Perhaps guided by his years of private experiences in the corporate world where services are recorded in results, Senator Jibrin Isah Echocho who represents the people of Kogi East Senatorial District in the Senate is still acting in modesty and sheer professionalism. This act, when exhibited in politics, portrays one as timid and naive. In our kind of politics, whatever you do must be accompanied by media spotlighting and razzmatazz.
Unfortunately, Echocho is not utilising the media to tell his interventions in his short time as a senator. He is leaving things to fate and somehow becoming an albatross, he is being drowned in the pool of his own principle and conservativism.To him, services to humanity should be done without an air, forgetting that in politics you only survive in relevance when you tell the world your doings. How can you work and not talk about it, especially in this clime? President Donald Trump tweets his achievements on a per second basis.
There was a governor in the Southwest of Nigeria whose good deeds were only known to the people after he had left power. While in government, he worked tirelessly, touching lives in terms of infrastructural development across the three senatorial districts of the state while also improving significantly on the human capital development of the people. Unfortunately, he never interfaced with the media to project his works. The opposition exploited this loophole and in no time, he was voted out of office. The rest, as they say, is history.
Time was when senatorial representations were merely for personal gains, Senator Echocho has come to halt that trend thereby redefining legislative responsibilities which have direct beneficial effects on the people of his senatorial district. On the floor of the Senate, repeatedly, he called for urgent concerns on the Itobe-Ajaokuta road that has decayed beyond imagination, similarly, the bill to extend the railway to Ajaokuta through Ankpa to Otukpa in Benue State was the senator’s forte sameway he is championing the bill to have the Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa upgraded to a degree awarding institution.
Recently, the man procured and distributed medical equipment to some health centres in Idah- even the most coveted hand sanitizer that is now a relish was part of the senator’s gesture to these institutions ;Federal Polytechnic Idah,Kogi State College of Health Technology Idah,Zonal Hospital Idah,Primary Health Care Inacholo,Primary Health Care Ogegele,Primary Health Care Ayah,Cottage Health Centre Onyedega, Primary Health Care Ayeke, Primary Health Care Akpanya, Comprehensive Hospital Ajaka, Primary Health Care Odolu,Federal Government College Ugwolawo,Primary Health Care Ugwolawo,Primary Health Care Itobe,General Hospital Ugwolawo.
Similarly , Dekina Bassa Federal Consistiency benefitted from the largess of Echocho when he distributed loads of medical equipment and facilitated empowerment training in all the wards.
Away from health interventions, taking into cognizance the relevance of electricity to civilisationand industrialisation, the man also dived into rural electrification by donating 500KVA Transformers to Ejegbo, Ofugo and Inye communities all in Ankpa local government area of Kogi State. Do you think the benefiting communities will ever forget a man who gave them light? Never! But the story must be told far and wide.
The same Ankpa Federal Constituency also benefited from the empowerment programme of Senator Echocho where he initiated a training programme for youth and women in cassava processing. The training, which had over 30 people exposed to practical and theoretical modules of cassava processing, was designed to stimulate the Cassava Processing Factory in Aku.
In response to the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Echocho has stationed truckloads of sanitary wares ready for distribution to the people of Kogi East Senatorial District. He is doing that with packaged rice for all the local governments in his district as relief material during the lockdown.
Commendable as this may be, it is very important that Senator Echocho discards the doctrine of not telling what he has done and doing for his people; after all, the people only hear what is said and see what is done. The man must begin to speak in the language of politicians: speak and speak when you work.
Politics and media have an inexorable linkage. The media will expose a non-performing political officeholder same way it will highlight the achievements of a performing politician. Senator Echocho belongs in the latter category. He needs the media to amplify his achievements so the opposition won’t demarket him in the media space when the time comes.
– Abdullahi Haruna Haruspice
