Yahaya Bello: I’ve broken down the walls of ethnicity dividing my people

Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, says his time in office has been dedicated to breaking down the walls of ethnicity that divides the state.

The governor was reacting to social media postings purporting him to be biased against certain ethnic group in the state.

In a statement, Bello said his “signature” has been uniting people in and out of government.

The governor said after he was sworn in, he made appointments from the three senatorial districts in the state.

“A few days ago an image of me was posted online with a quote which insults the family and political values of a section of our society. The unforgivably inflammatory text attached to the post, which is completely false, was attributed to me,” he said.

“The said statement is incredibly bigoted, insensitive, insulting, and instigating. I did not make it and I could not have made it because it offends my values and worldview. I am disgusted that anyone would not only think it up, but go ahead to ascribe it to me.

“My signature has been uniting our people in and out of government. In my very first appointments after Inauguration I symbolically appointed three gentlemen, one from each Senatorial District of Kogi State, into key positions. Since then, I have not relented in preaching and practicing unity and peace and progress of all Kogites.

“My time in office has been singularly dedicated to breaking down the walls of ethnicity which divide us and institutionalising equity and equality. Thus, when people cook up lies like this and circulate it publicly without giving thought to the possible dangers to society, I become even more committed to defending our oneness with all the resources at my disposal.

“While it is usually not my practice to respond personally to issues like this, when a post is particularly incendiary like this one, it becomes tantamount to soaking the fabric of our society in fuel and trying to put fire to it.

“In such circumstances, I consider it my duty to step up personally to douse the flames.”