Why Chief Edward Onoja’s shadowed reconciliation raises more questions than hope
Kogi’s political terrain is less a marketplace of ideas and more a swamp of intrigues, where the drone of “mosquito politics” drowns out the call for genuine governance. In this theatre, personal rivalries sting sharper than policy debates, and ambition too often bleeds the very people it claims to serve. At the center of this disquiet is Chief Edward Onoja, once the formidable lieutenant of Yahaya Bello’s regime and now a figure of deep division among his Igala kin.
Across Igala land, murmurs of distrust have hardened into open skepticism. Many accuse Onoja of moving about as a serial killer mosquito , feasting on the very brothers and sisters he now seeks to reconcile with in carefully staged displays of unity. His overtures, critics say, are less balm than camouflage—the calculated movements of an anopheles mosquito, transmitting the very fever he purports to cure. For some, his allegiance remains bound not to the people but to his “die-hard master,” Yahaya Bello, with reconciliation serving as little more than reconnaissance.
The perception is stark: Onoja can approach the sons and daughters of Igala, but only with a long spoon. Trust, once squandered, is slow to return, and in his case, “votes of no confidence” now flutter like warning flags across the political horizon. Many fear that beneath the language of peace lies a strategy of surveillance, a bid to re-entrench a fading dynasty through subtle infiltration.
And yet, within this climate of suspicion lies the greater challenge—and opportunity—for Kogi’s polity. The antidote to mosquito politics is not more venom disguised as virtue, but leadership anchored in sincerity, service, and sacrifice. Influence must cease to be parasitic; it must become irrigational—nourishing communities with roads, schools, justice, and unity. Power, rightly wielded, should not drain veins but strengthen hearts.
History will not be kind to those who sought reconciliation only as a mask for control, nor to those who weaponized familiarity against their own people. But it will vindicate leaders who rise above the swarm, choosing principle over predation.
For Kogi, the choice is urgent and unmistakable: either continue to let mosquitoes define its destiny, or finally summon the courage to swat them away and breathe the air of true leadership.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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