Igala is the 9th largest ethnic group in Nigeria with well-respected and responsible sons and daughters doing exploit in all field of endeavors. We are known to be fearless but truthful and committed to any course we believe in, our ability to rally round ourselves in terms of support and solidarity is incontestable.
The outcome of last primary elections of political parties interested in fielding candidates for the scheduled November 11th governorship elections in Kogi state and the activities of some dissatisfied and aggrieved members of the two major political parties; APC and PDP if not checked is painting the Igalas ethnic group in the bad light.
To start with, it is imperative and pertinent to state clearly without any form of ambiguity that am not against any ‘collective’ interest of the overwhelming majority of the igalas.
The fall out from the micro elections has prompted lots of selfish alignment and realignment of some heavyweight politicians to push through their ‘personal’ interest deceitfully polished to look like the interest of the entire race.
Who sets an agenda? What are the contents? In whose interest? These salient questions are imperative in reviewing the human face of every agenda. An agenda if any, should be holistic, well-defined, content must be explicitly explained. But any extraneous consideration and prejudice to driving home the selfish agenda of few non ruling elites struggling for admission into the ruling elite leveraging on the wavering unity of the good people of Igala land and kogi state at large is not only deceitful but divisive and must be jettisoned forthwith in the interest of our organic and harmonious coexistence as a people and state in general.
Recall, in the build-up for 2019 Guber Election in the state, in a viral video an individual threatened the entire Igala race “If you know you’re coming from Abuja and Lagos and you’re not coming to vote Bello it’s better you remain there” today such people and their cohorts are seen as pro Igala and taken back without interrogating their grievances and reason for the sudden home coming like the prodigal son or the adulterous woman that Jesus Christ said go and sin no more.
For free, I tell you very many of them have returned home for their ‘interest’ agenda and not necessarily a ‘collective’ agenda. A sectional, accidental and situational agenda is a feature inherent in the nature and character of a disunited kingdom.
The aggrieved lacks the locus to set an agenda for us as a people, if we allow that, they will misdirect the purpose and intent of the agenda. Perennial agenda setters are selfish individuals whose individual interests are not factored into the collective agenda.
Whatever the agenda is, it must be set, agreed, and ratified by the people who are the driving force of actualizing every items of the agenda.
Let us together conceive a holistic agenda that will promote the interest of all the igalas with recourse to our good and harmonious relationships with our neighbors in the state and beyond since we have other ethnic groups in Kogi State.
If I see genuine Agenda, I will put my life in the course of that struggle for the liberation of our people and the entire Kogi. Until then, what am seeing trending in recent time is nothing but selfish interest of some greedy politicians that want to leverage on the humane disposition of the good People of my Senatorial district.
Lastly, we should be cautious of desperate aggrieved individuals who are hell-bent on misleading the populace and cajoling them into supporting ‘interest’ instead of a ‘collective’ Agenda that will bring a collective and sustainable development and foster unity and organic synergy amongst the three senatorial district of the state.
Avoid calumnious campaigns and use of vulgar languages, be objective and a pro collective agenda.
Akor Martins;
Writes from Abuja.