In the architecture of Nigerian politics, few tragedies are as glaring as the systematic shrinking of Igala influence in Kogi East;a people once described by historian J.F. Ajayi as “a civilisation that stood like a sentinel over the Middle Belt” (Ajayi, History of West Africa, 1967: 214). The heaviest truth hits first: Kogi East did not lose power because it lacked numbers; it lost because its leaders traded vision for vendettas, strategy for self-preservation, and unity for crumbs scattered from the high table of state patronage. As Nelson Mandela warned, “Where there is no vision, the people perish; and where there is division, justice becomes a ghost.” Kogi East is now confronting that ghost.
The political decline did not erupt overnight; it calcified over years of internal fractures and elite sabotage. Power brokers who should have defended the Igala mandate instead became merchants of self-interest, echoing Chinua Achebe’s lament that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” The power bloc that once commanded reverence became a leaking boot; unable to contain pressure, unable to move forward, unable to inspire. Instead of consolidating strength, factions weaponised ethnicity against itself, turning brothers into rivals and rivals into political ammunition for external forces.
Yet the Igala spirit has never been synonymous with retreat. From the ancient rulership of the Atta to the military gallantry of distinguished Igala sons, Kogi East has historically embodied strategic command and disciplined collective will. But modern politics has strangled that ethos beneath patronage networks that reward loyalty to godfathers over loyalty to the people. The result is a generation of young Igala citizens more politically awakened than their leaders; yet sidelined by systems engineered to maintain the status quo. As Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” and Kogi East has been silenced long enough.
Still, a new hunger is brewing; one that transcends slogans, tribal nostalgia, and the theatrics of political seasons. Across Ankpa, Idah, Ibaji, Olamaboro, Dekina and Bassa, young thinkers are refusing to inherit the political paralysis of yesterday. They are demanding competence, unity, and ethical clarity. They are rejecting the politics of bitterness and the recycled turbulence of perennial godfathers. Most importantly, they are realising that power is never given; it is organised, negotiated, and seized through collective discipline.
The future of Kogi East will not be restored by sentimental appeals or recycled promises. It will be reclaimed by a new generation of Igala leaders who understand that hunger; not for titles, but for justice, equity, and strategic resurgence is the only credible compass. As the Atta Igala proverb says: “Oji ane ki gbenyo am’ajogwu n, ma nya te kpe ogba amonono ojo, – meaning a kingdom that forgets its warriors will bow before strangers. Kogi East must stay hungry. I mean hungry for unity, hungry for strategy, hungry for a destiny too sacred to be traded again. The mandate is clear: rise above personalities; resurrect purpose.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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