First, I must thank God Almighty, the maker and sustainer of our being for the privilege and opportunity of addressing you today on my decision to contest for a seat at the Kogi State House of Assembly (KSHA) to represent the good people of Dekina/Biraidu Constituency under the platform of our great party- The All Progressives Congress (APC)
I also thank everyone of our party leaders, delegates, key stakeholders, Community leaders/ members and opinion moulders who graced the Official declaration of my intention recently. I do not have any shred of doubt in my mind that this is the beginning of a new /great era for Dekina/Biraidu.
It is important to state clearly from the onset that our aspiration is driven by the need to project my ward-Abocho as capable of leading Dekina/Biraidu to the desired state of development that we all yearn.
I come from Abocho, the headquarters of one of the largest and important Districts in Dekina Local Government. But it has not been fortunate in terms of the opportunity to participate in fashioning the destiny of Dekina/Biraidu Constituency since the creation of Kogi State.
Apart from the brief tenure of Ademu Ómabéyi at the State Assembly, I would be the first ever to come from Abocho to seek to push our Constituency forward. For us therefore, this a crucial mandate am seeking to give our people a sense of belonging and to convince Dekina/Biraidu that with Abocho, it can be done better
My Antecedents
For us, the desire to serve our people didn’t start today. We had put this desire to action at various times previously, by the Grace of God.
Following my demonstration of will and capacity, I was appointed as Special Assistant by His Excellency, the then Executive Governor of our dear State-Alhaji Ibrahim Idris. I also had the privilege of serving as the Supervisory Councilor for health under the Administration of Mohammed Ali as the Executive Chairman of Dekina Local.
Today, I have been priviledged to be the Special Adviser to the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello on Project monitoring. I have served in this position since the inception of this Administration until recently following my resignation to pursue this goal of representing my people.
The Privileges and What I Will Do Differently
As someone who has been in these executive positions, I am convinced that the experiences will come handy when I have the opportunity of relating with the executive from the parliamentary side. I will be in a much better position to lobby and influence the executive to prioritize Dekina/Biraidu in its developmental agenda. I know what opportunities are available in government ministries and agencies that will be of tremendous benefit to my people. Above all, I will know how to get them.
Proper Education leads to exposure, self confidence and the required courage to muster a voice for others. Formally, I am educated up to Masters degree level. I am also grounded in informal education with sufficient native intelligence with the knowledge of our people, norms and values. These are necessary for the purpose of impactful representation, for if a purpose is not known, abuse becomes inevitable. There will be no abuse of power under our watch.
As I seek your support for this intention, I will, in the days ahead, unfold key and more detaled areas of interest and intervention that will quickly turn around the fortunes of our people.
As a law maker, I will proffer innovative ideas that will lead to job creation for the teaming youths of our Constituency. Jobs will create a multiplier effect of improving the standard of living of our people and curtailing insecurity. An idle mind they say, is a devil’s workshop. Beyond this, I will use the power of oversight and influence that I have in sufficient quantity/quality to lobby for jobs for our youths from both the State and Federal levels.
Health is wealth. It is sad that our people die of ailments that are easily curable due to lack of effective and qualitative health facilities/services. In most cases, poverty hinders people from accessing good health facilities wherever they may be.
I shall leverage on the current health care infrastructure revolution of the Executive Governor-Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello to ensure Dekina/Biraidu benefits immensely from this development.
As a people, our culture is the totality of who we are. Cultures are peculiar and so can become a source of respect to a people if it is properly harnessed, recognized to be celebrated in Nigeria and beyond. It can even become a revenue earner for us if properly developed and packaged in a way that attracts tourists.
If given the mandate and I become elected, I will champion the crusade for cultural rebirth and revolution in a way that will be beneficial to all irrespective of religious inclinations.
I will make us proud by working deliberately and with genuine intentionality to place Dekina/Biraidu on the National map more than ever before.
For these and many more reasons, it is with sense of responsibility and service that I call on you all, particularly our party delegates to support my intention to be the driver of this anticipated positive change for and on behalf of the great people of Dekina/Biraidu Constituency.
– Alh. Shehu Usman Ochidi
