joshua
The danger of writing a tribute to any high profile personality in Nigeria today is obvious: the writer runs the risk of being misrepresented as a political praise singer, or at times, time and tide can cast him as a bootlicker, especially, if the subject of his adulation suffers a reversal of fortune, materially or reputation-wise. But with Hon. Aminu Atabor, you can safely write an eulogy because, you can be sure that ten years later, his stock will remain bullish. So, as he clocks another year today, September 2, 2022, any piece of writing about him is no piece of sophistry because Hon. Atabor has been as constant as the Northern Star in the affairs of leadership, as he is presently exhibiting as the leader of the PDP in Omala LGA and the State where his exploits are making leadership such a fine art that gladdens the hearts of many Omalites and many in the State in this unending season of anomie.
Indeed, to those who know him up close and personal, Hon. Atabor is an enigma: humble, self-effacing, industrious, practical, efficient by nature, diligent, always thinking about things he needs to accomplish or how to get ahead on his next assignment. A complete Virgo, if you care to assess him by his Zodiac sign. But in plain terms, he is a case of a man who set out to always make a difference wherever he found himself. Not the kind of difference other men pursue to grandstand, but the type that impacts humanity and makes life easier for people. And of this, his track record is unassailable.
A look back at his trajectory gives a chronicle of exemplary service to Kogi State and a profile of pure patriotism from an individual. He could have chosen to live his life as an ordinary business man after his exploits as a one time Federal Civil Servant, helmsman of Omala LGA, or at best be content with his name in the history book as one of the ‘ Ibro boys’ of the Political Juggernaut of Kogi State. But he chose a different road to travel.
Local Government Pension Board, Omala LGA, remembers Hon. Atabor as a man who gave them leadership and repositioning at a perilous time when a man with the right thinking cap was most needed to pilot the affairs of the aforementioned places.
A practical Hon. Atabor have shown the necessity of firm action in such grave matters by birthing the operation to reposition the Local Government Pension Board, a combined Political and administrative transformation, and in few months he held sway left indelible marks.
Hon. Atabor solved the many challenges knot with sweeping reforms as helmsman of Omala and at the Pension Board. Now as a Politician looking patiently into the firmament, it is too early to talk about the the future, but he has orchestrated a turnaround that signals a rebirth of in politics at a time when Kogi State and country needs selfless men who’s passion for development remains unquantifiable.
The cynical assumption that Hon. Atabor’s achievements are in politics, the ecosystem of the time has fallen flat like a pack of cards with the ongoing success he has made as a quintessential businessman.
Discipline, purpose-driven action and go-getting attitude to the wellbeing of the people remains Hon. Atabor’s priority. How he did it, is, again, the stuff of leadership he is made up of.
Without any doubt, there is a swell in the number of students of the Hon. Atabor’s school of Leadership, under the Ibro Leadership style, the younger generation, who only heard of his exploits of yesteryears but are now seeing evidence of his management skills, and are paying attention to the lessons therein.
Right before their eyes, Hon. Atabor is teaching the anatomy of how to make a better Kogi State relevant.
Hon. Atabor is also teaching the mechanics of how to win support for a cause as he continues to crisscross the length and breadth of Kogi State talking to communities and their traditional leaders, about the imperative of joining forces to defeat the ruling APC and he’s doing a good job at it.
Today, Hon. Atabor stands tall as a colossus, one of Kogi State emblems of capable leadership, an amalgam of the best of several education, holds PhD, capabilities, and the virtues of a needed leader. Far removed from the tribal sentiment that is fast gaining root in the country, his cosmopolitan outlook has won him friends from all shades, and a firm recognition as a one-of-a-kind pan-Nigerian leader.
As he adds another year today, many have only prayers, plenty of prayers for him, wishing him many happy returns, and wishing to continue to see him in a leadership positions where he can better improve the lots of the citizens at any level of leadership.
Abu M. Oshiomieh,
Public Affairs Analyst,
Writes from Lokoja.
