When Professor Sagay was appointed as Chairman, Presidential
Advisory Committee Against Corruption, there was a term of
reference within which the Committee and ultimately, its Chairman
was to operate. In case Prof. Sagay has forgotten the terms of
reference for the said Committee, we will be kind enough to remind
him in this article at no cost. The terms of reference is as
contained in a press statement issued by Femi Adesina shortly after
Prof. Sagay’s appointment in 2015. According to Femi Adesina,
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the
Committee’s brief is to “advise the Government on the prosecution
of the war against corruption and the implementation of required
reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.” Unfortunately,
despite this clear cut template which defines Prof. Sagay’s scope
of operation as Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against
Corruption, Prof. Sagay in the most bizarre manner has since his
appointment, preferred to concern himself to issues that are
outside the field of his hiring and in so doing, have made unguided
utterances and unfounded allegations that are unbecoming of a
Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
As a legal practitioner, Prof. Sagay ought to know that there
are limits to everything. The expected role of Prof. Sagay-chaired
committee is merely to “advise the President”. In other words,
Prof. Sagay’s job ought to be a solemn and secret one. He is not
expected to grant interviews on any advice he gives to the
President except where his hirer (Mr. President) specifically
instructs otherwise. Unfortunately, Prof. Sagay has, to say the
least, brushed aside this little expectation to the detriment of
his own reputation built over the years, at least academically.
Let us go down memory lane, and see some of the unguided
utterances and accusations that have proceeded from the mouth of
Prof. Sagay ever since he was appointed by the President as
Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption. They
are:
- In 2016, Prof. Sagay accused the Supreme Court Justices as
being corrupt and even justified the illegal and unconstitutional
raids carried out by the DSS operatives in their houses at
night! - In November, 2016, Prof. Sagay turned himself into Rotimi
Amaechi’s media aid and defender when he described Amaechi as “one
of Buhari’s brightest stars”, and proceeded to condemn those
calling for his resignation as corrupt individuals who are
“malicious and vindictive”. He also accused the Supreme Court
Justices who indicted Amaechi on bribery allegation as having the
intention to undermine and weaken the Federal Government. - In December, 2016, Prof. Sagay declared that the appointment of
Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), will be “renewed” whether he is confirmed by the
Senate or or not. By this, Prof. Sagay openly declared that the
Senate is irrelevant as far as the appointment of EFCC Chairman is
concerned even though that is not what the law says. Prof. Sagay
then proceeded to accuse the National Assembly as being corrupt. In
his words, the enemies of anti-corruption war are in the National
Assembly! This allegation provoked even his party (the APC) and in
a subsequent statement issued by the Party’s Spokesman Bolaji
Abdullahi, Prof. Sagay was cautioned not to create more enemies for
President Buhari via his unguided and reckless utterances. - In March, 2017, Prof. Sagay accused the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) and the Nigerian Custom Service as being corrupt
and reckless. - In April, 2017, Prof. Sagay, during an interview with The
PUNCH, described Nigerian Senators as childish and irresponsible
for refusing to screen 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners because
President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to sack the acting Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
The Senate described Sagay’s comments as condemnable and
subsequently referred the matter to the Committee on Ethics and
Privileges for further action. However, in a letter titled ‘Re:
Resolution summoning me to appear before the Senate’ and addressed
to the Senate President, Prof. Sagay arrogantly stated that the
Senate can sue him for defamation but cannot summon him to appear
before it. This was a supposed constitutional lawyer talking! - In February, 2020, Prof. Sagay condemned the Supreme Court for
fining Olanipekun and Afe Babalola in the case filed by the APC for
the review of Supreme Court judgment on Zamfara State. In his view,
by fining these senior lawyers, the Supreme Court “applied good law
on wrong people”!
As if the above were not enough, just recently, on Sunday, the
10th of May, 2020, to be precise, Prof. Sagay was reported to have
granted interview to Daily Independent Newspaper wherein he made
some ridiculous remarks in relation to Kogi State Covid-19-Free
status and the Governor of Kogi State. He was quoted to have said
thus:
“That is a clear act of illegality. It is a clear case
of provoking a more powerful entity than yourself and he got away
with it. Even as a layman in medicine, nobody needs to tell me that
Kogi state is probably full of COVID-19 infected people. From all
that Yahaya Bello is doing, he is covering up. It’s as if there is
a prize he will win if he continues to say there is not a single
case of COVID-19 in the state. It is very childish and infantile
act”. Now, he is covering up but what what it means is that when
the thing spreads and death toll continues to rise like the case in
Kano, then he will be overwhelmed and nobody will tell him before
he crawls back to the federal government. What he did was illegal.
He has no power to send back the NCDC officials who are acting
under federal authority in this matter in which there is federal
supremacy. If the federal government wants, it can send those NCDC
officials back to Kogi state with full security and they will go
in, do all the tests they want. Nobody will lift a finger against
them, nobody will talk. They will do the tests well and be
satisfied with the might and law behind them. So, Yahaya Bello is
just testing an authority that is far higher than him but he should
thank God that we have an accommodating Federal government. The
NCDC officials know there are COVID-19 infected cases in the state
and the whole thing is just a cover up. I suspect it is the same
situation in Cross River”.
Prof. Sagay, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for that matter,
having dished out insults against the Governor of Kogi State, also
(as usual outside the scope of his hiring by Mr. President)
“advised” the Federal Government via Newspaper interview to use
“might” by deploying “full security” to Kogi State and force the
people of the State to undergo Corona virus test at the behest of
the NCDC. Well, while Sagay’s remarks and advice are laughable
judging from the fact that acting outside his scope of employment
has become his stock in trade, one still wonders why someone in his
status would engage in such immature “venture”. Prof. Sagay
described Kogi State Governor as being “childish” but his (Sagay’s)
utterance on Kogi Governor itself portrays him (Sagay) as a perfect
picture or example of a little child playing inside a heap of sand
today and murky waters tomorrow!
When I first read Prof. Sagay’s comments about Kogi Governor and
Kogi State Covid-19-free status, many questions ran through my mind
to wit: Is Sagay now a Minister of Health? Why is Prof. Sagay
wishing Kogi State evil by saying that there is Corona virus in the
State when in reality, there is nothing of such? Why is everyone
including Sagay insisting that Kogi State must have Corona virus at
all cost instead of commending the Governor and his team for
ensuring that the disease does not come to the State? What is the
gain of Prof. Sagay and the NCDC officials if Corona Virus is
confirmed in all the States of the Federation? Why would Sagay, a
renowned Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria advise
the Federal Government to use force and deploy “full
security” to Kogi State when a State of emmergency is not declared
in the State? Are we in a military regime or in state of war?
As constitutional lawyer, is Prof. Sagay not aware that his remarks
and advice are illegal and unconstitutional?
It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, we delight in celebrating
failure than success. In a country of 36 States and the FCT, only
two states, that is, Kogi State and Cross River State, are yet to
record a confirmed case of Covid-19 disease. Instead of celebrating
(with) these two exceptional States and their respective
hardworking Governors, the NCDC officials and other powerful people
like Prof. Sagay chose to throw condemnations and unfounded
allegations on the lucky States and their Governors!
In Kogi State for instance, even the opposition are well pleased
with the way and manner Governor Yahaya Bello and his Deputy have
handled and confronted the Covid-19 Pandemic in the State. At a
time when some fictitious cases of Covid-19 were reported in some
States just to put those to whom it may concern in an unholy
position of making money in the guise of fighting the disease,
Governor Bello chose the honest and un-lucrative path of preventing
the spread of the disease into the State instead of making money
from it, but today, he is being attacked and castigated by people
like Prof Sagay.
It is a popular cliché that prevention is better than cure. This
is what has helped Kogi State in the fight against the
Pandemic. Immediately the disease was declared in Nigeria, Governor
Bello established what is called Kogi State Covid-19 Squadron
Committee headed by the Deputy Governor of the State to draw out
plans and guidelines on how to prevent the disease from spreading
into the State, and how to possibly fight it in the case of any
eventuality. Jingles were sponsored by the Government to enlighten
the people of the State on how to curb the spread of the disease.
Schools and work places were closed. Religious, social and other
public gatherings were prohibited. Civil servants were directed to
work from home while prompt payment of salaries remain unchanged.
Face masks and the use of hand sanitizers were consistently advised
to be used by the people of the State. Deserving Inmates were
released from various Correctional Centers in the State and were
given transportation money and protective items such as face masks
and sanitizers for their own safety. All these measures paid off as
the people of Kogi State became very much enlightened about
Covid-19 and how to curtail it’s spread. In fact, enlightenment on
Covid-19 was so popular in Kogi State to the extent that whenever
my little child of about 2 years old saw someone wearing a face
mask on TV or anywhere, he would shout, “Corona Virus”!
But, to people like Sagay, nothing else counts unless and until
the disease is confirmed in Kogi State! Of course, Prof. Sagay has
not heard, or rather, is not aware of all the above commendable
measures and modalities put in place by the Governor of Kogi State
and his team which have earned the State an enviable achievement of
being a Covid-19-free State. However, Prof. Sagay is quick to hear
about what transpired between NCDC officials and the Kogi Governor!
Little wonder why the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike in
2016, once described him (Sagay) as “a false intellectual with
broken moral compass”! (See Vanguard News (Online) of 11th
December, 2016).
Prof. Sagay as he clearly admitted himself, is a layman in
medicine yet, Prof. Sagay was sure in his armchair conclusion that
“Kogi State is probably full of COVID-19 infected people”. In
arriving at this rootless conclusion, Prof. Sagay threw simple
logic about Covid-19 Pandemic into the wind. The simple logic is
anchored on the fact that symptoms of Covid-19 are manifested
within 14 days of contracting the disease, and this explains why
the quarantine period has always been 14 days. Now, It is over a
month that the NCDC has been raising false alarm that Kogi State
cannot be Covid-19 free as claimed by Kogi Governor, yet, nobody
has died from the disease in the State. If Governor Bello is truly
concealing or covering up Covid-19 cases in Kogi State as alleged
by NCDC Officials and Prof. Sagay, can he also conceal or cover up
deaths? Why are people not dying in Kogi State like the way people
die in some other States that have confirmed cases of the disease?
Why have the NCDC officials abandoned the war fronts in places like
Kano, Lagos, FCT etc, where the disease is spreading geometrically
only to take the “war” to a place like Kogi State where the disease
does not exist? Honest answers to these simple logical questions
will obviously establish the fact that Kogi State being
Covid-19-free is not just a claim but a reality! And for this
achievement, Governor Bello does not need an award as suggested by
Prof. Sagay. The achievement of being a covid-19-free State at a
time when millions of people are perishing globally as a result of
the pandemic, is in itself, a divine crown bigger and higher than
any man-made award!
Before bringing this article to an end, it is very essential to
state in clear terms what transpired between the Governor of Kogi
State and the NCDC officials that visited the State. The Governor
after receiving the NCDC officials observed that the officials had
contacts with the Governor’s D.G. Protocol which is against the
NCDC and WHO guidelines in the fight against Covid-19 Pandemic.
Consequently, the Governor directed that the said NCDC officials
and his D.G. Protocol should be tested and quarantined for 14 days
in accordance with the NCDC guidelines and that of the WHO. Instead
of submitting themselves to this simple exercise at least for test
first, the said NCDC officials decided take to their heels when no
one was pursuing them, except their own shadows. Is it not a sad
commentary and a strange irony that the NCDC officials who came to
Kogi State probably with the aim of testing people in the State do
not want to submit themselves for testing too? It is a common
saying that “charity begins at home”!
Thus, in my view, there is nothing wrong with the action of the
Governor of Kogi State, judging from the fact that the NCDC had
before their visit, made uncomplementary remarks in relation to
Kogi State Government’s claim that the State is Covid-19-free. In
other to ensure that the disease is not deliberately planted in the
State in the guise of paying official visit, the Governor was wise
enough to adopt a preventive measure against any negative intention
or motive of the visiting NCDC officials who by their previous
remarks, projected themselves as “visitors” with questionable
interest to serve and ulterior motive to achieve in their visit to
Kogi State.
But, instead of condemning the NCDC officials who flouted their
own guidelines and that of the World Health Organization (WHO),
Prof. Sagay, as usual, chose to dance to the tunes of a foul-spirit
melody with an evil prayer point that one day people will begin to
die any how in Kogi State and the Governor will crawl to Abuja for
help! May he dance well even unto the gate of hell but his evil
prayers for Kogi State can never come to pass!
(S.O. Akobe is a Legal Practitioner, a Social
Commentator and Poet. He can be reached via
akobe4onu@gmail.com)
When Professor Sagay was appointed as Chairman, Presidential
Advisory Committee Against Corruption, there was a term of
reference within which the Committee and ultimately, its Chairman
was to operate. In case Prof. Sagay has forgotten the terms of
reference for the said Committee, we will be kind enough to remind
him in this article at no cost. The terms of reference is as
contained in a press statement issued by Femi Adesina shortly after
Prof. Sagay’s appointment in 2015. According to Femi Adesina,
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the
Committee’s brief is to “advise the Government on the prosecution
of the war against corruption and the implementation of required
reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.” Unfortunately,
despite this clear cut template which defines Prof. Sagay’s scope
of operation as Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against
Corruption, Prof. Sagay in the most bizarre manner has since his
appointment, preferred to concern himself to issues that are
outside the field of his hiring and in so doing, have made unguided
utterances and unfounded allegations that are unbecoming of a
Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
As a legal practitioner, Prof. Sagay ought to know that there
are limits to everything. The expected role of Prof. Sagay-chaired
committee is merely to “advise the President”. In other words,
Prof. Sagay’s job ought to be a solemn and secret one. He is not
expected to grant interviews on any advice he gives to the
President except where his hirer (Mr. President) specifically
instructs otherwise. Unfortunately, Prof. Sagay has, to say the
least, brushed aside this little expectation to the detriment of
his own reputation built over the years, at least academically.
Let us go down memory lane, and see some of the unguided
utterances and accusations that have proceeded from the mouth of
Prof. Sagay ever since he was appointed by the President as
Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption. They
are:
- In 2016, Prof. Sagay accused the Supreme Court Justices as
being corrupt and even justified the illegal and unconstitutional
raids carried out by the DSS operatives in their houses at
night! - In November, 2016, Prof. Sagay turned himself into Rotimi
Amaechi’s media aid and defender when he described Amaechi as “one
of Buhari’s brightest stars”, and proceeded to condemn those
calling for his resignation as corrupt individuals who are
“malicious and vindictive”. He also accused the Supreme Court
Justices who indicted Amaechi on bribery allegation as having the
intention to undermine and weaken the Federal Government. - In December, 2016, Prof. Sagay declared that the appointment of
Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), will be “renewed” whether he is confirmed by the
Senate or or not. By this, Prof. Sagay openly declared that the
Senate is irrelevant as far as the appointment of EFCC Chairman is
concerned even though that is not what the law says. Prof. Sagay
then proceeded to accuse the National Assembly as being corrupt. In
his words, the enemies of anti-corruption war are in the National
Assembly! This allegation provoked even his party (the APC) and in
a subsequent statement issued by the Party’s Spokesman Bolaji
Abdullahi, Prof. Sagay was cautioned not to create more enemies for
President Buhari via his unguided and reckless utterances. - In March, 2017, Prof. Sagay accused the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) and the Nigerian Custom Service as being corrupt
and reckless. - In April, 2017, Prof. Sagay, during an interview with The
PUNCH, described Nigerian Senators as childish and irresponsible
for refusing to screen 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners because
President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to sack the acting Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
The Senate described Sagay’s comments as condemnable and
subsequently referred the matter to the Committee on Ethics and
Privileges for further action. However, in a letter titled ‘Re:
Resolution summoning me to appear before the Senate’ and addressed
to the Senate President, Prof. Sagay arrogantly stated that the
Senate can sue him for defamation but cannot summon him to appear
before it. This was a supposed constitutional lawyer talking! - In February, 2020, Prof. Sagay condemned the Supreme Court for
fining Olanipekun and Afe Babalola in the case filed by the APC for
the review of Supreme Court judgment on Zamfara State. In his view,
by fining these senior lawyers, the Supreme Court “applied good law
on wrong people”!
As if the above were not enough, just recently, on Sunday, the
10th of May, 2020, to be precise, Prof. Sagay was reported to have
granted interview to Daily Independent Newspaper wherein he made
some ridiculous remarks in relation to Kogi State Covid-19-Free
status and the Governor of Kogi State. He was quoted to have said
thus:
“That is a clear act of illegality. It is a clear case
of provoking a more powerful entity than yourself and he got away
with it. Even as a layman in medicine, nobody needs to tell me that
Kogi state is probably full of COVID-19 infected people. From all
that Yahaya Bello is doing, he is covering up. It’s as if there is
a prize he will win if he continues to say there is not a single
case of COVID-19 in the state. It is very childish and infantile
act”. Now, he is covering up but what what it means is that when
the thing spreads and death toll continues to rise like the case in
Kano, then he will be overwhelmed and nobody will tell him before
he crawls back to the federal government. What he did was illegal.
He has no power to send back the NCDC officials who are acting
under federal authority in this matter in which there is federal
supremacy. If the federal government wants, it can send those NCDC
officials back to Kogi state with full security and they will go
in, do all the tests they want. Nobody will lift a finger against
them, nobody will talk. They will do the tests well and be
satisfied with the might and law behind them. So, Yahaya Bello is
just testing an authority that is far higher than him but he should
thank God that we have an accommodating Federal government. The
NCDC officials know there are COVID-19 infected cases in the state
and the whole thing is just a cover up. I suspect it is the same
situation in Cross River”.
Prof. Sagay, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for that matter,
having dished out insults against the Governor of Kogi State, also
(as usual outside the scope of his hiring by Mr. President)
“advised” the Federal Government via Newspaper interview to use
“might” by deploying “full security” to Kogi State and force the
people of the State to undergo Corona virus test at the behest of
the NCDC. Well, while Sagay’s remarks and advice are laughable
judging from the fact that acting outside his scope of employment
has become his stock in trade, one still wonders why someone in his
status would engage in such immature “venture”. Prof. Sagay
described Kogi State Governor as being “childish” but his (Sagay’s)
utterance on Kogi Governor itself portrays him (Sagay) as a perfect
picture or example of a little child playing inside a heap of sand
today and murky waters tomorrow!
When I first read Prof. Sagay’s comments about Kogi Governor and
Kogi State Covid-19-free status, many questions ran through my mind
to wit: Is Sagay now a Minister of Health? Why is Prof. Sagay
wishing Kogi State evil by saying that there is Corona virus in the
State when in reality, there is nothing of such? Why is everyone
including Sagay insisting that Kogi State must have Corona virus at
all cost instead of commending the Governor and his team for
ensuring that the disease does not come to the State? What is the
gain of Prof. Sagay and the NCDC officials if Corona Virus is
confirmed in all the States of the Federation? Why would Sagay, a
renowned Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria advise
the Federal Government to use force and deploy “full
security” to Kogi State when a State of emmergency is not declared
in the State? Are we in a military regime or in state of war?
As constitutional lawyer, is Prof. Sagay not aware that his remarks
and advice are illegal and unconstitutional?
It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, we delight in celebrating
failure than success. In a country of 36 States and the FCT, only
two states, that is, Kogi State and Cross River State, are yet to
record a confirmed case of Covid-19 disease. Instead of celebrating
(with) these two exceptional States and their respective
hardworking Governors, the NCDC officials and other powerful people
like Prof. Sagay chose to throw condemnations and unfounded
allegations on the lucky States and their Governors!
In Kogi State for instance, even the opposition are well pleased
with the way and manner Governor Yahaya Bello and his Deputy have
handled and confronted the Covid-19 Pandemic in the State. At a
time when some fictitious cases of Covid-19 were reported in some
States just to put those to whom it may concern in an unholy
position of making money in the guise of fighting the disease,
Governor Bello chose the honest and un-lucrative path of preventing
the spread of the disease into the State instead of making money
from it, but today, he is being attacked and castigated by people
like Prof Sagay.
It is a popular cliché that prevention is better than cure. This
is what has helped Kogi State in the fight against the
Pandemic. Immediately the disease was declared in Nigeria, Governor
Bello established what is called Kogi State Covid-19 Squadron
Committee headed by the Deputy Governor of the State to draw out
plans and guidelines on how to prevent the disease from spreading
into the State, and how to possibly fight it in the case of any
eventuality. Jingles were sponsored by the Government to enlighten
the people of the State on how to curb the spread of the disease.
Schools and work places were closed. Religious, social and other
public gatherings were prohibited. Civil servants were directed to
work from home while prompt payment of salaries remain unchanged.
Face masks and the use of hand sanitizers were consistently advised
to be used by the people of the State. Deserving Inmates were
released from various Correctional Centers in the State and were
given transportation money and protective items such as face masks
and sanitizers for their own safety. All these measures paid off as
the people of Kogi State became very much enlightened about
Covid-19 and how to curtail it’s spread. In fact, enlightenment on
Covid-19 was so popular in Kogi State to the extent that whenever
my little child of about 2 years old saw someone wearing a face
mask on TV or anywhere, he would shout, “Corona Virus”!
But, to people like Sagay, nothing else counts unless and until
the disease is confirmed in Kogi State! Of course, Prof. Sagay has
not heard, or rather, is not aware of all the above commendable
measures and modalities put in place by the Governor of Kogi State
and his team which have earned the State an enviable achievement of
being a Covid-19-free State. However, Prof. Sagay is quick to hear
about what transpired between NCDC officials and the Kogi Governor!
Little wonder why the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike in
2016, once described him (Sagay) as “a false intellectual with
broken moral compass”! (See Vanguard News (Online) of 11th
December, 2016).
Prof. Sagay as he clearly admitted himself, is a layman in
medicine yet, Prof. Sagay was sure in his armchair conclusion that
“Kogi State is probably full of COVID-19 infected people”. In
arriving at this rootless conclusion, Prof. Sagay threw simple
logic about Covid-19 Pandemic into the wind. The simple logic is
anchored on the fact that symptoms of Covid-19 are manifested
within 14 days of contracting the disease, and this explains why
the quarantine period has always been 14 days. Now, It is over a
month that the NCDC has been raising false alarm that Kogi State
cannot be Covid-19 free as claimed by Kogi Governor, yet, nobody
has died from the disease in the State. If Governor Bello is truly
concealing or covering up Covid-19 cases in Kogi State as alleged
by NCDC Officials and Prof. Sagay, can he also conceal or cover up
deaths? Why are people not dying in Kogi State like the way people
die in some other States that have confirmed cases of the disease?
Why have the NCDC officials abandoned the war fronts in places like
Kano, Lagos, FCT etc, where the disease is spreading geometrically
only to take the “war” to a place like Kogi State where the disease
does not exist? Honest answers to these simple logical questions
will obviously establish the fact that Kogi State being
Covid-19-free is not just a claim but a reality! And for this
achievement, Governor Bello does not need an award as suggested by
Prof. Sagay. The achievement of being a covid-19-free State at a
time when millions of people are perishing globally as a result of
the pandemic, is in itself, a divine crown bigger and higher than
any man-made award!
Before bringing this article to an end, it is very essential to
state in clear terms what transpired between the Governor of Kogi
State and the NCDC officials that visited the State. The Governor
after receiving the NCDC officials observed that the officials had
contacts with the Governor’s D.G. Protocol which is against the
NCDC and WHO guidelines in the fight against Covid-19 Pandemic.
Consequently, the Governor directed that the said NCDC officials
and his D.G. Protocol should be tested and quarantined for 14 days
in accordance with the NCDC guidelines and that of the WHO. Instead
of submitting themselves to this simple exercise at least for test
first, the said NCDC officials decided take to their heels when no
one was pursuing them, except their own shadows. Is it not a sad
commentary and a strange irony that the NCDC officials who came to
Kogi State probably with the aim of testing people in the State do
not want to submit themselves for testing too? It is a common
saying that “charity begins at home”!
Thus, in my view, there is nothing wrong with the action of the
Governor of Kogi State, judging from the fact that the NCDC had
before their visit, made uncomplementary remarks in relation to
Kogi State Government’s claim that the State is Covid-19-free. In
other to ensure that the disease is not deliberately planted in the
State in the guise of paying official visit, the Governor was wise
enough to adopt a preventive measure against any negative intention
or motive of the visiting NCDC officials who by their previous
remarks, projected themselves as “visitors” with questionable
interest to serve and ulterior motive to achieve in their visit to
Kogi State.
But, instead of condemning the NCDC officials who flouted their
own guidelines and that of the World Health Organization (WHO),
Prof. Sagay, as usual, chose to dance to the tunes of a foul-spirit
melody with an evil prayer point that one day people will begin to
die any how in Kogi State and the Governor will crawl to Abuja for
help! May he dance well even unto the gate of hell but his evil
prayers for Kogi State can never come to pass!
(S.O. Akobe is a Legal Practitioner, a Social
Commentator and Poet. He can be reached via
akobe4onu@gmail.com)