As the Kogi – November poll draws nearer by the day, our polity has began to gather more momentum, tension and concerns. Some of these concerns are biased and self centered.
But as unhealthy as this positions are to the forth coming poll and to the future of the common Man in Kogi state, I am even more bothered by the deteriorated level of opposition we have seen so far and the myopic nature of what is likely to come and what is not likely to even come.
Bluntly, I will say that my sincere fear now is no longer if we will defeat or unseat the Yahaya Bello led government but who are we going to replace this failed dispensation with? Who are we going to hand over this already battered state to and strongly believe he or she will be able to harness the little resources left and set the state on a better track? Which aspirant are we going to hand over the already sinking and collapsing Kogi state to and be strongly assured that the pathetic nature of poverty and suffering that has been chopping through the entirety of the state will be addressed quickly and in the “rightest” manner?
More than 62 persons are already jostling for the seat. Some we know and some we are just getting to meet, but amongst all, none was ever here to lend a voice to the strong insist for a better Kogi state. Some of us have been agitating for nearly a decade now, none of them has ever stood with us to insist against the Wada and Bello led governments which plunged the entire state into the most dehumanized condition in the history of the state.
And one begins to wonder where the sudden love for the state is coming from, where the sudden voice has been found and how these persons who never wanted to know how the state was faring has suddenly began to show concern.
Kogi state is at a cross road and we must choose with utmost carefulness so that we will not end up replacing Yahaya Bello with another Yahaya Bello. With what we have seen in the aspirants so far, the only difference between these aspirants and the present governor is their tribe. They really do not seem to know what the state is actually in need of and it is obvious that they are just out to either enrich themselves or add more feathers to their wings.
Let us not be deceived by all the long notes and articles our so called comrades and over zealous youths have been sharing and resharing on social media, the truth is we still have to sit down and look at who will truly liberate the state and better the present conditions of the people.
The present government led by Governor Yayaha Bello has done a lot of damage to the state and we can’t risk this remaining life line by giving the office to any available hand just because we are in a desperate struggle to unseat this failed government.
Without fear, I will like to still re-echo what I said on ‘Kogi Let The Truth Be Told’ social media platform recently. I noted that there is no opposition in Kogi state yet, what we still have are drops of single persons resisting certain actions and in actions of the present government. This person despite trying to influence the present government are also in one way or the other trying to enrich themselves and make a living for themselves and we will be shooting our self on the leg if in any way we think they are the opposition in the state or if we think such crop of persons will give us the opposition we need to unseat this failed government.
In as much as we are strongly clamouring for a new government we must also not allow our hatred for the present government to lure us into settling for any kind of leadership. We have a state to build not a life to upgrade. We have a sinking state to save, not a political career to promote. We have a state to revamp, not a family legacy. We have a state to liberate, not a party supremacy or agenda to propagate.
As a state, we must be guided at this point and must in every way resist the temptation of supporting every Tom, Dick and Harry presented to us; aspirants who never knew what the people suffered in the last three and half years, aspirants who were in their luxuries at Abuja and abroad while we wallow in abject poverty, want and lack can never liberate the people.
The same aspirants whose gates were locked and will only sneak home and sneak back to their base in the city and even abroad does not in any way meet the smallest definition of the kind of leadership the present Kogi state needs.
The true liberation of Kogi state is only going to be possible if we support a leader that has been with us all through the struggle, an aspirant who knows what is fully at stake and will not in any way jeopardise this last opportunity. He or she must not be Igala but must be able to weave himself through the countless development problem that cuts across every region in the state and must streamline governance in the state towards becoming more responsive, more accountable and more effective.
Any thing short of this is just the same thing as replacing Yahaya Bello with another Yahaya Bello. Let us be guided please.
– Jacob Unekwu Agada, the author of EBULÉJONU, writes from Idah, Kogi state.
