By Alao Adamadamosi Sunday
The clock has stopped ticking for Alhaji Ibrahim Idris. The hands of time stood still on Sunday afternoon in a London hospital, where the former Governor of Kogi State, popularly known as “Ibro,” reportedly breathed his last at 77. By evening, the news had travelled from the United Kingdom to Idah, Lokoja, Okene, Ankpa and beyond, leaving Kogi State in deep mourning.
For a man who once set the political tempo of the Confluence State, the silence is deafening. Ibro has bowed out in London — far from the land of his birth, far from the crowds that once chanted his name, and far from the state he governed for nearly nine years. But if the clock stopped ticking in London, the echoes are reverberating across Kogi.
The former governor was not just a political leader; he was a phenomenon. Born in 1949 in Idah, Idris built a business empire before venturing into politics. His Ibro Trading Company had interests in construction, furniture and hospitality, and his Ibro Hotel in Sokoto was described as the first three-star hotel in the old Sokoto State. That business instinct would later shape his administration: pragmatic, bold and sometimes controversial.
He became governor in 2003 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, defeating the incumbent, Prince Abubakar Audu. He was re-elected in 2007, but his victory was nullified by the Court of Appeal in February 2008. Unbowed, he contested and won the March 2008 re-run, serving until January 2012. His tenure left landmarks that still speak for him: the Greater Lokoja Water Scheme, the Confluence Stadium, the International Market, the Meme Bridge, the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja, a bursary scheme that benefited about 60,000 students, and modern central mosques in Idah, Ejule and Abejukolo.
For Kogi, the clock has not just stopped for a former governor. It has stopped for a father, a mentor, a political godfather and a man whose influence stretched across generations. His death follows a painful personal loss in April 2024, when his son, Mohammed Ibrahim Idris, a former member of the House of Representatives, died in Abuja shortly after Eid-el-Fitr prayers.
Tributes have begun to pour in. Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo condoled with the family, describing the late Idris as a man who made meaningful contributions to politics and business. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, described his death as a profound loss to Kogi State, the PDP and Nigeria, noting that his departure creates a significant vacuum. Socio-political group FORIJA also mourned him as a monumental loss to Igala land, Kogi State and Nigeria.
As Kogi mourns, the question on many lips is simple: who will wind the clock again? Who will fill the space left by Ibro? The answers may take time. But for now, the state is content to remember.
The clock has stopped ticking for Ibrahim Idris. Kogi is mourning. And Ibro has bowed out in London — but the roads he built, the water he provided, the students he sponsored and the mosques he raised will keep ticking in the memory of a grateful people.
– Alao Adamadamosi Sunday, arpa writes from Lokoja.
