At a Town Hall meeting of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on 31st January, 2019; convened by Engr. John Ibrahim Ocheje, the Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor, Chief Edward Onoja blamed the office of the Deputy Governor under Elder Simon Achuba for the failure of the government to deliver its mandate toa the good people of Ibaji local government area.
The Chief of Staff was reported to have tagged, the Deputy Governor “the enemy within.”
In confessing the roles he played in the nomination of Elder Simon Achuba as Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja confirmed his powerful status as the power behind the throne in Lugard Palace, Lokoja.
The alleged undue interference of the Deputy Governor in accepting kick-back from the contractor in charge of the road contract awarded by the government in favour of the area to a reasonable person is nothing but a mischievous attempt to incite Ibaji people against their son by Edward Onoja; a low-level narcissist who is incompetent or average at best but who is convinced of his own brilliance. If something goes wrong he cannot be the one to blame because he is perfect and so it must be someone else’s fault, even when it is clearly his own fault.
It is amusing that this allegation is coming from Edward Onoja; an individual with notoriety for kickbacks, kickfronts and sidekicks. At least his frenzied illegal accumulation of wealth is a testimony to this fact. The truth will eventually expose the skeletons in Edward Onoja’s shining Wardrobes.
Can Edward Onoja truthfully say, the structure of governance he assisted his twin brother, the White Lion put in place gave Elder Simon Achuba the wherewithal to help his people?
Ibaji people should direct their disappointment and anger for the lack of benefit to show in terms of infrastructural developments at Edward Onoja and Alhaji Yahaya Bello who for reasons beyond comprehension only visits Lokoja once in a while leaving Edward Onoja to do whatever catches his fancy in the administration of Kogi State.
How can Elder Simon Achuba as Deputy Governor use his position to influence needed developments to his area and also address his people’s sense of marginalisation with the choking and overbearing disposition of Edward Onoja? That is another question Ibaji people should ask the powerful Chief of Staff because in reality, their son is just a figurehead and stooge. After all he never functioned as Deputy Governor in the true sense of the office.
Elder Simon Achuba is the victim and Edward Onoja, the villain whose personal interest betrayed Ibaji people.
Asking Ibaji people to wait with great intrigue on the outcome of the said investigation which shall be made to the public is just like a thief who stole the people’s Commonwealth to accuse a son of the soil in a matter, the criminal is accuser, investigator, prosecutor and judge.
Truly, “At the end the people shall know whether the Governor is the problem or their son” but not until the ‘No Direction’ government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello ably assisted by Edward Onoja has been voted out of office.
The deprived people of Ibaji should pray never to be afflicted again with the kind of wicked and selfish rulers in Kogi State presently. They must use their PVCs in the forthcoming general elections and vote out the APC at all levels because the APC-led administration in the State has shown they do not have their interest at heart.
The reason why Edward Onoja like blaming others for his problems is because he doesn’t know, is not aware of what is feeding inside of him. So it’s a knee jerk reaction to want to automatically blame others for his actions.
As a leader, you should work with those you supervise to get to the core problems and fix them, as opposed to blaming the team and complaining about the lack of talent you have to work with. After all, Edward Onoja assembled the team from the onset and the disgusting level of mediocrity in terms of performance is a reflection of his ineptitude and lack of vision.
Edward Onoja must understand that by blaming Elder Simon Achuba for the underdevelopment and lack of government presence in Ibaji, he has prevented himself from being able to do proper self-evaluation, which is critical to self-improvement. The leader who doesn’t blame others has his office in the solutions department, not the excuses department.
No matter what had really happened, Edward Onoja will always blame Elder Simon Achuba and find an appearing logical/thought out way/strategy to it that, fundamentally, it’s the Deputy Governor who was the cause for all the trouble and everything else that came from this trouble as well and from the next and so on.
Does Elder Simon Achuba have my sympathy? Not at all! He went to dinner with the devil to eat meals cooked by demons without a shovel as spoon. I just hope his fingers will remain ten after the unpalatable meal he was served.
Edward Onoja should understand that because he is human, he can stumble and fall, make errors and mistakes, but he is not a failure until he start blaming others for his faults.
The Ogugu Oracle should be pitied and prayed for because, he is exhibiting an ingrained habit that has deteriorated to a full blown personality disorder. Unfortunately, ego and arrogance will not allow him seek help.
– Posi Botun.
