LET’S TALK ABOUT. KOGI.STATE POLITIICAL DYNAMICS SINCE 1990 TILL DATE.
–ETHNIC SENTIMENTS VS SUPERIOR STRATEGY AND PROVIDENCE.
By Otori.Ozigi
There’ is no gainsaying that the political evolutions in Kogi state have witnessed a new narrative that transformed the.old order to a new political order..
Recall that for over 2 decades a section of the state namely the Eastern senatorial district dominated the political system and firmament like an octopus.
True,the state was in the hands of the Igalas and the People’s Democratic Party which was the ruling political party in the state.
Both the ruling PDP and the Igalas became drunk with political power that they were even boasting openly that they will continue to reign in the system for over 50 years.
The other opposition political parties were like poor political orphans.in the suffocating political environment dominated by PDP.
It was so bad that some of the opposition parties had no befitting secretariat.
I know of a political party that had just 5 non registered members who were holding meetings under a big mango tree near the office of the Deputy Governor, located opposite the state township stadium,Lokoja.
I can remember vividly all this scenario because I was working with the former Deputy Governor of the state,Dr Phillips Omeiza Ozovehe Salawu as.a Media aide.
However, God in his infinite mercy decided to change this old order by causing the sudden collapse of the old system and political domination in the State.
An opposition political party in the state, namely APC with it’s flag bearer Late Prince Abubakar Audu, caused an election tsunamis that led to the collapse of the ruling PDP.
But there was a price to pay for this electoral victory.
The flag bearer of the victorious APC , Prince Audu, died suddenly in the course of election where he was reportedly coasting home to victory.
Expectedly,this unusual happenstance, created a legal lacuna in the state.
The political system in the State and beyond, witnessed serious and various permutations as to who righly takes over from the demise of late Audu as the new flag bearer of the APC in the state.
After a long and intense legal fireworks, the lot now fell on Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, who took second in the APC primary election conducted in the State.
He was inaugurated twice as the Executive Governor of Kogi state between 2016 and 2024.
He had an eventful and highly impactful 8 years in office.
Today Alhaji Yahaya Bello remains the father of modern Kogi state.
That was how a new political order and the change in leadership ensued in the state till date.
The People of the Eastern senatorial district populated largely by the Igalas lost the grip of the political power from 2016 till date.
What providence did was like a nursing mother removing the feeding bottle from the mouth of an infant.
The people of the Central senatorial district became the new political landlords of the Lugard House cohabiting with some political actors from both the Western and Eastern senatorial districts.
Meanwhile, few Political actors from the Eastern senatorial district who are yet to accept their fate in a sudden lost of political power have been misbehaving like a wounded lion or a defeated Chelsea club in a local derby at the Emirates stadium.
With an unpopular ethnic agenda, the Igalas spearheaded by the likes of one chief Simon Achuba,a supposed former Deputy Governor of Kogi State and his Personal Assistant on ethnic politics Mr Austin Okai,have been running from one location to another in Abuja looking for what does not belong to them any more.
What a pity and unfortunate political situation in the confluence state.
Can someone help us wake up the so-called Chief Achuba and his cotravellers like Austin Okai from their sedated sleep before they become totally useless and eternally broke and bankrupt in the political system in the state.
Let me remind them that the political train had since left the station under the captainshp of the new sheriff in town,Alhaji Ododo Ahmed Usnan.
In the next 16 years, the Igalas would ultimately remain in the cold and wilderness, while the Ebiras and the Okuns would take their turns in the saddle as the new landlords in Lugard House,Lokoja,
What a cruel fate !
There is a lesson in all these.
Power belongs to the supreme God.
He gives power to whom ever He chooses.
Otori Ozigi is a Veteran Jouranalist and PR Consultant from Okene, Kogi state.