By Musa Bakare
The greatest danger confronting Kogi West today may not be the absence of political opportunity, but the emergence of an internally divisive agenda, obviously orchestrated by People outside the district, capable of turning the West against itself.
What should be a collective political project is increasingly being framed as Lokoja/Koto versus Okun, and Okun versus Lokoja/Koto.
This is precisely the kind of internal fragmentation that weakens a people before they ever confront the larger political contest.
The question is not whether Lokoja/Koto has legitimate interests or whether Okun has legitimate aspirations. Both do.
The real question is: must the legitimate aspirations of one constituency necessarily become the political defeat of the other?
That is the dangerous premise that must be rejected.
For years, the West has spoken of equity, justice and fairness in the distribution of political opportunities. Yet, ironically, we now risk creating another form of exclusion within the very senatorial district that has historically complained of exclusion.
This is why the attempt to summon the people of the West before a so-called summit to deliberate on political arrangements before the principle of equity has been properly established deserves serious scrutiny.
A summit cannot manufacture justice.
A gathering cannot substitute for equity.
And political dialogue cannot become a mechanism for compelling one section of the West to negotiate away what ought to be addressed as a question of fairness and historical balance.
If the West is serious about producing a governor, then the conversation should not begin with “Who among us should defeat whom?”
It should begin with:
“How do we unite our diverse constituencies around a political arrangement that gives every component of Kogi West a sense of belonging?”
The West does not need a Lokoja-versus-Okun war.
It does not need Okun-versus-Lokoja politics. It needs West-versus-marginalisation politics.
That distinction is fundamental.
Our political strength will not come from manufacturing enemies within the West. It will come from recognising that Lokoja/Koto and Okun have more strategic interests in common than they have reasons to fight one another.
The West must not allow the struggle for the governorship to to be hijacked by desperate people to become a struggle against itself.
The road to political power begins with unity, not internal political warfare.
Clandestine manoeuvrings, late night meetings and all other evil agenda is certainly against the spirit of togetherness and oneness of the people of Kogi West senatorial district of Kogi State
Happy new month and happy independence day to you all
– Musa Bakare writes from Lokoja.
