As Kogi governor Yahaya Bello marks two years in office, residents of Lokoja have expressed mixed feelings over his administration, with some condemning him, while others commended his efforts.
The residents expressed their feelings in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.
Mr Adeiza Omeiza, a civil servant, while thanking God for keeping the governor in good health, expressed disappointment at his attitude to workers’ salaries.
“The governor should have mercy on workers and pay their salaries; last year, I received my full salary just four times. Other salaries were either a quarter or less.
“Because of this situation, I could not sustain my family and had to withdraw my children from private schools because I could not pay the school fees.
“The situation was even worse because my wife’s business collapsed with customers owing her because they were equally not paid their salaries.”
He urged the governor to “do better” this year so as to make life easy for workers.
Mrs. Agnes Adebayo, a politician, however, commended the Governor for paying special attention to agriculture and infrastructure.
“These two areas are key to any tangible growth and it is good that government made them priorities,” she said.
She particularly commended his focus on rural roads, saying that the roads would open up the rural areas for development to flourish.
Adebayo also commended the governor for ensuring steady light to Lokoja town.
“Electricity supply has been steady in the past two years. Even villages that never had light, now have it regularly. This is commendable,” he said.
Mr Jamiu Abubakar, a civil servant, appealed to the governor to initiate policies that would create more jobs for youths so as to keep them busy and minimise indolence that could lead them into temptation to commit crime.
“Government must seek out ways to engage the youths because it is dangerous to leave them idle. An idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop,” he said. (NAN)