OPINION: Before China Transformer Manufacturing Company In Kogi, Please Give Us the Much Celebrated Kogi Industrial Park | By Isah Bala

I do not subscribe to the school of thought that is hinged on bringing the government of the day to obloquy, but I am a firm believer of constructive critique, prudent management and accountability of limited resources by the government and making the government to be responsive to the citizenry.

I've read on several blogs and different social media platforms especially the one shared by the CPS to the Kogi State Governor,
https://bitlylink.com/XSPbL about how Kogi State government is set to host Chinese company that will be Manufacturing Transformer in a 4bn facility in Kogi which the promoters of the news credited to "the level of security achieved by the present administration."

Ordinarily, this would have brought euphoria to every discerning mind in the state but as the age long axiom holds, "once bitten, twice shy". In Kogi state, we've celebrated so many newspaper headlines which ultimately turned to be hoax, castles in the air that never touch the ground after so much have been spent on its publicity and trips to oversea on survey and whatnot.

We cannot easily forget how we were fooled in 2016 when the story of Kogi Industrial Park meant to be sitting on 200 hectares of land along Ganaja-Ajaokuta Road took over the cyberspace.

We were told how Kogi state government had reached agreement with ChinaRoads Construction, Designs and Consultancy Company (CCDCC), to construct industrial Park that will create over 100,000 jobs.

Many Kogites like me had actually envisaged how the project will improve the lives of the populace with the promised of thousands of job and of course, the revenue to the government of the state.

After so much have been spent on trip to China, publicity and whatnot, Kogi Industrial Park died a natural death and no valid explanation has been given to the people of Kogi state after two years.

In a saner clime, there's nothing wrong for government to admit before the people that we got it wrong in some areas and tell the people what they are doing to mend those mistakes.

But I do not understand why it's so hard for those steering our ship to admit they've hit the rock because of some mistakes, why they failed to accept the simple fact that they have performed  below expectations, failed us on so many fronts and tell us what they are doing to get those things right. These and many other pressing issues I can't fine-tune. 

To me, the best form of campaign at this time is to face the fact, admit before the people that we got it wrong and we will try to mend those places if given another opportunity.

It will do more harm than good to come up with another propaganda, another deception, another bait to hoodwink the people.

If we are expecting a 4bn facility China Transformer manufacturing company in Kogi, please what happened to our Kogi Industrial Park with so much publicity, trip to China and the thousands of jobs for Kogites that ended on several news channels.

Just like Abraham Lincoln posited, "you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time", please before China Transformer Manufacturing Company In Kogi, we deserve an explanation for the death of Kogi Industrial Park if not for anything, at least for the hysteria and the false hope.