This write-up is triggered by the recent political violence in some parts of the Kogi Central as reported in a section of the media and promoted by a candidate in the forth coming election to the outside world.
I am saddened that my father land has again taken the lead in political violence and undemocratic tendencies under this democratic dispensation.
I am equally saddened that Ebira Land is gripped in the miasma of political tuggery and brigandage even as INEC have continued to preach against such barbaric and inhuman indulgence at a time like this when other climes have moved away to civilized conducts during elections.
This journalist last week participated at a parley between INEC and traditional rulers in Kogi State. Expectedly the Ohinoyi of Ebira land His Royal Majesty, Dr. Ado Ibrahim and other red cap chiefs were in attendance at that interactive sections.
I was down cast throughout the duration of that interactive occasion because the chairman of INEC in Kogi State mentioned my father land as a flash point in political violence as recorded in Kogi State at every electioneering period in recent history.
True, Ebira land have always been in the news for the wrong reasons under this democratic dispensation because some desperate politicians and their band of criminal elements have always constituted themselves as great dangers to democratic norms and ethos in that part of the country where I come from by birth and natural inclinations.
If you trace the evolution of politics in Kogi Central you would understand that political violence only started since the return of democracy in 1999 when the military retreated into their natural habitat in the barracks where they belong.
The first republic and subsequent republics gave us men and women of personal integrity who where in politics for the development of the area and not personal aggrandizement and fulfillment of self serving egocentric tendencies as witness under these democratic dispensations.
We use to have men of profound goodwill like the Kokoris, Adamu Attah, Pius Lasisi, Ohikeres, and other political icons of the first and second republics.
But recently the devil and other agents of darkness took over the soul and spirit of Kogi Central in the name of politics that have brought colossal damage and destruction to lives and properties in the land particularly during the 2003 general elections in that part of the world. As it where many innocent souls have been lost to political violence and undemocratic practices in Kogi Central. It goes without saying that the major reason while this negative development have persisted is that those who should learn lessons have not been taught lessons by relevant authorities in the state.
Against this background therefore, I wish to give my antidote for political violence in the area. The traditional rulers in the land should immediately call all the political actors and political office seekers to the palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebira land to sign peace pact that would guide their conducts before, during and after 2019 general elections in the area. This is the right time to do this before we enter the crucial moment of the forth coming elections in the area.
Any politician found wanting should be made to face the full wrath and weight of the law to serve as deterrence to budding and potential thugs in the area.
The security agents in the area should be neutral and apolitical during electioneering periods in Kogi Central if we are to achieve a violent free election in that part of the world.
This message should serve as a wake-up call to all stakeholders in Ebira Politics.
I rest my case.
– Otori Ozigi
A former PRO Nigerian Ports Authority, Journalist and Public Relations Expert based in Kogi State.
