Yahaya Bello @50: the facts on which I came across, by Rotimi Durojaiye

Very early on Wednesday 18 June 2025, I woke up with a message on some WhatsApp groups, saying that there would be no formal celebration of the 50th birthday of the immediate past governor of the state of Kogi, Yahaya Bello.

He would prefer to prefer to mark him privately, in his residence of Abuja, since the day coincided with the birthday of one of his daughters, said the message.

At the beginning, I was wondering why he would not have wanted to celebrate such a milestone, but then some comments on the groups mentioned the nation’s mood, in particular Benue’s sad crisis, among others.

I was in Abuja for an advanced training program and I had a commitment to Asakoro, not far from the residence of the former governor.

Whenever people spoke of their residence, I always thought of Wuse Zone 4.

So, when I saw the crowd and the long row of vehicles, I asked my Bolt Driver what was going on and said they were all going to Yahaya Bello’s house.

“Today is the anniversary of the fifty birthday of Yahaya Bello. All the people who are trekking are going there. That man is a spirit. Kogi’s people are not a joke (the people of Kogi don’t joke with him),” he said.

I wondered again how people could convince others on the exact opposite of the situation of things only with the type of propaganda that Nigerians like it.

For 30 minutes, we were moving slowly, so I told the bolt driver to stop, in order to satisfy journalistic curiosity in me. I approached different people and asked them if they were invited for a birthday party.

I did not go directly to the point in order to get the real photo.

“They should have celebrated this birthday in an adequate room instead of inviting people to its residence and cause grid blocks in this way,” I said.

“They did not invite us o. But the white lion cannot be 50 years old and will say that we should not come. We came to celebrate it alone. Even if we don’t see him, one against one, we met that we came to celebrate it. We will publish ourselves on Facebook”, one of those I met dancing to the music that they were playing alone, he said.

“They sent a warning that they are not celebrating. This is theirs. 50 years old? We will celebrate it alone. I even thought Gyb was 70 years old, with all the results he recorded,” another said.

I went around, they were all so full of praise, counting everything he had done for the state and saying that although he had chosen a wonderful successor, they did not think that nobody could have an impact on the lives of people like Yahaya Bello.

So, I told The Bolt Guy to find the way back and I called one of my leaders, a managing director of a national newspaper, who has connections with the former governor to help me have access to the residence.

I wanted to see the birthday boy and introduce myself.

I also wanted to apologize for some wrong impression in the past.

I pushed through the crowd and, after about 15 minutes, someone came out of the complex to let me in. But there was almost no room to put your feet overall. In the end, I was introduced. They were around 17:00. No space to sit. I was only somewhere.

To make this long history, the series of former ministers, ministers seated, former senators and seated, traditional sovereigns, federal representatives, members of the Chamber of Assembly, all of the three senatorial districts of the state, showed the type of influence that Yahaya Bello has in its state, perhaps not really known outside.

I have further probed and I was told that beyond the propaganda by some people who want to make themselves popular by any means and beyond the bitter bitter of Kogi, everyone knows that what Yahaya Bello has reached in eight years, in terms of infrastructure development, in education, in education and in other critical sectors, including safety, including safety, the no governor has gone to the creation of the state.

I listened to the messages of good will, one after the other, even by those we thought they were enemies not repentant during the 2023 elections, and I came to the conclusion that the former governor Yahaya Bello is a hero of all time.

But before finishing this short piece, I must say that I was unhappy.

I could not meet the former governor, one against one, or take a photo with him. Nobody also served me food, probably because I was standing everywhere!

The last sentence is on a lighter note.

Finally, I wish many other years of dreams made to the white lion.

*Durojaiye, journalist, was a special councilor for information and strategy for the former governor Ibikunle Amosun of the state of Ogun between 2015 and 2019.