By joshua ‘THE PEOPLE’S ENGINEER’: HOW BASHIRU GEGU BECAME KOGI LGA’S TOUCHSTONE FOR SERVICE
By Our Reporter
In Kogi LGA, the name Engr. Abubakar Bashiru Gegu now carries a weight beyond office titles. To many residents, he is less a politician and more a reference point for grassroots service, humility, and practical development.
As Kogi State Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, and a long-standing political figure, Engr. Gegu has built a reputation around people-first interventions that cut across education, health, water, power, and economic empowerment.
His journey began in the Peoples Democratic Party, where he contested for the House of Representatives. After a bye-election loss in the early days of the Yahaya Bello administration, he moved to the All Progressives Congress, APC. There, his consistency and community focus earned him strategic roles and trust within the party structure.
In Kogi LGA, that trust translated into visibility at the grassroots. Traditional rulers and community leaders note that interventions under his influence — from schools to rural roads, reached areas that had long felt overlooked. His daily empowerment drives have made “Bashiru Gegu” a familiar name in most households.
At the Ministry of Solid Minerals, he introduced reforms aimed at making the sector work for host communities. Processes for licensing were streamlined to check illegal mining, while new partnerships with investors have created jobs and raised state revenue. Mining licenses and heavy equipment were also secured to reposition the ministry for more investment.
Outside the ministry, his footprint is visible in communities: an ultra-modern hospital in Gegu Beki, clean-water projects in rural areas, transformers for village electrification, women’s empowerment grants, student scholarships, and direct fee support for learners facing financial pressure.
He often frames his work with a simple creed: _“The essence of living is to help each other. If you cannot help, don’t hurt each other.”_ That outlook, aides say, shapes how projects are chosen and delivered.
Beyond projects, Engr. Gegu’s Gegu Beki residence has become a meeting point for political consultations. Ahead of 2027, he maintained that Kogi would remain firmly APC, aligned with President Bola Tinubu and Governor Ahmed Ododo, with political influence gradually reverting to former Governor Yahaya Bello. With the APC primary now concluded, many within the party say the pattern is aligning with his earlier assessment.
Colleagues describe him as a blend of technocrat and community mobilizer. Under his watch, the Solid Minerals Ministry adopted a clearer framework to ensure host communities benefit directly from resources in their domain. The goal, he has said, is to ensure Kogi’s mineral wealth serves as a tool for economic uplift, not just revenue on paper.
Traditional rulers in Kogi LGA say his approach — inclusive consultations, transparency in decisions, and direct engagement with communities — sets him apart from typical political practice.
As Kogi enters a new political phase, residents say Engr. Bashiru Gegu’s imprint is already being measured not only in projects, but in how governance is felt at the village level.