The battle for the control of the seat of power in Kogi state began when Nigeria decided to make another trial at democratic rule in 1992, since then politics and race for Lord Lugard House has been characterised with tribal sentiments, ethnic chauvinism, clashes of interests, political scheming, manipulations and intra-tribal betrayals.
The clamour for power to shift or rotated among the three senatorial districts of the state became more intense after the eastern part of the state who are predominantly Igala speaking were believed to have held on to power and ruled the state for too long at the expense and relegation of the predominantly Ebira speaking central senatorial district and Okun speaking west senatorial district. The mentality and thinking of the exponents of power rotation is that it will not only give a sense of belonging to the three districts but will also ensure and lead to an even and equilibrium development of all parts of the state.
The atmosphere of distrust, mutual suspicion and disunity that prevails amidst the hues and cries of marginalisation and exclusion by successive administrations in the state even further gave steam and rigour to the agitation for power shift, with the proponents of rotation of governorship position holding consultations and round table discussions across the state. After several failed political calculations and fruitless attempts by a synergy of forces from the central and west districts to grab and wrest the number one seat in the state from our eastern brethren, what was almost turning into an impossibility suddenly became a reality in 2015, after the leading gubernatorial aspirant, prince Abubakar Audu died while votes were still being collated. His second runner up at the APC governorship primaries, Mr Yahaya Bello was later fielded by the party to conclude the process of an election that was initially declared inconclusive by INEC.
To many people from the central and west districts, the dramatic shift of power away from the east district was a divine design and intervention to enable other parts of the state to also taste power. This was expected to translate into a new lease of life and usher in good things in terms of good governance, delivery of dividends of democracy and an unequalled human and infrastructural development.
More than two years down the line, the hardship, torture and dehumanisation that Kogites are suffering and being subjected by the current state government shows it is in order to conclude that the yearnings, aspirations and dreams of the proponents of power rotation have been betrayed and let down. Things are now worse than what they used to be before the present government was inaugurated. Infrastructural decay, dilapidation of state owned institutions and total neglect of public schools and hospitals have become the order of the day. Workers’ welfare has taken the back seat even as payment of salaries and allowances of pension are now done once in a blue moon.
The Yahaya Bello administration started on a wrong footing by appointing miscreants, hooligans and intellectually deficient personalities into key positions. Being surrounded by individuals who have got absolutely nothing valuable to add to his government was his greatest undoing. From the more than two years workers’ screening exercise which reportedly is still ongoing, the inability to fix critical infrastructure and basic amenities like portable water supply or complete any major project since inception since the past two years, even as there has been virtually nothing to show for the huge allocations from the federation account, the Paris loan refund 1 and 2, and bailouts 1 and 2 received by the Yahaya Bello administration.
As we gradually move closer to the next governorship election, the advocates of power shift/rotation should have learnt a key lesson. The executive rascality, official recklessness, financial mismanagement and administrative cluelessness of the Yahaya Bello government have shown that good leadership mentality, ample capacity and competence has neither tribe. Moving forward, our selection process of electing the next governor of the state should not be based on tribe, ethnic group, gender or religion in order to move our beloved state to an enviable height. No matter the senatorial district he/she comes from, we should rate, assess, accept and elect the next occupant of Lord Lugard House based on the aspirant’s level of competence, capacity, antecedence, ability to listen and accommodate diverse opinions, compassion and empathy towards the downtrodden and meekness.
Tribe does not determine a good leader as Igala, Ebira, Okun and all other minor tribes in the state have good and bad individuals. The onus then lays on us the electorates to carefully scrutinise all the aspirants to ensure that the best among them emerge as governor regardless of his/her tribe. We need a governor who is humble and kind hearted, a personality who listens more than he talks and a mentally sound individual with an enviable past record of achievement. For the sake of progress, good governance and an overall development of our dear state let’s all eschew tribal sentiment or consideration and unite in one accord in electing the man or woman with the right mentality for the job, let commonsense prevail.
– Hussain Obaro
Lokoja, Kogi state.
oseniobaro@yahoo.com
