By joshua Kogi’s ‘Sardauna’: Why Engr. Bashiru Gegu Is Being Called A Rare Breed In Politics
By Abu Micheal Lokoja, Kogi State.
Engr. Bashiru Gegu is the kind of public servant who makes you pause and ask what politics would look like if more leaders served without noise. Step into his residence and you won’t meet protocol or pretense. You’ll meet a man who believes, in his own words, that “the essence of living is to help each other. If you cannot help, don’t hurt each other.” That single principle has quietly shaped his rise from Gegu-Beki to the heart of Kogi’s government.
Born on September 18, 1979, to Alhaji Abubakar Umar, the Asumehekaka of Gegu Beki Chiefdom, and Hajiya Maimunat Abubakar, Bashiru Gegu’s journey began at Kogi Zonal Education Board Primary School where he finished in 1988. He proceeded to Government Secondary School Gwagwalada, graduated in 1999, and later studied Chemical Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, bagging his degree in 2009. After serving his NYSC with Taraba Gas Limited, he built Cyclo Energy Ltd to help close Nigeria’s energy gap and also consulted for the Nigerian Army and other organizations before answering the call to public service.
Since January 2020 he has served as Kogi State Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, and he has approached the role like a man who understands that government must translate to better living. Under his watch, Kogi has secured dozens of mining licenses and procured heavy-duty equipment to strengthen the sector, while his ministry clamped down on illegal mining and pushed for responsible resource management. But Engr. Bashiru’s impact goes far beyond mineral files and policy memos.
In Gegu Beki he facilitated the construction of an ultra-modern referral hospital that now gives thousands of families access to quality healthcare. He has funded scholarships, paid students’ fees, and supported indigent pupils who would have dropped out. Across rural communities he donated transformers to restore electricity, drilled clean-water projects, and provided empowerment grants for women to start small businesses. Traditional stools were upgraded and community safety initiatives received his backing. Even royal institutions have felt his respect — he recently presented a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser to the Paramount Ruler of Lokoja, HRH Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Kabir IV, to ease his duties. Similarly, he facilitated a brand new Toyota for a woman community leader at the weekend in Gegu. On record he has distributed countless of cars, motorcycles to people of Kogi LGA.
Those who work with him describe him the same way: compassionate, humble, selfless, innovative, empathetic. He mentors young people, listens to communities, and carries the weight of office without airs. Before his current role he served as Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Local Government Matters in 2015. He has also been honored as Youth Ambassador by NAFAMU and EMEN, received the Exemplary Leadership and Quality Service Delivery Award from YMD Kogi, and now chairs MIREMCO. The title “Sarkin Yaki” conferred on him by former Governor Yahaya Bello captured how he takes on tough assignments and delivers.
Bashiru Gegu holds several chieftaincy titles across Kogi and beyond, from ONDAKI IREKWU of IGU Koton-Karfe Kingdom and SARDAUNA of Gegu Beki Chiefdom, to MADUGUN GABAS of Girinya, JAGORAN MATASAN Abaji, CIROMA of Iraki, TAMBARI of Kupa, and MADAKI of Ekuzi. A family man who enjoys politics, creative thinking, soccer, travel and reading, he wears these honors lightly.
Perhaps that is why many residents now call him Kogi’s ‘Sardauna’. In an age when politics often rewards loudness, Engr. Bashiru Gegu represents something rarer — humility, strategy and service without showmanship. The comparison people make to leaders like Sardauna, Tafawa Balewa and Awolowo is not about nostalgia. It is about a leader who puts people first and lets results speak.
So why is Engr. Bashiru Gegu being called a rare breed? The answer lives in the hospital in Gegu Beki, in classrooms where fees were paid, in villages now lit, in women granted start-up funds, and in the quiet respect he commands across communities. He is not just a commissioner. He is a servant leader building legacies one community at a time.