Why Yahaya Bello’s presidential ambition should not be taken seriously- Analysts

 

The media has been awash lately with calls for the “youthful” Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello to contest for the 2023 presidential election. A call that has assumed great theatrics on many occasions.

Leading the charge for this call are youths, notably a self styled “Ambassador”, who goes by the name Oladele John Toluhi, who leads a group of youths known as GYB2PYB (Governor Yahaya Bello to President Yahaya Bello), a group that issued a 14-day ultimatum to Bello to accept their demand that he joins the presidential race or they occupy the streets all over the country until he accepts their demand.

It is interesting to note that Toluhi was the young man that embarked on a walk from Abuja to Otuoke, the home town of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Bayelsa State in 2015, to honour the former President after his electoral defeat by President Muhammadu Buhari. Toluhi’s walk to Otuoke, came after a northerner had embarked on a similar walk from Lagos to Abuja in honour of President Buhari after he won the election, making his own road expedition more of a copy.

Aside the call from the GYB2PYB, there has been a series of activities around the Kogi Governor lately that has given him good visibility and put him in the news constantly. There had been awards, notably the gender friendly award championed by the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), which suggests that Bello’s administration is women friendly.

Another notable award is the one given by a group led by former Super Eagles player, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, which named Bello as the ‘Captain and Pillar of Nigerian Youths’.

Asides the awards, Bello has also played host to players in the Nigerian entertainment industry, especially Nollywood, who all sang his praises to high heavens and described him as the best thing to happen to Nigerian youths.

Away from awards and ‘arranged’ calls for him to throw his heart into the ring of presidential election contest, Bello’s lame duck House of Assembly has also been on the road trip, soliciting the support of other state lawmakers for their governor’s 2023 expedition.

Leading the charge is Bello’s errand Speaker, Matthew Kolawole, who has led state lawmakers to Niger and Sokoto states houses of assembly to seek their support for Bello.

Expectedly, the governor, in a recent chat with journalists in Abuja, told the world that he has accepted the challenge to contest for the presidency, as a way of honouring Nigerian youths who have been clamouring for him to lead them and by extension, the country. He also disclosed that his formal declaration will take place at a more auspicious time.

With that, Bello becomes the first member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to publicly admit preparing to contest for the presidency in 2023, as not even Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, whose ambition is already public knowledge, has come out to admit it.

It is, however, instructive to note that all the theatrics leading to Bello’s 

acceptance of the call were mere stage managed events to give his ambition a resemblance of popular demand, while the gale of awards were also orchestrated to confer some form of credibility on him.

Some analysts have, however, frowned at the chain of events leading to Bello’s acceptance of the challenge, branding them as unnecessary. According to some, it is within his right to aspire to the highest office in the land without making so much fuss about it, while others say these events only point to the fact that he knew he may just not possess what it takes to lead the country and had to create a semblance of it.

Nigerians, from different walks of life have, however, identified four reasons the presidential ambition of Governor Bello should not be taken seriously.

Youth is not Synonymous with Competence

Governor Bello’s relatively young age has been one of the reasons advanced for the call for him to contest the 2023 presidential election.

Oladele John Toluhi, during one of his expeditions, did not mince words, hinting that his group is calling on Bello to join the race because of his youthfulness.

However, an APC youth leader in the Kogi West Senatorial District, who does not want his name mentioned, said brandishing Bello’s young age as a reason for calling him to contest in 2023 was wrong. According to him, Bello has failed to show that youth has any role to play in leadership or competence and performance.

COVID-19 Missives
Governor Bello holds the record as the only governor in Nigeria and high ranking public office holder to publicly dispute the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor’s utterances and actions on the pandemic has become an embarrassment for even residents and indigenes of the state, so much that caes suspected to be COVID-19 related are taken outside the State for attention.

Inability to be Tactful
One of the reasons advanced by analysts why Yahaya Bello must not be taken seriously in his latest adventure is his inability to be tactful. This, many said, had led him to talk too much, revealed too much and caused untold embarrassment for self, state and party in recent times.

No Antecedents of Visible Achievements

Claims by Governor Bello that those who are clamouring for him to be the next President of Nigeria, wants him to replicate the successes he has recorded in Kogi on the national stage, has been knocked by even stakeholders in the state and self deception.