Yahaya Bello under scrutiny over lack of testing for COVID-19 in Kogi
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is not on the good books of many Nigerians who had high hopes in him when he became governor at 40. It was a time many Nigerians were advocating for the inclusion of young people in politics and governance, the advocacy birthed the #NotTooYoungToRun movement in support of a bill that reduced the age limit for those aspiring to run for public office.
Since 2015 when he assumed office, he has been enmeshed in different controversies ranging from nonpayment of salaries running into several months, political violence, condescending actions that bring insult to his office and dirty political battles against opponents like his estranged friend Senator Dino Melaye. Many have argued that Bello’s action and achievements since 2015 do not measure up to the confidence reposed in him by many in his state and outside Kogi calling for youth inclusion in politics, for them, he has shown that there is a thin line between the younger generation and old blocs accused of years of misrule and corruption.
During his second term campaign in November 2019, the Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai and Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, had to go on their knees at a rally to beg the people of Kogi to forgive him and give him a second chance.
El-Rufai had said Bello “who is a young governor is, however, bound to make mistakes”, while Mrs. Buhari urged the people “to forgive and forget.” Six months after he was declared winner of the November 16, 2019 election marred by widespread violence and snatching of ballot boxes, Yahaya Bello has not shown any sign of change since
From opinions on the internet, many Nigerians do not trust him to provide good leadership for the state, when he announced on Sunday Politics, a live programme of Channels Television on April 19 that the state had developed a mobile application that residents can use to ascertain whether people with symptoms of coronavirus should report for testing, many Nigerians became worried and fear for the lives of the people of the state.
“So far, we have established about three isolation centres in the state. As God would have it, we have not recorded any issue. What we did was to develop an app that we launched and ensured that all citizens in Kogi State have access to that particular app,” the youngest Nigerian governor said confidently.
As of 11:25pm on Thursday May 7, Kogi and Cross River are the two states in Nigeria that have not recorded a case of COVID-19 since the country recorded its index case in February, but many are more worried about Kogi than they are about Cross River. They simply do not trust the man at the helm of affairs in Kogi state. Kogi is bordered by nine States – Nasarawa to the northeast; Benue to the east; Enugu, Anambra, and Delta to the south; Ondo, Ekiti, and Kwara to the west; and Niger to the north. All the states have recorded COVID-19 cases.
From Yahaya Bello’s comment on Channels TV, it shows the state is yet to carry out any COVID-19 test as it banks on its mobile app to do the magic of virus detection.
Investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo raised an alarm on Tuesday over an alleged cover up of COVID-19 cases in the state.
In a thread of tweets, Soyombo said “on Saturday, a patient died at FMC (Federal Medical Centre), Lokoja, Kogi, after exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. His samples weren’t taken. That was the 4th such death at the FMC last week alone. Not once was the patient’s samples taken, dead or alive.
“Last week, there were some patients in the O&G ward who manifested respiratory issues, inability to breathe and other COVID-19 symptoms. Three of them died.”
He said the hospitals in the state were not testing for COVID-19 because the state government ordered them not to do so.
“Ideally, the FMC ought to notify the Ministry of Health of the need for sample collection if it suspects a case, but the ministry needs to secure the authorisation of the Incident Manager, that is the Commissioner for Health, who directly relates with the NCDC,” he said.
“If the Commissioner says no, end of request! Meanwhile, state hospitals are not even in a position to call the health ministry. I understand the instruction from Gov Yahaya Bello is that there should be no testing.”
Soyombo also claimed that Kogi state government “has blatantly REFUSED to test”, while “the FMC has been warned that if it breaches protocol by sending anyone’s samples to the NCDC it would be shut down on the pretext of exposure to the virus”.
On Thursday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) sent a delegation to Kogi to assist the state to boost its testing capacity, but Bello insisted that before they are allowed to commence their assignment, they had to go on 14-day isolation based on the rules laid by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The team has reportedly returned to Abuja.
NCDC’s Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, last week, expressed dissatisfaction with the samples collected from the states, saying more tests need to be done.
In a viral video where he was addressing the NDDC officials on Thursday night, Bello had bemoaned the shutdown of economic activities to fight COVID-19, saying the country is losing billions and warned that the economy will collapse soon.
He lamented that the state gained N1.7 billion in Internal Generated Revenue in March but it struggled to make N400 million for April IGR. The governor appears to be more concerned about the economic cost of the pandemic than the loss of human lives.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi State is also worried over what is happening in the state. NMA has expressed concern over the refusal of the state to test suspected cases of COVID-19.
NMA Chairman in Kogi, Kabir Zubair, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, expressed fears that the consequences of not testing people for the COVID-19 may be too enormous to deal with.
Director General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a press briefing in March that “You can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it is.” He then advised nations to “test, test, test”. Nigerians are worried that the decision of Kogi not to test may lead the nation into an overwhelming new outbreak in no distant time that will destroy the success recorded so far over the pandemic.
A Twitter user wrote @Mr_Rotimi: “Yahaya Bello is toying with the lives of Kogi state residents. FMC, Lokoja, Kogi have started recording mysterious deaths and some of the deceased exhibited Covid-19 symptoms and respiratory problems. No samples are taken, no test has been carried out. Kogi is the next Kano!”
Gimba Kakanda who is also worried over reports from the ‘confluence state’ tweeted: “Yahaya Bello needs to spend less time in the gym and more in the reality of his state. If his ambition is to fight Mike Tyson, he should’ve just stayed in Abuja and hired a boxing coach. These boxing stunts are humanizing only in a normal time, but his are a series of bad optics.”
Reacting to public outrage over the state’s handling of COVID-19, the State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna said the state is under pressure to announce that it has coronavirus cases when there is none. The commissioner said the state would not succumb to such pressure.
Senator Shehu Sani is, however, of the opinion that the Federal Government needs to look into the issues raised by Yahaya Bello about NCDC and COVID-19.
He tweeted: “The FG must officially respond to the issues continuously raised by the Kogi Governor on #Covid_19 & the @NCDCgov; In times of national health emergency like this, such a serious allegation should be investigated. Confirmed or dismissed but must not be ignored.”
