“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities- and the smallest minority on Earth is the individual” – Ayn Rand
Since my childhood days, the only time I get to see the governor is when I have the opportunity to watch the evening news, peeping through my neighbor’s window, just to catch a glimpse of the TV. Almost every time it’s the usual blaring sound of sirens coming from the convoy that gives me a hint of the governor’s passing. Same goes for the commissioners. This trend left me with no other option than to suspect these supposed public officials were resident in other states asides Kogi which they govern. On a daily basis I watched with pity as people with kegs and buckets troop to the popular Apasi river in a frantic search for water. Surprisingly, I see in the news, the governor commissioning various rural water projects in Igalamela or Olamaboro LGAS, leaving me to wonder if my senatorial district had been ceded to nearby Edo state or perhaps the governor had become oblivious of our existence.
If you ever dream to secure a government job at Lokoja, the state capital, you had better know how to respond to “agba naa go”. This is because every key positions in the state are being held by the Igala people, who happen to be the glorified majority. This is the extent to which my people have been ignored, with their rights to existence trampled upon, an ultimate effect of the marginalization of the people of Kogi central and Kogi west. The agitation for power rotation over the years has been a relentless and sometimes violent one, a course that has left countless number of lives lost and properties destroyed. The eventual outcome of the recent controversial governorship election was auspicious, “a message from God” so to say even though it was in a mysterious way, God is indeed the all-knowing, he works in an enigmatic ways beyond human comprehension.
The late prince Abubakar Audu of blessed memories will forever be remembered for the crucial role he played in the liberation of Kogi people at large.
The consequent emergence of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as duly elected governor is a victory for Kogi people in their entirety. The twist that played out as a result of the prince’s death conferred on him the candidacy for the number one seat in the state. We couldn’t have afforded to replace the deceased candidate with someone who never contested in the initial party primaries. Such blunder would have given the opposition party a walk-over in the court of law, plunging us back again into the pool of marginalization.
Today, we can confidently say that we’ve liberated ourselves from the political shackles that held us bound in the past. Why then, would we want to relapse, by allowing an outsider, a “jagaban” from another state to pit us against each other? The distinguished senator, Dino Melaye has always been outspoken about the inequality in the state. Little wonder he was quick to throw his weight behind the governor-elect. The Kogi West Elders Committee, a powerful socio-political leadership forum representing the interest of the people of Kogi west, had also called on the deputy governor-Elect, Hon. James Faleke to accept the outcome of the Kogi governorship election as God’s way of honoring the people’s long-time clamor for power rotation. The group was also quick to point out that it would be a betrayal of the trust and interest of the good people of Kogi west and Kogi central, if this opportunity we have in our hands is lost to in-house confrontations. Honorable James Faleke may have a strong backing of Bola Tinubu, but the goodwill of his people should be of paramount interest to him. Therefore, I urge him to desist from a seemingly greedy pursuit of power and embrace peace for the sake of the good people of Kogi state.
“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another” – Nelson Mandela
- by Aliyu Mahmud Amoto
