Okunland Needs FG Attention by Emmanuel Balogun

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Okun people are Yoruba descendants in Kogi state.

Kogi is a multi ethnic state and Okun people are up to 27% of Kogi State population, smaller than the other two major completely different tribes, Igala and Ebira. Okun people spread across six local government areas in Kogi State, known as Kabba-Bunu, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopa-Muro, Ìjùmú and Lokoja local government Areas.

They speak varied dialects…Owé, Ìyàgbà, Ìjùmú, Bùnú and Oworo, but their language is generally called Okun,  Kabba is the present headquarters of Kogi Western senatorial district, Kabba was the administrative headquarters of the Kabba province of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, which includes all of the current Kogi State. But
with this intimidating pioneering antiquity it is yet to regain its pride of place in the socio-economic and political equation of Nigeria.

“The Okun world is composed intrinsically of Kingship and brotherhood. The Okuns are driven with the passion to
excel in all endeavors. I have outline several crucial points detailing a myriad of other externalities that has characterized the fate of Okun people in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has tended to accelerate the pace and
dynamics of dysfunction in the socio-economic, political and cultural life of the Okun man, making him the
laughing stock of his fellow citizens and the hewers of wood and drawers of water in the Nigerian scheme of things.

A) The systematic exclusion of competent and credible Okun sons and daughters from appointments and elections into sensitive and strategic positions such as the Presidency, Governors etc.

B) The absence of the Federal Government’s presence through non-sitting of strategic and viable projects like power plants, petroleum refineries, ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government in Okunland.

C) The divide and rule politics which has bred disunity and lack of cohesion among the Okuns.

D) The politics of patronage, through contract awards and sinecure appointments, that makes the Okun
intelligentsia and business elite to maintain a conspiracy of silence in the face of all these deprivations
and marginalization. The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under the fundamental objective and directive principles of state policy, as outlined in section 17 (1) explicitly states that: “The state social order is founded on ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice. But a careful reading and observation of successive government actions and pronouncements since the inception of democratic system of government in Nigeria in 1999, with regards to the provisions of this section of our constitution vis-a–viz its relation to the Okun race in Nigeria is
contradictory and leaves much to be desired.

The Okun axis is yet to produce a state governor after the creation of the state in august 27, 1991, it is also the only known region yet to have either a federal university/polytechnic/college of education among other critical infrastructure needed to advance the socio-economic status of this region. For a region that have produced worthy nationalists like Cardinal John Onaiyekan (Archbishop of Abuja), Bashorun Jide Omokere (Chairman and founder of Energy Resources Group), Barrister Olatunde Ayeni (Chairman; Skye bank plc), Sen Dino Melaye (Chairman senate committee on FCT), Chief Kola Jamodu (Former PZ director), Chief Mrs Atinuke Oyelude (1st Miss Nigeria), Prof Eyitayo Lambo (Former minister for health), Chief Bayo Ojo (Former attorney general & minister for justice), Major Gen David Jemibewon (rtd) and other great patriots and nationalists of note both locally and internationally too
numerous to mention due to space constraints, all accomplished in their choosing fields of endeavors as well as contributed positively towards shaping Nigeria’s history in one way or the other.

The extreme individualism, knee-jerk and short-sighted approach to sensitive issues and lack of strategic thinking, foresight, tact and diplomacy on the part of its so-called leaders, all have contributed in no small measure to the present pathetic situation we found ourselves, however the Federal Government should as a matter of priority in the spirit of national reconciliation and healing, put in place machinery in motion to address the obvious imbalance in this region.

In making these demands it should not be misconstrued to mean that the Okun nation is begging for patronage or attention from the Federal Government of Nigeria, but rather a genuine call for justice, fairness and equity from a nation that has been unfairly treated and robed of its fair share in the Nigerian Federation. For justice and equity are
prerequisite of peace in any social system.

By Balogun Emmanuel Funsho,

University Of Ilorin.

07034444976, irule9ja@gmail.com


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