For the better part of the last 20 years of my adulthood, I have often asked myself a simple but profound question: “Does position change people?”
I ask this because I have watched many people attain positions of authority and, almost suddenly, become completely different from the persons they used to be. Power, privilege and public office can sometimes create a distance between leaders and the people they once walked among.
But the last two years and seven months, and still counting, of the administration of His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, as Governor of Kogi State, has answered that question for me.
Today, I can say without hesitation: Position does not change everyone.
Governor Ododo has remained the man he was before occupying the highest office in our dear state. He has remained humble, humane, compassionate and accessible. His office may have changed, but his character has remained constant.
That, to me, is the true test of leadership—not the power one acquires, but the values one refuses to lose.
I am proud to witness a leader who continues to put humanity before ego, service before status, and compassion before power.
The office may be temporary, but character is permanent.
May God continue to grant our Governor the wisdom, strength and grace to serve Kogi State and its people.
– Oladele John Nihi writes from Lokoja.
