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Kiri is situated in the northern region of Bunu Land, in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State. Arguably, it’s equally the farthest part of Bunu Land.
Governments after Governments, one Administration after another, Kiri has lived this far and survived the misnomer of maladministration mainly on promises – painfully unfulfilled promises! *”If you vote for us and we win this election, we will construct your road.”*
“If you vote for us, we will make Giro Hill a plain valley”.
The people of Kiri would have heard these promises a million times over. Hardly had any politician from Kogi State visited Kiri without singing this song. As a cliché, the song has become so monotonous that the people of Kiri have been forced to give a standing rule: when you come to us to campaign, please don’t mention our road!!!
Interestingly, Kiri holds a reputation for its voting strength. This is where the largest votes in Kabba/Bunu come from. This is where the winner in any election is decided. Kiri is the enclave where electoral losers know their fates. How Kiri has come to be so neglected and abandoned in spite of its political significance is left to the failure of a distasteful history.
Who would achieve what no man had ever achieved?
Who would make history where history has failed??
Who would give essence to the promise of a man of honour???
Maybe a man who God made a Governor!
As I write this piece, it dawned on me with rapt consciousness that the man who would build this road is the man who did not promise it. That man is Governor Yahaya Bello!
When this ‘unpromised’ venture is finally fulfilled, Governor Yahaya Bello would have made history as the Best Governor Kiri ever knew.
Then and only then will I say: I lived in the days of giants. I lived in the days of Yahaya Adoza Bello.
Kiri is my ancestral home and the home of my mother. Giro Hill is a little hilly mountain that makes Kiri Road a nightmare during raining season. Kiri road from Suku to Ike is a mere 10 kilometers long.
– Olu Majek writes from Akutupa Kiri.
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