There’s an Ebira adage that says, “Oza emanyi, Oza ruya”, meaning, “You can’t have people and still lack their support.” Sadly, the reverse is the case today in Agama and Oguda.
For more than a decade now, Edo State has been dragging Kogi land with our people who have lived there for generations. Edo shares a boundary with Kogi through Kogi Central, especially Okene Local Government.
From the time of Alh. Yahaya Karaku as chairman till this very moment, no Okene LG chairman has ever gone there to confront the Okpella people who are claiming our land. What our people have always lacked is not courage, it is the state government support backed by real action.
Before now, we used to believe that past governors, the likes of H. E. Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Ibro) and Captain Idris Wada ignored the matter because they weren’t from Kogi Central. But today, when the Governor, the Commissioner for Justice, the Commissioner for Housing, the DG of Lands and Housing, and even the chairman, State House Committee on Land are all from Kogi Central, and yet there’s no visible action, it is painful and disappointing, to say the least.
Edo people now claim Agama, a place that rightfully belongs to us. The school there is ours, our polling unit covers that area, and even local government projects were carried out there. But because the Kogi State Government remains silent, the people of Edo have now pushed their claim further to Oguda, even giving our people seven days to leave their ancestral land. Imagine the humiliation!
I heard there was even a time when a Kogi life was lost in the course of this dispute. The security operatives in those areas now take orders from Edo State authorities. How did we get here?
Our own Governor, H.E. Ahmed Usman Ododo, was in Edo State during the last gubernatorial election to support his party’s interest, and in the end, APC won. He and the Governor of Edo State, H.E. Monday Okpebholo, are known to be good friends. With that kind of relationship, Gov. Ododo has every opportunity to resolve this dispute amicably, for the sake of our people and in the interest of peace. It is a well-known fact that the land in question belongs to Kogi State.
If, at the end of the day, we lose this land, let it be known that it wasn’t Igala or Okun people that failed us, it was Ebira people, especially those in power who looked away when it mattered most.
If we cannot develop our land, that should never mean we abandon it. Our forefathers kept it for us with pride and sacrifice. Are we now the generation that will watch it slip away?
Lokoja is temporary, but Kogi Central is our home forever. A people without land are a people without history.
My humble appeal goes to our leaders, please, don’t wait until we lose everything before taking action. This is not about politics, it is about protecting our roots, our people, and our dignity.
– Engr Ira Habib writes from Kogi state.
