By Samuel Mona Endurance
For years, the people of Ankpa have lived with the painful reality of prolonged darkness. A community known for its commercial activity, industrious people and strategic importance in Kogi East has endured the consequences of inadequate electricity, with businesses, households and other activities bearing the heavy burden of unreliable power supply.
Today, however, there is a renewed sense of hope across Ankpa as the efforts of philanthropist and SDP Kogi East Senatorial candidate, Hon. Idris Hussein Kashim, popularly known as Idris HK, move closer to what could become one of the most remarkable interventions in the community’s recent history.
Recent reports indicate that Idris HK has commenced efforts aimed at restoring electricity to Ankpa after years of darkness, with funding released for the assessment phase of the project. Reports also say the initiative is being driven with the aim of improving electricity supply in Ankpa and other communities across Kogi East.
A Community Beginning to Believe Again
The significance of the intervention goes beyond electric poles, cables and transformers. For Ankpa residents, the restoration of electricity represents the possibility of economic revival, improved security, extended business hours and renewed confidence in the future.
It is therefore understandable that residents are increasingly watching the unfolding development with excitement as engineers and technical personnel get to work.
For a town that has spent years waiting for the return of stable electricity, the sight of professionals beginning the process of assessing and working on the power infrastructure carries a powerful message: the darkness may finally be approaching its end.
Idris HK and a Record of Philanthropy
The Ankpa intervention is also consistent with Idris HK’s previously reported philanthropic activities across Kogi East.
In May 2026, he donated and commissioned a 300KVA transformer for Ofakaga community in Ofu Local Government Area. Reports on the intervention described it as a response to years of inadequate electricity supply in the community.
His philanthropic profile has also been associated with scholarships, medical outreaches, borehole projects, youth empowerment and other community interventions.
That background gives added significance to the current Ankpa project. It presents the initiative not merely as a political promise, but as part of a broader pattern of private intervention in community development.
A Historic Moment in the Making
Politics will inevitably surround any major public intervention by a political candidate. Idris HK is seeking the Kogi East Senatorial seat on the platform of the Social Democratic Party ahead of the 2027 elections.
But for ordinary Ankpa residents, the immediate question is perhaps simpler: Will the light return?
If the ongoing process succeeds in restoring electricity to Ankpa, it will represent more than a political talking point. It will be a tangible intervention that residents can see, experience and benefit from in their daily lives.
And that is why the current activities have generated optimism.
Ankpa is waiting.
Its businesses are waiting.
Its families are waiting.
Its young people are waiting.
And as engineers continue the technical work, there is growing hope that the long night may finally give way to light.
Beyond Politics, the People Want Results
The people of Ankpa deserve infrastructure that improves their quality of life. Electricity is not a luxury in a modern economy; it is an essential foundation for commerce, education, healthcare, communication and small businesses.
If Idris HK’s intervention ultimately succeeds in restoring reliable electricity to Ankpa, history will remember it as a moment when a long-standing problem met an individual willing to commit resources toward finding a solution.
For now, the people can only watch, hope and encourage the work to continue.
The engineers are on the ground.
The process is underway.
And Ankpa is daring to believe that light is finally coming.
Perhaps, before long, Ankpa will no longer be remembered for the years it spent in darkness, but for the moment the light returned.
– Samuel Mona Endurance writes from Lokoja.
