were eventually cleared and even the governor granted amnesty to various categories of offenses. To reintegrate those cleared last to the payrolls took some time and we are sincerely sorry for that. It took time to sort out those who benefited from the amnesty granted by the governor. But we have put that behind (us) now.
Do you honestly think the screening exercise has been successful as salaries were delayed for months and some civil servants had purportedly died while some may still die before the whole thing is over?
Screening is effectively over. Mind-boggling revelations were made. It was a huge success. We were able to plug the hole through which our commonwealth was siphoned off. We were able to reposition the service. But above all, we were able to change the attitude of civil servants to service. The attitudinal reengineering alone was a big plus to this administration. People now know they cannot pretend to be teaching at Anyigba while they are actually living in Onitsha. Kogi was defrauded by the perpetrators of the ghost workers’ syndrome. They inflicted financial injuries on our dear state. It is unfortunate that some workers died in the process. Many more died because the system didn’t work. Hundreds had died just because the funds needed to build hospitals in their villages were stolen through ghost workers. This administration will stop the rot.
The feedback we get from residents of Kogi is that this current administration is not doing well and has performed below their expectations, and it gives the impression that it is one of the most unpopular state governments in the country. The PDP has also said it is ready to take over the state from the All Progressives Congress because of its poor performance. How does the government view all these knowing that 2019 is near?
Those who walked with the governor on Monday saw the gulf between perception and reality. When you are coming from minus two, your first two steps will bring you to zero. But the hope there is that you are moving. The PDP messed up this state. They (PDP members) will soon stop talking because they will be thoroughly exposed and the governor has promised to retrieve every kobo they have stolen from our coffers. The governor has already challenged his successor to prove his tenure.
The New Direction Agenda of the present administration has given hope to Kogi State. We are constructing and rehabilitating roads across the state, we are changing the agriculture narratives and our education, health care and ecotourism are on the rise. The governor has decided to veer off the convention of failure and that is why the corrupt people are creating a certain type of impression which they are packaging for sale to unsuspecting minds. We are unperturbed by the disingenuous ambition of the PDP. They are free to wish to continue their damage of the state but Kogites rejected them in 2015 and will reject them again. I read in some dailies that Senator Tunde Ogbeha (a former military governor of Akwa Ibom and old Bendel states) has been using derogatory language to defame the governor. We won’t take issues with a man of his social status. We understand his frustration and we will make Kogi State better so that both the supporters and the enemies of the government can benefit from the developmental revolution going on in the state. The governor walked round Lokoja yesterday with his people, the Kogites. The people love him and will always support him. He is a man of the people.
But some residents say the only visible developments they see are streetlights. So what structures or developmental projects can the administration point to in its two years in office?
We have built the best revenue house in the country. We now have a fully digitalised Local Government House for easy connection of all local government areas in the state. Lokoja used to be one of the dirtiest state capitals in Nigeria. The story has changed. It is now more beautiful with new township roads and streetlights. We are constructing at least two major roads per senatorial district and some of them are over 70 per cent complete. We are building new state-of-the-art hospitals and we have kicked off the GYB Model Primary Schools’ programme across the state.
Before now, Kogi was notorious for being one of the most insecure states. Today, the story has changed as the governor has turned around the entire security architecture of the state. He bought many patrol vans, which can be counted by tens, surveillance gadgets and motivates security operatives to deliver. He has also strengthened the state vigilance service with newly recruited and well-trained operatives, new patrol vans and better facilities. The governor has won many awards nationally and internationally for his efforts and achievements in the security sector.
In the area of agriculture, the state is improving conditions towards becoming one of the biggest rice producers in the nation with rice mills in three locations and massive production at Omi Dam. The Kampe Omi Dam Agricultural Project is one of the sunny sides of the present administration. It has become an agriculture hub, employing thousands of hands. We are on the verge of having Kogi Rice. We are also becoming the leading cashew producing state. We are teaching Nigeria how to make agriculture our revenue generator numero uno. Through our highly resourceful multilateral office, we have been able to upscale the desire of our people to form cooperatives and benefit from intervention funds. Through our state development goal, we have been able to provide water and health care facilities to the rural areas. Thousands of our youths have been trained to be self-reliant. We have produced artisans and middle-level manpower through the training institute we have in partnership with Korea.
The Talent Hunt show organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Culture and Entertainment, Mercy Johnson-Okojie, has opened bigger windows to our youths to explore and shape their future in the field of showbiz. In the area of sports, we have been able to take Kogi United to the periphery of promotion through excellent motivation and support. We have brought back school sports to discover new talents across the state. The seat of power was a reflection of how governance used to be. Today, it reflects what governance has become. Kogi is rising. The detribalised nature of the governor has also brought our people together. We now think Kogi.
The Kogi State House of Assembly recently approved four additional aides to the governor, bringing the number of his aides to 67. People are asking: why does the governor of a state like Kogi need so many aides when some of the money can be used to pay salaries and do other important things?
Governance is a big deal. We are conscious of the fact that we need to bring to the lowest line, the cost of governance. But we can’t also shrink our chances of using the finest hands to create wealth for the people of the state. If you compare this administration with many around the country, you will realise that we are operating one of the smallest governments in the nation. The last administration in the state had more than 200 appointees. We have brought that down drastically. Such allegations are laughable.
Some residents are saying that the governor has been giving jobs to cronies and using appointments for political patronage.
Have the critics given a single name on the list of appointees who is his relation? These are mere misrepresentations. All the appointments are spread across the 21 local government areas and the appointees are people with pedigree, capacity, and competence.
But why are three or four people advising the governor on one matter? For instance, there are four senior special advisers to the governor on security and intelligence, three SSAs on political matters and so on.
Geopolitical balance! The security architecture of the East is different from that of the Central or the West. We need to accommodate the divergence.
Recently, there was a report about a mansion being built by the governor, including allegations that he converted the street entrance to his mansion’s gateway. Many workers and pensioners are unhappy that while they have been finding it hard to live well, their governor is spending so much on a palatial home
The governor complied with the regulations of the town planners. I personally went there to verify and I was told that structure was built in compliance with their regulations.
They wonder how the governor could afford such a structure.
The governor has been wealthy before becoming a governor. So he could afford the structure. The ones he built before then are more magnificent. He has been a help to humanity. He may not want me to mention his humanitarian activities. The whole thing was media hype, blown out of proportion by the opponents.
If the regulations of town planners were followed, how did it eat into the public road as alleged by residents in a report?
Reports of bloggers cannot be more reliable than those of the Town Planning Office on this issue. You can visit the office for first-hand information.
The report claimed you admitted that a better road was being constructed by the governor for the community.
It is true that the governor is trying to personally construct a good road in the area.
So are you saying that the road the governor is trying to construct in the area has nothing to do with his mansion or the use of the entrance of the street as the gateway to the house?
Not at all.
It appears that the governor is fighting people on all fronts. He seems to have issues with the state APC, with people saying he doesn’t respect the party and the structure; he seems to have issues with Sen. Joseph Waku; he has issues with Omeha; he has issues with Senator Dino Melaye. Can we say the governor is a controversial person himself?
He is not a controversial person. He is not fighting the party. He is working with the party in the state. He became governor on the platform of the party. Maybe some elements in the party are uncomfortable with the anti-corruption stance of the governor. But he will continue to work closely with the party. He is a complete gentleman. He is not fighting anyone.
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