No New Wells: Ododo’s Oath of Perpetual Loyalty to Yahaya Bello
Kogi Governor Usman Ododo vowed never to betray his predecessor, Yahaya Bell,o during an APC meeting in Abuja, framing their bond as an unbreakable father-son relationship. Invoking the proverb “A river that forgets its source dries up,” he positioned loyalty as existential, a pledge that has ignited debate about political godfatherism in Nigeria……READ ORIGINAL & FULL CONTENT HERE
• Ododo credits Bello for his rise from obscurity to power
• Publicly denies rift rumors but oddly pleads: “Mediate if he’s angry with me”
• Reinforces Nigeria’s controversial godfatherism model as virtuous
Ododo’s oath unveils the paradox of Nigerian political hydration—where leaders compulsively return to the same contaminated wells of patronage rather than daring to dig new springs. His theatrical declaration mirrors the plight of rural Kogi communities, where women trek miles to fetch water from aging, algae-choked ponds because no one dares to drill fresh boreholes. Just as poisoned water perpetuates disease, recycled political loyalties infect governance with chronic underdevelopment.
The governor’s “river and source” analogy rings hollow in a state where actual rivers like the Niger and Benue converge yet fail to quench grassroots thirst. When Ododo kneels to drink from Bello’s well, he condemns Kogi to the same cyclical drought, political, economic, and imaginative. True leadership wouldn’t glorify the bucket that lifted him; it would pipe new waters to the people still waiting in line……READ ORIGINAL & FULL CONTENT HERE