A cursory statistical preview on the proponents and drivers of the new found accidental “Igala Agenda” reveals that over 80% of them either married their wives from another ethnic groups or their children, brothers and or sisters married to and or from another ethnic groups.
These people who entrusted their lives and everything in the hands of the so called “amakichi” (another tribes) are shamelessly trying to deceive us not to vote for another tribe as the Governor other than candidates of Igala origin?
Unfortunately, these same people were the leading promoters and advocates of the divisive “Ankpa Agenda”, “Dekina Agenda” and “Idah Agenda” at the detriment of the unity of the entire Igala race when Igala held political sway in Kogi State.
Wait a minute! The person that took Governor Ibrahim Idris to court over governorship contest which resulted in the change of the Kogi State governorship election calendar was of which tribe? The person that denied Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho the governorship ticket in a crude manner and handed same over to his “in-law” is of which tribe? The person that dragged the former Governor Idris Wada to Court severally over governorship contest is of which tribe? The person that took Senator Abdulrahaman Abubakar to court over Kogi Senatorial election is of which tribe? The person that took Senator Dangana Ocheja to court is of which tribe? The person that took Senator Attai Aidoko Ali to court which eventually sacked Aidoko from the Senate is of which tribe?
Again, those that wrote and are still writing frivolous petitions against Professor Stephen Ikani Ocheni, the current Minister representing Kogi State in the Federal Executive Council are all Igalas.
In fact, at personal level, those that wrote frivolous petitions with libelous allegations against me from KSU to the present Government of Kogi State, which resulted in my earlier hiccups with the government were all Igalas.
I am waiting for those political merchants to come and convince me to follow their deceptive, notorious, parochial and divisive agenda that are intended for selfish motives.
Now that the political equation has changed and they are no longer at the corridor of political power or that they cannot dictate the pace of the equation again, they have resorted to whipping ethnic sentiment in the name of “Igala Agenda” to deceive our people.
It is glaring that our today’s so-called “Android Comrades” are somewhat the direct beneficiaries and supporters of the rejected successive past administrations in Kogi State who created the inherited problems that are partly responsible for the challenges we are facing today.
While I was tackling the Government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello in the past, purely based on issue even as an APC sympathizer, unknown to me that some of those that were clapping hands and urging me on then were:
1. Hiding behind ethnic agenda which was not my original intention (Igala agenda as example);
2. Hiding behind their party interest (PDP and aggrieved members of APC as examples);
3. Hiding behind their family interest (children of our erstwhile Governors exhibiting monarchical spirit as example); and
4. Hiding behind their sectional agenda (Ankpa, Dekina, Idah, etc. agendas)
Since I took the position to support the Government of GYB, some sincere friends and fans on their own volition took time to sincerely and in a mature manner ask me “why” – both publicly and privately.
However, those who belong to the four (4) identified categories above resorted to maligning, denigrating and insulting my person with accusation of inducement as if they induced me to speak out when I was doing so openly in the past. Without sounding immodest, it is shocking that even those that I can feed their families for years without feeling any pressure on my pockets are part of this accusation. That is by the way.
The convincing reason I gave to those sincere inquisitive minds was that there were some of those things that we observed then that were addressed to my satisfaction, while others have yet to receive considerable action as expected.
In all, a critical comparative SWOT analysis of the efforts of the present government so far with those in the past convinced me to give this government support to succeed so as to improve on the achievements while also making efforts to correcting the challenges either in the current or in the second term.
Simple reasoning should guide us to deduce that one cannot continue to use the same approach repeatedly over the years for the same problem and expect different results. That is exactly what necessitated my change of tactics and support for the growth and development of our dear state which has been my objective and deathless mission. Kogi State belongs to all of us, and it is our responsibility to collectively work for its progress; we are not supposed to denigrate the image of the state with caustic attitude and comments which may eventually have future monumental consequences on our reputation as Kogites.
Since every politics comes with local interest, let me begin by highlighting what the Government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello has done to justify my support and clamour for his reelection. I will highlight these specifically from the perspectives of my LGA (Ankpa) in this series.
1. Ankpa township road that was left abandoned for years under Igala Governors; 9 years of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (2003 – 2011) and 4 years of Capt. Idris Wada’s (2011 – 2015) administrations was only attended to by the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello of Egbira origin within 3 years of his administration.
2. Since the establishment of the Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, it is only His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello that deems it fit to appoint a qualified Ankpa person as Provost of the institution;
3. Ankpa LGA is believed to have large concentration of Muslim faithful in the whole of the 9 LGAs in Kogi East. Alhaji Ibrahim Idris built the Idah Central Mosque, Abejukolo Central Mosque, and is currently building the Anyigba ultra-modern Central Mosque. This could be understood because he was brought up at Idah, he hailed from Omala LGA and has maternal lineage from Anyigba. It took only the intervention of an Egbira man in the person of Alhaji Yahaya Bello for Ankpa ultra-modern Central Mosque to be rebuilt and remodelled in his personal capacity just for the Muslim faithful in Ankpa my LGA.
4. Needless to count and mention the names of children of the so-called “Mr. Nobody” that Governor Yahaya Bello has given hope and opportunity to relate in equal manner with the children of “Mr. Somebody”. This to me is a silent revolution championed by the new and emerging leaders in Kogi State.
It was in consideration of the above tremendous impactful contributions, especially for the people of Ankpa LGA that were hitherto abandoned by their own kinsmen that I am confident that Ankpa electorate will reward His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello on November 2, 2019 by voting for his reelection massively.
Ankpa LGA is the major decider of Kogi State Governorship election. This is because Kogi East is regarded as the “big brother” and indeed the major decider in Kogi State governorship election because of its numerical voting strength. Dekina LGA is fairly above Ankpa LGA in terms of the number of the registered eligible voters. However, the voting patterns from Dekina LGA over the years have always been divisive while Ankpa LGA gives “block” votes to its preferred candidate(s).
I am not surprised why my handshake with Governor Yahaya Bello in a viral picture on the social media recently has now become a veritable source of worry and headache for those within and outside. Many of them know the value addition we are bringing to the table to change the narrative from Ankpa.
The handshake should not have worried the bystanders and their ilk because Hon. Edward Onoja and Ahmedi Attah behind whom we are queuing in this New Direction Next Level agenda for the re-election of GYB come November 2 are the actual holders of the strategic key to our success in Kogi East and beyond.
Is anyone disputing that Hon. Edward Onoja, a very influential team leader in the Government of His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the very influential APC Kogi East Zonal Chairman that are leading packs of supporters for GYB re-election in Kogi East are non-Igalas?
There is no doubt that the sincere Igalas and the good people of Kogi East are ready to play the role of “big brothers” in this silent revolution of repositioning the Kogi state of our dream, as the Confluence of opportunities that it ought to and should be.
It is because of the above that we reechoed our voice very loudly to say that we STAND FOR DEVELOPMENT AGENDA!!!
Let us for the sake of the future of our children, unity and prosperity of our dear state say no to any mischievous, politically-motivated, selfish, deceptive and divisive agenda!!!
– Usman Ogbo, is anything you think he is, writes from the ancient city of Anyigba.
