The travails of Saint Yahaya Adoza Bello

Fear everything, and with all that thou fearest, fear your gadgets. That was the global lesson we were all taught last week when walkie-talkies suddenly became murder weapons. The event happened in far, far-away Lebanon, where the political group, Hezbollah, commanders were murdered by their own imported gadgets. It suddenly dawned on humanity that the […]

Fear everything, and with all that thou fearest, fear your gadgets. That was the global lesson we were all taught last week when walkie-talkies suddenly became murder weapons. The event happened in far, far-away Lebanon, where the political group, Hezbollah, commanders were murdered by their own imported gadgets. It suddenly dawned on humanity that the gadgets invented to bridge spatial gaps in communication could be turned into weapons of mass destruction.

When Hezbollah reportedly ordered scores of those walkie-talkies, they thought they would be able to use them to direct operational command in the event of an all-out-war against its worst enemy – the State of Israel. The technology was reprogrammed to wipe out scores of its commanders instead.

The casualty figures from the two-day explosions sent shock waves across the globe starting a debate over the safety of mobile phones, electronic gadgets and even electronically controlled vehicles. The obvious truth seems to be that our beloved gadgets could easily become mortal companions in the hands of those with the know-how.

Techy content creators constantly churn out material to try to get us to turn off the spying features on our gadgets. The reality is that we must never surrender to the paranoia of spies. Officially, security agencies need judicial backing to hack into our gadgets. However, we all know that the most dangerous consents we all give are buried in those mile-long contracts in fine print that allows even the manufacturers and carriers to monitor our conversations and movements surreptitiously. If state agents want to obtain those trackings, they could always get them with judicial backing in the overriding public interest.

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Despite the assurances we have received from our ruiners as they ask us to register our gadgets and accounts, there are no successful reports of a reduction in crime on our shores. On the other hand, alleged sponsors of democratic uprisings such as #EndSars and #EndBadGovernance have ended up having their accounts blocked and detained indefinitely.

One thing became apparent, that if government wants to deploy its information-gathering capacity to secure the nation from the current threats confronting it, it has the weapon to do so. What is lacking is the political will to deploy those weapons that might end the business aspect of the insurgency.

This is why it is not surprising that government, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), keeps declaring people wanted who are in plain sight. This is the ordeal of Kogi’s former governor, Saint Yahaya Adoza Bello. He was declared wanted for allegedly diverting state funds to secure the educational future of his born and unborn children in perpetuity. The EFCC made it look real, except of course they acted like a fool that buried a corpse with its leg hanging.

We all know that former governors get security details for life. These details must always keep tab on the whereabouts of their principals. It took the outrage of Nigerians for the police to withdraw Bello’s security details. Until last week, that was the end of it even when it is public knowledge that, Usman Ododo, Bello’s surrogate successor was actively shielding a supposedly wanted fugitive of the law, the state was reticent in acting. Last week, Bello, accompanied by Ododo, appeared at the offices of the EFCC headquarters arm-in-arms with Ododo and his entire security outfit. If the state wanted Bello so much, it was a simple case of inviting his excellencies to a secure location and withdrawing all the details attached to both men until Bello is securely in custody.

Instead, the EFCC allegedly told him they had withdrawn the fugitive status on him and allowed him to sneak away from its premises. This shambolic show of inefficiency only happens to high-profile suspects.

By nightfall, the EFCC had ambushed an empty Kogi government lodge in Asokoro, subjecting innocent neighbours to a poorly scripted shootout movie that did not produce Bello. It was a poorly scripted drama with a predictable outcome.

The same system that produced a screaming Fayose, a tree-climbing Meleye and did nothing to prevent a man once described by the same agency as one of the most corrupt governors in Nigeria to become president is as usual – playing with our intelligence. Bello is in Nigeria, if the EFCC truly wants him to answer for its alleged crimes, inter-agency operation could make it happen without all the unnecessary drama.

Welcome Governor Okpebholo

Just as I was wrapping up this piece, reports confirmed that the Edo governorship polls have rewarded Dr Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of last Saturday’s electoral exercise. INEC’s returning officer, Professor Faruq Adamu Kuta, announced that the new governor beat his closest rival, PDP’s Ighodalo by over 20,000 votes leaving Mr. Akpata a distant third like all bookmakers predicted.

This victory should gladden the heart of anyone who has followed the Edo elections closely. The 54-year-old governor had the total support of APC big-wigs at the local and national levels. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was among the first people to congratulate the new addition to the APC stable. Like Tinubu, Okpebholo’s campaign was particularly interesting. In one video clip shared by his enemies, a digitally mastered Okpebholo voice was recorded promising Edo people of insecurity. If we were not aware of deep fakes, we would have wished that the new Edo governor go with his patron saint, a certain Monday Osunbor, who was recorded as telling his executioners with the iconic words – wetin una wan do, make una do am quick.

The other video clips of the governor should be quickly taken off social media before some horrible people blackmail him as a man of little or no education. This is because, while the incoming governor did not graduate in English, he had an interesting educational trajectory picking up a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Benin, an MPA and a Ph.D in the same field from the famous premier university, Ibadan. He is said to have a number of philanthropic accolades under his belt. Capping this victory shows the truth in a quote credited to Afro-Juju exponent, Shina Peters, who told his critics that – grammar no be money.

What Edo people need is not a professor of the Queen’s English, but someone who would fulfil his campaign promises, if he made any and navigate the slippery slope of Edo politics with its plethora of godfathers working for their own interests while Edo people hope that at least a bit of crumbs fall to impact their lives.

As a Kogi citizen, I am particularly happy that my governor, Usman Ododo, is now able to stand up and speak ex-tempore instead of leaving things to his spokespeople who are believed to panel beat his communication to Kogians. Who says that ours is not an interesting nation, where those who have the grammar never smell governance, leaving those who don’t a field day to operate.