I watched on the Confluence TV news at 7pm on Saturday, 20th June, 2015, where a pocket of either hungry, hired, sponsored, attention-seeking, job-seeking, begging or unlettered youths moved to the Palace of Attah of Igala, Sir Michael Oboni to tell him of their support for Wada’ s re-election for 2nd term. They claimed they were comprised of the youths from all the nine local governments that form Kogi East. But I refuse to believe that my people of Ofu LGA, as educated and intelligent as they are, were parts of the louts – male and female – that marched shamelessly to the Palace of Attah of Igala yesterday. I watched them closely. No single member of that group including the one that called himself their leader looked sensible and intelligent. No wonder then they were easily bought and cheaply used. God!
I never believed in my wildest imagination that any Igala person in his sane mind would identify himself with Governor Wada, let alone stand up to support him in his quest for a political office one more time to create yet another moment of slavish and hungry opportunity. Mr Wada claimed he wanted to employ 500 teachers in this state. He made men and women pass through stress, wasting money while waiting for interview. The job is no where to found today. He made salaries payment the greatest achievement of his administration, and PDP did not waste time in placing a big board to advertise this pride of shame. Today, Mr Wada cannot pay salaries, signifying he has no achievement anymore. If any reason should therefore be adduced to their marching yesterday, it should be to ask the Attah to call Mr Wada home and discourage him from seeking any further public position, having disgraced and desecrated his land; it should be for a scathing attack on the person of Mr Wada for his wasting precious opportunities that would have been used to develop Igalaland; they should have cited strong reasons why they think Mr Wada is not worthy of a position of even a DLG, let alone chairman of a local government.
Before now, I thought many Igala youths would be as passionate as I am to not only disown Wada for running a tepid and an impotent government against the wishes and aspirations of the people of the state, but also for impoverishing the state in general and Igalaland and its people in particular. Any stranger who hears our story that Igalaland has been the one producing the governors of the state will believe that the land is fully developed based on the fact that the three executive governors of the state since its creation have been from Igalaland. Prince Abubakar Audu is an exception here, for his government was a zillion times better than, and different from Mr Wada’s and his predecessor, Ibrahim Idris’. I thought the Igalas would be so united to throw Mr Wada away like the bathwater for bringing shame and reproach to them.
It is therefore lamentable if the same Igala youths that would have been the first to throw stones at their own prodigal son should be the one to mollycoddle him. It then means that the continuous rulership of the state by the Igalas who are spineless and functionless and who yet enjoy the support of the youths will bring nothing but woes to the state. If the Igalas continue to practise politics of tribalism and sectionalism, supporting what should have been rejected and puked publicly, then the development of this state in general, and Igalaland in particular will be in doubt.
Odih Daniel N.,
Lokoja, Kogi State.
odih4sure@gmail.com
