In politics, victories are often mistaken for the harvest of big numbers, yet in Igalaland’s current political climate, the smallest numbers may hold the seeds of the greatest shift. The 2027 elections will not be decided solely by massive rallies, party flags, or grand promises; they may hinge on the quiet count of neglected votes, the silent bloc of first-time voters, and the forgotten corners where ballots barely outnumber fingers in a palm. In a land where our ancestors believed that “a single grain of millet can tilt the balance of the measuring scale,” the underestimated digits may be the deciding destiny.
The Igala nation has learned—painfully—that large numbers can be deceptive. In 2019 and 2023, the tide of “crowd politics” promised a storm but delivered a drizzle. Huge turnouts in campaign grounds were not matched at the ballot boxes; the energy that roared in stadiums evaporated in polling units. Yet, small margins in obscure wards swung results in ways many still struggle to understand. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome once said, “It is not the size of the seed that matters, but the life inside it.” The same is true in politics—where the pulse of a community can be measured in a handful of determined votes.
Our problem is not just disunity; it is the disdain for “insignificant” numbers. Igala elites often chase power like fishermen casting nets into deep waters, forgetting that the fish they ignore in the shallows may be the tastiest. The 2027 race will not only be about who controls the majority—it will be about who respects the minority enough to listen, visit, and empower them. The proverb says, “When the small drum is ignored, the festival dance loses its rhythm.” Those ‘small drums’ are the pockets of loyal voters in Idah, Ankpa, Ibaji, and Dekina who are rarely courted after party primaries.
The danger is that the enemies of Igala unity already understand this arithmetic. They will not seek to crush us with overwhelming votes; they will scatter our focus with distractions, bribes, and calculated division. Bishop David Oyedepo once warned, “The devil is not afraid of the multitude; he fears the united remnant.” In 2027, that remnant may well be the handful of disciplined voters who resist manipulation and vote with a vision larger than themselves.
If the Igala political class is wise, it will begin its 2027 strategy not from the center but from the margins. Every rural polling unit must be treated as a golden well. Every small group must be approached not with arrogance but with genuine partnership. A thousand voices can roar and be ignored, but fifty strategic ballots can swing a council, a constituency, even a state’s fate. The numbers we dismiss today may be the numbers history will remember tomorrow.
In the coming election, the question will not be whether the Igala people can gather a crowd; it will be whether they can count—and respect—every last drop of their political rain. As our elders say, “It is the tiny ant that removes the kernel from the shell.” And in 2027, that tiny ant could be the Igala voter we are yet to see.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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