Under Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, who has been dubbed the “Billboard Governor” by the media, for making promises that are only fulfilled on the faces of billboard planted across the state, the State has been mismanaged that it’s safe to declare that Niger State is on life support. The rots are deepened by the Governor’s deceptive development plans, otherwise known as Vision 3:2020, which promised to make Niger one of the three states with the most developed economy in Nigeria, which was only actualized in reverse.

That a Governor who could not provide basic social amenities like pipe-borne water to disgruntled residents of the State capital in the 8 years of his administration, to make such bold claims and even pushing the false narratives of his proposed the media, highlights the extent to which the people of Niger State have been taken for granted.

As it’s said, there are consequences for every wrong against humanity; Governor Aliyu has just been shown in the March 28 senatorial election that he’s squandered his goodwill, and that he’s no longer needed in the political scene by the people of Niger State. That a publicity-craving politician who’s had the fortune of managing the affairs of the biggest State in Nigeria for 7 years to lose a senatorial election to a longtime rival he’s defeated twice in their Guber bids, and with a very wide margin, clearly spelled out that the people of Niger State are no longer vulnerable to his always eloquently presented deceits.

Now that Governor Aliyu has no more hold to power, with that embarrassing loss in the senatorial election, his only hope now is to have his political bedfellow, the youthful Umar Nasko, representing his interests as Governor of Niger State. Nasko, as a Commissioner and then Chief-of-Staff in Governor Aliyu’s administration, has a lot of strings attached to him. One of these strings is his involvement in the misappropriation of N500, 000 million naira meant for development a 5-star, over which he was sacked in this administration. His recall into Governor Aliyu’s cabinet now is a political calculation that is now obvious to everyone who cares to study the trends in Niger State. Nasko is deeply enmeshed in the corruption scandals that trail Governor Aliyu, and for that he’s already compromised and must be forced to do the bidding of this failed leader. That Nasko now face the people of Niger promising them “continuity” of Governor Aliyu’s admiration is even more pathetic and insulting to the intelligence of the undermined electorate, who’re definitely waiting for April 11 to end this last of the traces of Governor Aliyu’s presence in this power game.

The force of the opposition now set to oust the stooge of Governor is the accomplished entrepreneur, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, popularly known as Abu Lolo, of the APC. Since his emergence as the challenger of this incompetent incumbent he’s built a political firestorm that is needed to fry the very elements that contributed to the mismanagement of Niger State in these past eight years.

As April 11 approaches, my excitement that a new life is coming to Niger State is heightened. The change we need in Niger State is stopping all who have mismanaged our resources, and never giving their bedfellows another chance to continue in their legacy of destruction. We’ve no option other than allying to bring in a new Government. The only reward for an incompetent government or its representative is Change, a change of it.

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