By Muyiwa Fatosa.
Kogi is approaching another moment of decision, and the stakes are higher than they appear. The state is rich in geography and culture, yet poor in the quality of public life. It has the rivers that shaped Nigerian history, the landscape that links North and South, and a population of thinkers, farmers and restless young people who want more than the modest structures they currently see. What happens in the coming cycle will determine whether Kogi continues to coast on survival or steps into a future shaped by intention.
Governor Usman Ododo has worked to maintain stability. He has paid salaries and tried to keep the machinery of government predictable. In a country where public finances are often fragile, this is not a small achievement. His temperament suggests sincerity and his early steps reflect someone who wants to govern without unnecessary drama. Yet even with that effort, many citizens feel that the state is standing still. Kogi has reached a stage where basic stability is no longer enough. A modern state requires more than goodwill. It requires competence shaped by exposure, strategy shaped by experience, and leadership shaped by vision.
For two decades, Kogi West has remained the only senatorial district that has never produced a governor. It is a fact often mentioned and just as often dismissed. But the argument is larger than rotation. It touches on fairness, trust and the long term health of the state. When one region continues to wait while the others alternate power, the social fabric frays in slow, quiet ways. People begin to believe that their contribution is valued only at election time. They feel present but not represented. Equity is not only a political principle. It is a stabilising force.
This is why the conversation in Kogi today is not only about personality. It is about balance. It is about justice. It is about whether the promise of one Kogi is real or rhetorical.
There is also a second thread. The last distinctly ambitious leadership the state experienced was under Prince Abubakar Audu. He governed with a sense of urgency and a certain urban confidence. He believed Kogi could stand shoulder to shoulder with more developed states. He invested in higher education, infrastructure and civic identity. His methods were not perfect, but his thinking was unmistakable. He reached for a version of Kogi that looked outward rather than downward.
Since that era, the state has often returned to a cautious style of governance. Administrations have managed problems rather than solved them. Roads have deteriorated faster than they are repaired. Schools have been stretched beyond their limits. Local economies have relied on hope instead of structure. It is not that leaders lacked goodwill. It is that the state lacked a leader who understood development as a disciplined, long-term project rather than a string of political moments.
This background explains why Hon. James Abiodun Faleke continues to draw attention whenever the future of the state is discussed. His identity is rooted in Kogi West, but his political and administrative formation took place in Lagos. That alone sets him apart. Lagos is a demanding environment. It forces leaders to account for every decision. It pushes them to understand budgets, infrastructure, public order and the expectations of millions who will not tolerate excuses. To rise in such a setting is to learn efficiency. To survive there is to understand strategy.
Faleke also carries the imprint of national experience. His work at the federal level has exposed him to the architecture of Nigerian governance. He understands how states negotiate with Abuja, how resources are managed and how projects are scrutinised. In a state like Kogi, which often requires cooperation with the centre to unlock meaningful development, that knowledge is not a luxury. It is an advantage.
There is also the unresolved memory of 2015. Many voters in Kogi West and beyond believed the Audu Faleke ticket had produced a clear mandate. The sudden death of Prince Audu and the legal path that followed created a kind of suspended history. For some, the next opportunity is a chance to complete a project that fate interrupted, not one that the people rejected.
But the strongest argument is simpler. Kogi needs a builder. It needs someone who is both grounded in the state and seasoned outside it. Someone who understands the language of communities and the language of large institutions. Someone who can look at Lokoja and see not a small capital, but a potential regional hub. Someone who recognises that a state that sits at the gateway of the federation should not struggle to attract investment or create jobs.
This does not diminish Governor Ododo. His role is part of the story, not its end. He has offered stability. He has created calm. But the next phase requires more than calm. It requires vision and expertise. It requires a different scale of thinking.
The conversation around Faleke is therefore not just a political preference. It is a reflection of a deeper desire for leadership that matches the complexity of the state. A desire for a governor who can transform intention into structure and structure into measurable progress. A desire for a state that no longer apologises for its condition, but competes.
Whether Faleke ultimately decides to seek the office is his choice. Whether national leaders create the space for such a decision is their own calculation. But the mood within Kogi is unmistakable. People want fairness. People want competence. People want a governor who can lift the standard of leadership back to the heights last seen under Audu. People want the state to enter a new chapter defined by planning, management and ambition.
Kogi has spent too many years waiting for its potential to be fulfilled. The next election will decide whether that wait continues or ends. If the future truly matters, then the discussion taking shape around Faleke is more than political noise. It is an indication that Kogites are ready for a higher standard.
And Kogi deserves nothing less.
– Muyiwa Fatosa, a Strategic Communication and Media Consultant, is a Member, Advisory Board, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Leadership Centre.
