When a captain came onboard as the governor of Kogi state, my feeling was, as a captain he would pilot the state to high heavens; but little did we know reverse was the case. Kogi state has been piloted to the ground. Oh Kogi! Our lovely state.
I watched with great dismay thugs snatching money and gift items meant for the less privilege during the Ramadan period due to disorganization by the governors team and his security personnel’s; leaving a vast majority of the less privilege very disappointed having gotten little or nothing for the Ramadan. Wisdom is profitable to direct, and I vividly stand on the fact that wisdom is not fielding Captain Idris Wada for a second term in Kogi state with the way Kogi has been governed in the past four years.
Kogi state is blessed with both mineral and human resource, and has been on its toes for the past four years. I remember carrying out the field research of my final year project in 2012 in Kogi state; having mapped Lokoja, the state capital and few local governments in the state, I couldn’t but feel sorry and great pity for my people and my state. Fast forward three years from then and still seeing the state go from worse to worse leaves me with no choice but to sound it to the People Democratic Party (PDP) leadership on the disadvantage of fielding captain Idris Wada for a second term, with the wind of change sweeping across Nigeria and most especially northern Nigeria.The presidential election of March in which the governor lost as simple as his local government DEKINA to the APC speaks volume of his people’s disbelieve in him and his administration which could go a long way in spreading through the state, knowing vividly that the state was lost to the APC.
A few of captain Idris Wada lapses includes; poor or no infrastructural facilities in the state as a whole, non-commitment to civil servant welfare, INSECURITY, to mention a few. The state capital, Lokoja could only be compared to some villages in some states with street light as its major achievement. I remember perusing through a picture on the internet, I saw students of the state university watch a basketball match sitting on hostel windows and slabs of hostel buildings, the basketball court looks more like a bare ground. This speaks volume of the infrastructural decay in the state and his low infrastructural intelligence.
The issue of insecurity is a big blow to Wada as the chief security officer of the state, kidnapping is at a record high, armed robbers carry out activities at ease, and life and properties are not saved in certain areas.
Also nonpayment/slash of civil servants salaries in a state where no tangible mega ‘project’ can be shown for using the state allocation from the federal government says a lot about his vision and mission of the present administration. Its attitude to administration shows it doesn’t deserve a 2nd term.
Maybe he’s old, maybe he’s lost the zeal, maybe he’s nursing a health challenge, or he’s being pushed by a cabal of people. Reason he’s not performed, but we don’t need that anymore. Wada as a brand would not sell the product called PDP in the coming election and it would be detrimental to the party. The PDP need a new set/generation of people who could see things from the people’s point of view; people who see governance as a big business of giving and creating effective service to the people, and also generating money for the state. A state so blessed with mineral and human resources could compete with even oil producing state if our resources can be effectively utilized. The Ajaokuta steel company could spring up billions of naira and elevate the state, lands could be used for agriculture; thugs could be engaged meaningfully by creating employments.
What Kogi as a state needs is a vibrant young person with a vision and mission to move the state to where it should be, from where it is presently. The people of Kogi must just get it right this time. God bless the PDP, God bless Kogi and God bless Nigeria.
Temiloluwa Ipinmoroti, a geologist, farmer and aspiring politician, writes from Kaduna state.
Twitter handle: @oluwatexbaba
