A storm of indignation is sweeping through Kogi State as critics decry what they brand the “Kogi mentality,” a corrosive syndrome in which Igala elites are accused of abdicating ancestral pride for ephemeral crumbs of political relevance.
At the epicenter of the uproar stands Captain Ichalla Wada, castigated for capitulating to neo-colonial overlords rather than asserting Igala sovereignty. Intellectuals and civic agitators argue that his submission has scuttled the political vessel of the Igala nation, leaving a once-mighty people drifting in treacherous waters without a compass or captain.
“Because you lusted after position, you enthroned yourself as a slave,” one Igala thinker thundered, lamenting that despite decades of enlightenment from writers and cultural custodians, the political class remains shackled by ignorance and servility.
The words of Afrobeat icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti ring ominously: “Dem say dem better pass their brothers.” Today, that aphorism gnaws at the Igala psyche as elites genuflect before alien powers while condemning their own brethren to political irrelevance and incarceration.
Analysts describe the elite as intoxicated with “air-conditioned mediocrity,” choosing comfort over conscience. “They guard the gates of oppression for outsiders while discarding the keys of their own kingdom,” an Anyigba academic observed. “They do not mind if the entire Igala nation plunges into an abyss so long as their individual stomachs are filled.”
The rhetoric underscores a dire prophecy: that unless the Igala liberate themselves from this ignoble mentality, their collective destiny will remain hijacked. For many, “Kogi mentality” is no longer a mere phrase but a damning epitaph — a nation’s glory squandered, its rudder broken, and its voyage condemned to the valley of oblivion.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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