It is true that when a man stays in the dark for too long, he begins to see clearly and this is the case with most Kogites living in poverty. It is no news that 69 percent of Kogi’s population leave in abject poverty but painfully a lot have accepted it as a way of life to the extent that they regard wealth as the prerogative of a selected few.
Take a look at the last election; I found it ludicrous seeing Kogites struggle for face caps and T-shirts. Some political contestants shared tin-tomatoes, rice and other items but I must admit that these petty items successfully bought the conscience of some electorates. Last year, it is in this state politicians claim heroic status by customizing sachet toothpaste, soaps and with guts throw biscuits to people on the streets while they wave two fingers in the air from their open roof stretched cars and in excitement people fall over each other to pick biscuits from the floor. In appreciation, the people chant songs in local dialects to celebrate a man who has virtually done nothing for them but has temporarily solved their hunger problem.
Unemployed youths and other low income earners are not exempted as they would do anything to spread a false gospel of a thieving politician as long as they are compensated with data bundles and little cash to feed for the moment. I registered my deepest sympathy with their families. It was just two weeks ago one of the popular internet sycophant confessed to me that, he was given 5GB weekly and N20,000 each month he participated in responding to messages from all Whatsapp Groups and other social media platforms that will affect the credibility of their candidate.
Poverty is like a plague and its endless manifestation on our people gets so scary that one is forced to believe that the present economic reality is a deliberate attempt by the ruling class to sustain the gap between the poor and the rich for selfish motives.
How do you describe workers who recently threatened to pull down the government of Gov. Bello ? It indeed goes a long way to show you the danger of poverty. How do you describe the shameless display by the youths on various cables who came out Bello 8 years for sure despite poverty ravaging the land? In all of these, politicians enjoy the loot alone but when called for interrogation, they are quick to give as little as N500 each to the poor who carry placards with warnings in attempts to stop the EFCC from doing its job. The people are mentally imprisoned and the politicians capitalize on this fact by depriving them of basic necessities.
Many communities do not have portable water. Some residents fetch water to drink from the well while some go to the stream to get water to drink but these are the same people who come out to sing praises of their representatives and stage massive protests at any mention of probe. A probe is simply a thorough investigation into a matter and even though former Governor will be probe. I will be most delighted to see him probed. I have not accused him of anything but Kogites must stop ethnic bigotry and demand for good governance.
As Kogites we must ask ourselves, how has the government impacted on the common man on the street? Has the government made life easy for me by providing basic amenities like portable water, accessible roads and hospitals among others? Do I have value for the taxes I pay? If your answer to any of these questions is negative, your governor can be considered a failure. You will agree with me that it certainly calls for deliverance when youths lacking access to these basic amenities spit fire over social media in defense of the same governor or representatives who have stolen from common patrimony.
Let me use this opportunity to remind the bigots and the poor men used as touts during elections that these political thieves they defend fall sick and are flown abroad for immediate treatment. Let me also remind these bigots and poor men used as touts that the children of our public office holders attend Foreign Universities where the academic calendar is uninterrupted but the poor men can only see pictures of these foreign universities on blogs. My deepest sympathy with my brothers and sisters from Kogi State University, Anyigba.
Sycophants must remember that the peanut received from politicians will take care of a meal for a short period but the gains of good governance are everlasting and this explains why politicians will bid you farewell after the expiration of their tenure to relax in countries that are properly planned by sincere leaders.
As I open your eyes to the truth, kindly pray that may Almighty Allah bless our state beyond our hopes.
– Alfa Tijani, a media aficionado, writes from Ajaka, Igalamela/Odolu LGA of Kogi State.
