By joshua Kogi West: Senator Sunday Karimi: Working For The People, Built For Leadership, Poised To Make Mark In History
By Our Reporter.
In politics, not every name commands attention, not every leader leaves a lasting impression, and not every political journey carries the weight of a legacy. Senator Sunday Karimi is a name that demands to be reckoned with.
Leadership is about courage when the stakes are high, conviction when the pressure mounts, and responsibility when the people look to their representatives for answers. The true measure of a political leader lies not merely in the office he occupies, but in the difference his service makes and the legacy he leaves behind.
Since his inauguration in 2023 as Senator representing Kogi West, Karimi has redefined representation from sharing to building, from promises to proof. His story is no longer about what he intends to do, but about what is already on ground from Kogi LGA to Yagba West.
In education, he has made history. The full remodeling of Government Science Secondary School, Koton-Karfe, facilitated through the National Senior Secondary Education Commission at over N1.2 billion, remains the biggest educational infrastructure ever attracted to Kogi West by a sitting legislator. In his alma mater, Titcombe College, Egbe, he built a 288-seater solar-powered Computer-Based Test Centre worth over N350 million that hosted over 1,200 JAMB candidates in the last diet. Three more 275-capacity centres, each with laptops, internet, CCTV, solar and generators, have been secured in the 2026 appropriation for Muslim Community Secondary School, Lokogoma in Lokoja LGA, Government Science School, Iyara in Ijumu LGA, and Okutadudu Comprehensive College, Odo-Ere in Yagba West LGA, with a fourth at ECWA Secondary School, Mopa, personally funded by him. His bursary remains the largest in Kogi State history, 1,000 students at N100,000 each in 2024, 3,000 students at N300 million in 2025 disbursed in January 2026, and another N300 million for 3,000 students across the state, 1,390 in Kogi West, 1,000 in Kogi East and 610 in Kogi Central, with portal open from August 20 to September 20, 2026, all personally funded.
In security, when the Kogi-Kwara border became a kidnap corridor, he did not write a motion and sleep. He committed N750 million of personal funds to build, furnish and equip a 94-bed military Forward Operating Base in Egbe, donated two Hilux patrol vans and facilitated troop deployment to Jege, Odo-Ere, Isanlu and Olle-Bunu. He built another Forward Operating Base along the border corridor. The Chief of Army Staff commissioned the Egbe base on October 12, 2024, after the rescue of CUSTECH students. For this, the nation named him the Most Security-Conscious Senator in Nigeria.
On roads, he attracted about N2 billion for emergency repairs of the abandoned Kabba-Egbe-Ilorin road and secured additional N6 billion to return contractors to site 11 years after abandonment. The reconstruction of the long-abandoned Pakuta Bridge linking Bunu communities has reconnected farming clusters cut off for years. His persistent engagement with the Minister of Works yielded the Federal Executive Council approval in June 2026 of N104 billion for sections of the Obajana-Kabba-Isanlu-Egbe-Omu Aran-Ilorin corridor and N24.7 billion for Kabba-Ifaki-Ado Ekiti road, a strategic link for the entire West.
On water, no ward in Kogi West is left behind. Records show 85 solar-powered boreholes, one per ward, plus facilitation of 75 new ones and rehabilitation of over 60 non-functional schemes at N1.24 billion. In Lokoja alone, he announced 22 solar-powered motorized boreholes delivered and seven industrial solar-powered motorized boreholes under construction, bringing the total in Lokoja LGA to 29, with five more planned to address perennial shortage. On power, over 32 transformers have been distributed to communities like Sarki Noma, Mount Patti, Obajana and Offege-Baptist, and over 500 solar-powered street lights installed across 62 communities. For economic empowerment, 50 women cooperatives received N2 million each totaling N100 million after rigorous business training structured as revolving capital, while palliatives, farm inputs and employment facilitation for youths have reached all seven LGAs. He has also built a cottage hospital in Edoo, Lokoja LGA, and launched the free Karimi Cares coastal bus scheme in Lokoja to cushion transport costs.
In the Senate, he has reintroduced the Bill for Federal University of Agriculture, Kabba, now passed through all legislative stages awaiting presidential assent, and sponsored bills on barring the CBN Governor and deputies from partisan politics and motions on road funding and national unity, proving that effective representation is both legislative and physical.
It is therefore not surprising that from Kabba to Lokoja, from Egbe to Koton-Karfe, the verdict is consistent. Pastor Obayomi Lawrence, Chairman of Bunu District APC, described his interventions as unprecedented and led a unanimous endorsement of President Tinubu and Karimi for second term. Dr. Ola Elijah Olorunshua, Comrade Bayo Oyenibi Owojola and Hon. Esther Balogun called him a leader who has performed creditably. Mrs. Grace Ojo of Egbe said it plainly, the Egbe military base changed things for us, markets that were empty now open late, Karimi did not just talk security, he built it. Musa Ibrahim of Koton-Karfe said, GSSS Koton Karfe was abandoned before, now our children learn in classrooms we can be proud of, that is the kind of representation we need to continue. Pastor Joseph Alabi of Mopamuro summed it up, transformers, streetlights, youth jobs, women support, every ward has something, since 1999 no one has reached this far. Across Kogi West, traditional rulers praise his accessibility, youths point to federal appointments he facilitated, and women highlight the cooperative funding. That is why the people have concluded there is no vacancy.
An ardent supporter of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Senator Karimi leads the Win With Tinubu/Shettima movement in Kogi State. He has been deliberate in domesticating the Renewed Hope Agenda at the grassroots. Through the Win With Tinubu collaboration, his bursary scheme brings the student loan philosophy of NELFUND to the doorstep of indigent students. His town halls across the three federal constituencies have become platforms for explaining Tinubu’s reforms, from removal of fuel subsidy to free funds for development, introduction of Nigerian Education Loan Fund, clearance of foreign exchange backlog, massive road infrastructure including Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway, increased allocations to states and local governments, agricultural interventions and renewed fight against insecurity. He told constituents in Lokoja and Kabba that President Tinubu has done so much for Kogi and the reward for good work is massive votes in 2027. The message has resonated. From Bunu to Yagba, stakeholders have endorsed Tinubu and Karimi together, describing the President as a leader whose actions have made him a darling of Kogi people.
As 2027 sets in, a year to consolidate, the political equation in Kogi is becoming clearer. It is Karimi, Bola Ahmed Tinubu all the way. In Kogi West, from Kogi to Yagba West, the people seem comfortable with his representation because his impact speaks, not promises. History remembers those who rise to the occasion, stand firm in their convictions, and translate public trust into meaningful progress.
Sunday Karimi, a name, a journey, a legacy in the making, and a representation built for history.