The Director General of the Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organization, Hasfat Abiola-Costello, has described the Kogi State Governor as a unifier.
Addressing reporters in Abuja on Sunday, she said the Kogi State governor has something in common with her late father, M. K. O. Abiola, which is the ability to unite people and a strong belief in Nigerians.
Abiola-Costello said the Kogi Governor runs an all inclusive policy and is the person needed to move the country forward.
“When I look at Yahaya Bello, I see something that I saw also with my father, which is that he is a unifier. He believes in Nigeria. We need a Nigerian leader that believes in Nigerians, that believes in all Nigerian people and fights for all Nigerian people. MKO Abiola was such a man. This governor, Yahaya Bello is also such a person. In his own cabinet in Kogi State, all six geopolitical zones are represented and this is somebody that fights for young people.
“We now have Boko Haram and we know from the history of Boko Haram we know that some of the young people that became members of Boko Haram had actually been used by politicians in preparing for elections and dumped afterwards with no opportunity. And then when you combine that with the general injustice that they experience every day in their lives you could see that there was an explosion. They had had enough. They now turned to this violence that the whole country is suffering from today.
“Even the kidnapping that we see in many parts of the country, is a signal of the lack of opportunity in the country. Bello fights for young people. His government has 95 percent of the appointees are young people. He does not just use them to campaign. He puts them in his structures with opportunities to have dignified work.
“Even look at his campaign council. Look at all of us members of his campaign council. You should see that we are not old people. Indeed many people said to him that for the DG, he must have someone much older and more experienced. He fought to be able to have me serve in this capacity even though I am younger than the people being considered, even though I am female. You also recall that his ADC is female.
“This is a leader that when he thinks of capacity, he does not think that only men have capacity because it is not true. Not only men have capacity. Women have played an important role for us to have the democracy we are enjoying today. He is a leader that gives women the opportunity to serve.
“Nigerians need a leader that would unify us. Who sees our competencies and would use us in the different roles based on our competencies not based on our ethnicity. All these problems we see Nigeria have are problems that would be solved one after the other. This country would be a story of wonder not just for our country, continent, but for the whole world.”