By joshua IGU KINGDOM: A King Striving For A Peaceful Kingdom
By Our Reporter
For His Royal Majesty, Dr. Saidu Akawu Salihu, PhD, the Ohimegye Igu of Koton-Karfe, the 27th to ascend the revered throne of his forefathers, three words define his reign: peace, unity and development. In that order.
Upon assumption of office, his major preoccupation was peace, the second was unity, and the third was peace, unity and development intertwined.
It is a philosophy that fits the man. A man of many parts whose trajectory prepared him for this moment.
From public service as an Education Officer, to service as Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, to the Kogi State House of Assembly where he served as Chief Whip and Chairman of several strategic committees, to Chairman of the Governing Board of the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, to reconciliator and bridge-builder in politics, and now as the Paramount Traditional Ruler of Igu Koton-Karfe Kingdom and Chairman of the Kogi Lokoja Traditional Council, he has brought the same wealth of experience to bear in administering the kingdom.
And he has made the Traditional Council what it was always known for: a place of peace. In spite of the little more effort that is still required to bring all together, Igu Kingdom today is beginning to wear a new look in the direction of peace as envisioned by the forefathers of the kingdom.
This is not by accident. Since his assumption of office, the Ohimegye has deliberately pursued peace-building as governance.
To arrive at total peace, His Majesty himself says, is a work in progress. And that is normal, coming from a background where some persons may have been used to a different order in time past. But life is about change, a peaceful one at that, and the progress of a community that has long yearned for prosperity can only be guaranteed when all hands are on deck.
Even before the throne, his reputation as an Architect and Promoter of Peace was well established. As a lawmaker, he dug eleven wells in eleven communities, drilled three motorised boreholes across three zones, built and furnished a primary healthcare centre in Okpaka, supplied diesel to the Koton-Karfe General Hospital throughout his legislative tenure, sponsored treatment for 20 eye patients, paid SSCE and UTME fees for over 100 students, donated computers and desks to schools in Gegu Beki, Girinya, Okofi and Serejemma, and empowered commercial drivers and hundreds of women traders. That selfless service earned him the Peace Maker Award from Policy and Lawmaker Magazine, an early testament to what his reign would become.
Today, his palace door is open. From the Kogi State Hausa Traders Association to youth groups, to market women who now say markets are safer and prices are stable because he listens, to the Council of Elders who affirm that his vision for unity is what Igu Kingdom needed. At the recent turbaning of 25 illustrious sons of the kingdom to fill vacant stools, the Kogi State Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, Engr. Bashir Gegu, captured it aptly when he described the monarch as a peace-loving man whose attitude has united the people.
That is why his voice matters when he says, as he often does, “Our strength lies in togetherness with no clan left behind.”
This is a subtle appeal to all sons and daughters of Igu Koton-Karfe Kingdom, at home and in the diaspora. The kingdom our forefathers left behind is bigger than any individual grievance. The desire for growth we have all looked forward to can only come through peaceful coexistence. Rancour has never built a kingdom; peace does.
The Ohimegye has chosen peace. He has chosen to restore the dignity of the throne, to unite the Traditional Council, to commission mosques and pray for peace with fellow traditional rulers like the Maigari of Lokoja and the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, and to welcome partners like HYPPADEC, whose N420 million erosion control project he embraced as a long-awaited answer to flooding.
Let us come together. For now, Igu Kingdom is witnessing a rebirth. Let us nurture it with understanding, forgiveness and dialogue. For in peace there is progress, and in unity there is prosperity.