Politics has an uncanny ability to magnify rhetoric while obscuring reality. In the contest for influence, the loudest voices often command the headlines, even when the quieter story the one written in schools, communities, institutions and the lives of ordinary people is the more enduring measure of public service.
Recent remarks by Barrister Alfred Bello, accusing Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke of fomenting political crises in Kogi State and calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restrain him, belong to the realm of partisan contestation. They are assertions that will continue to animate political debates. Yet, beyond the immediacy of such exchanges lies a more fundamental question: what has Faleke’s engagement with Kogi State, particularly Kogi West and Okunland, meant in practical terms?
The answer is found less in political speeches than in the trajectory of development interventions that have quietly accumulated over the years.
Faleke occupies an unusual position in Nigeria’s political architecture. He represents Ikeja Federal Constituency in Lagos State in the House of Representatives, a constituency that rightly demands his legislative attention and public accountability. Convention alone would have excused him from assuming any developmental obligations toward his ancestral home in Kogi State. Public office in Nigeria rarely rewards commitments beyond clearly defined political boundaries.
Yet Faleke has consistently resisted that narrow interpretation of representation. Rather than allowing geography to diminish his attachment to his roots, he has maintained an enduring relationship with Kogi West through philanthropy, educational support, youth empowerment, institutional interventions and community development. It is a pattern that reflects an understanding that identity is not extinguished by electoral geography, nor is public service confined solely to the constituency that elects an individual.
Perhaps no institution better illustrates this continuing engagement than the Federal University Lokoja, the only federal government-owned university located in Kogi State’s capital. The university’s growth story cannot be told comprehensively without acknowledging contributions that came not as statutory obligations but as voluntary interventions.
At a time when digital competence increasingly defines the quality of higher education, Faleke facilitated the donation of 100 laptop computers to strengthen ICT learning for students and staff. He also supported the construction of the university’s sports centre, expanding facilities that contribute to a more holistic academic environment. These are interventions that may not dominate political discourse, but they endure in the daily life of the institution and in the experiences of those who use its facilities.
Such investments underscore an important distinction in public life. Development is often less dramatic than politics. It is measured not by the intensity of public arguments but by the permanence of institutions strengthened and opportunities created.
The same philosophy appears to have informed his interventions across Kogi West. Educational scholarships, sponsorship of external examination fees for indigent students, donations of learning materials and support for academic competitions have sought to widen access to education. Youth empowerment programmes, vocational training initiatives and the distribution of equipment to artisans and entrepreneurs have created pathways to economic self-reliance. Rural communities have benefited from water projects, electrification support and community infrastructure, while medical outreaches have extended healthcare services to populations that frequently remain beyond the reach of formal systems.
Agricultural support programmes, humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups and contributions to community security initiatives further reflect a development model that prioritises social investment over political spectacle.
It is equally significant that many beneficiaries attribute to Faleke the facilitation of employment opportunities for Kogi indigenes within federal institutions. Such interventions rarely attract media attention because they are dispersed across individuals and communities rather than concentrated in highly visible projects. Yet, over time, they contribute to the gradual expansion of opportunities available to young people.
None of this places Faleke beyond criticism. No public official should be insulated from scrutiny, nor should political disagreements be dismissed simply because an individual has recorded notable achievements. Democratic accountability requires that every actor remain open to interrogation.
However, fairness equally demands that criticism be situated within the broader context of demonstrable public service. Allegations acquire greater credibility when weighed against verifiable evidence, just as achievements deserve recognition regardless of the prevailing political climate.
Indeed, one of the enduring weaknesses of contemporary political discourse is its tendency to reduce complex public figures to partisan caricatures. In that process, years of sustained developmental engagement risk being overshadowed by transient political disagreements.
For Kogi West, the more consequential conversation may not be about who exchanged accusations in the latest political contest. Rather, it is about the cumulative impact of interventions that have expanded educational opportunities, strengthened institutions, supported livelihoods and reinforced community development over time.
Political statements are, by their nature, ephemeral. Institutions, however, possess longer memories. So do communities whose lives have been touched by tangible investments.
History is rarely written by the loudest political exchanges of the moment. More often, it is shaped by the schools that continue to educate, the universities that continue to grow, the young people whose futures are transformed through opportunity, and the communities whose development outlives the passions of electoral politics.
In the final analysis, those are the standards against which public service ought to be measured. They provide a firmer basis for judgment than the fleeting turbulence of political rhetoric and invite a more balanced appraisal of James Abiodun Faleke’s enduring relationship with his ancestral home.
– Ajuluchukwu Brown writes from Abuja.
