OPINION: Kogi State Problems is Far Beyond Tribalism, We Need A Rescuer Regardless of Ebira, Igala or Okun | By Bashir Haroon
“we must begin to identify ourselves as Kogites first, before identifying our tribal groups”.
When I asked the young man whom I met in Lokoja to tell me what he feels about the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello, and how the Governor’s policies affect his life personally; he looked at me quizzically and explained as courteous as he was proud, that he wasn’t hugely satisfied with Governor Bello’s administration so far, but he was not complaining. He is happy because, at least, for once, his brother, an Ebira man from Okene is occupying the revered office of the Governor. that soon “our share will come to us, after all he is our son.”
As indiscreet as the question posed to my Lokoja friend was, it was also imperative. People that live in Kogi State, and are concerned about the future of the state, will agree with me that we have innumerable problems impeding our growth and development as a state. Among them is tribalism which seems to be the obnoxious case after corruption; it stains every sphere of the state economy and it is one whose attainment or disappointment in curbing, would either productively delineate, tactically position, or would continuously be used to plunge the political background of our STATE. It is also clear that we cannot discuss or sanitize our political terrain without understanding the deep influence of tribal peddlers.
It is very clear that Nigeria as a nation has remain underdeveloped as a result of connecting ethnic chauvinism, tribalism and religious sentiments in the process of choosing their leaders. These and many other interests has made our nation to be as retarded as this and if we must move forward as a nation to compete with developed countries, we must shun tribal politics. While some states in Nigeria might have appeared to achieved so much from hawking tribalism and religious sentiment as a tool to influence the electorate in order to win their mandate. This embryonic ideology has brought us to our current condition as the status we maintained are nothing to be gratified of.
For the background of this article, I may be limited to just Kogi State. Kogi as a state have been very unfortunate in term of her leadership since creation in 1991. Many have attributed this to be tribal issue as the state have successively produced Governors for good 15 years from the eastern wing of the state until 2015 that an Ebira man emerged Governor of Kogi State. This miracle was much-admired from the indigenes of Kogi State and those outside Kogi State for the fact that minority in the state was going to taste the most exalted seat of the state with so much expectation of deliverance to at least prove to the majority that minority can do it also and can perform better than the previous administrations. Historic 2015 emergence of Ebira man as Governor of the state couldn’t have been a success if not that the APC candidate that was winning the 2015 general election even without INEC announcement died a night to the announcement which brought the runner up of the primary election to replace the deceased. Kogites and Igala nation in particular were aggrieved for the demise of Prince Abubakar Audu and what seems to be conceding their number one seat to an Ebira man. All came and gone, GYB became the governor and was expected to perform much better than his predecessors but today the hope and yearnings of Kogi indigenes have been battered, neglected and are most likely been buried as far as those in power can feed themselves, their families and their loved ones.
It was during this present administration that we witnessed what can easily be termed as “Abuse of Power” where the man spearheading the affairs of the state sees himself as Omni-god, he pays civil servant’s salary when (months interval) he likes, how (Percentage) he likes and who (Cleared and Pardon list) he likes. Many died as a result of their incompetency, disorganized mode of staff screening yet they shy away as if the victims were ordained to die in such a haste. As wisely said in the famous TV series “Game of Thrones” that “What is dead may never die” the family of the deceased has since leave vengeance for God. No single project commissioned during his almost 4 years in office, no institution has voice anymore as all have been threatened, intimidated or obliterated. Students, judiciary and worker’s union has no voice and the only check and balance institution (Legislative) have suddenly turned rubber stamp by influence of coinage.
Tribalism, like corruption, has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society. Many of us criticize corruption, but we always tend to forgive or even support the perpetrator if he/she is of our own tribe. Most of us see nothing wrong with stealing state funds especially if they were used to benefit not only us but members of our community. Some of us expect the ‘ogas at the top’ to use their supremacies to help us and keep us connected with jobs, contracts, and promotions at the expense of merits and competence, because we are their nearest and dearest.
It is a reality that more Kogites feel deep allegiance to their tribes than to the state of which they hold their citizenship. People tend to identify themselves through their tribe (Igala, Ebira or Okun) before they identify themselves as Kogites, so corrupt politicians, who lack every concept of political ethics, are using this loyalty to their advantage. They often device means of stirring up conflicts between tribes as a means of staying in power. This happens because the cables of tribal loyalty are so strong that they are, often, very problematic to break.
There is no gainsaying to continue advocating (He/she is an Ebira, Igalla or Okun). What we need is an individual regardless of his/her background, regardless of his/her tribe, regardless of his/her religion that is capable of taking the state from what our previous and current leaders have subjected us to. Capability in this context is one who knows where our problems are and has documented solutions in form of manifesto to take us out of these predicaments. If three different Igalla governors cannot develop Igalla land during their tenure and the Ebira governor and acclaimed son of the President of the Federation has nothing to show to Ebira people as development, then tribalism has not yielded us anything good which is why we must shun tribal politics. Our Agenda should rather be “Kogi Agenda” instead of clamoring for Ebira Agenda, Igala Agenda or Okun Agenda.
On 16th November, 2019 Kogites should be wise enough to at least for the first time chose their leader themselves bereft of tribalism, religious bigotry and other sentimentalism.
Bash3201@gmail.com
When I asked the young man whom I met in Lokoja to tell me what he feels about the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello, and how the Governor’s policies affect his life personally; he looked at me quizzically and explained as courteous as he was proud, that he wasn’t hugely satisfied with Governor Bello’s administration so far, but he was not complaining. He is happy because, at least, for once, his brother, an Ebira man from Okene is occupying the revered office of the Governor. that soon “our share will come to us, after all he is our son.”
As indiscreet as the question posed to my Lokoja friend was, it was also imperative. People that live in Kogi State, and are concerned about the future of the state, will agree with me that we have innumerable problems impeding our growth and development as a state. Among them is tribalism which seems to be the obnoxious case after corruption; it stains every sphere of the state economy and it is one whose attainment or disappointment in curbing, would either productively delineate, tactically position, or would continuously be used to plunge the political background of our STATE. It is also clear that we cannot discuss or sanitize our political terrain without understanding the deep influence of tribal peddlers.
It is very clear that Nigeria as a nation has remain underdeveloped as a result of connecting ethnic chauvinism, tribalism and religious sentiments in the process of choosing their leaders. These and many other interests has made our nation to be as retarded as this and if we must move forward as a nation to compete with developed countries, we must shun tribal politics. While some states in Nigeria might have appeared to achieved so much from hawking tribalism and religious sentiment as a tool to influence the electorate in order to win their mandate. This embryonic ideology has brought us to our current condition as the status we maintained are nothing to be gratified of.
For the background of this article, I may be limited to just Kogi State. Kogi as a state have been very unfortunate in term of her leadership since creation in 1991. Many have attributed this to be tribal issue as the state have successively produced Governors for good 15 years from the eastern wing of the state until 2015 that an Ebira man emerged Governor of Kogi State. This miracle was much-admired from the indigenes of Kogi State and those outside Kogi State for the fact that minority in the state was going to taste the most exalted seat of the state with so much expectation of deliverance to at least prove to the majority that minority can do it also and can perform better than the previous administrations. Historic 2015 emergence of Ebira man as Governor of the state couldn’t have been a success if not that the APC candidate that was winning the 2015 general election even without INEC announcement died a night to the announcement which brought the runner up of the primary election to replace the deceased. Kogites and Igala nation in particular were aggrieved for the demise of Prince Abubakar Audu and what seems to be conceding their number one seat to an Ebira man. All came and gone, GYB became the governor and was expected to perform much better than his predecessors but today the hope and yearnings of Kogi indigenes have been battered, neglected and are most likely been buried as far as those in power can feed themselves, their families and their loved ones.
It was during this present administration that we witnessed what can easily be termed as “Abuse of Power” where the man spearheading the affairs of the state sees himself as Omni-god, he pays civil servant’s salary when (months interval) he likes, how (Percentage) he likes and who (Cleared and Pardon list) he likes. Many died as a result of their incompetency, disorganized mode of staff screening yet they shy away as if the victims were ordained to die in such a haste. As wisely said in the famous TV series “Game of Thrones” that “What is dead may never die” the family of the deceased has since leave vengeance for God. No single project commissioned during his almost 4 years in office, no institution has voice anymore as all have been threatened, intimidated or obliterated. Students, judiciary and worker’s union has no voice and the only check and balance institution (Legislative) have suddenly turned rubber stamp by influence of coinage.
Tribalism, like corruption, has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society. Many of us criticize corruption, but we always tend to forgive or even support the perpetrator if he/she is of our own tribe. Most of us see nothing wrong with stealing state funds especially if they were used to benefit not only us but members of our community. Some of us expect the ‘ogas at the top’ to use their supremacies to help us and keep us connected with jobs, contracts, and promotions at the expense of merits and competence, because we are their nearest and dearest.
It is a reality that more Kogites feel deep allegiance to their tribes than to the state of which they hold their citizenship. People tend to identify themselves through their tribe (Igala, Ebira or Okun) before they identify themselves as Kogites, so corrupt politicians, who lack every concept of political ethics, are using this loyalty to their advantage. They often device means of stirring up conflicts between tribes as a means of staying in power. This happens because the cables of tribal loyalty are so strong that they are, often, very problematic to break.
There is no gainsaying to continue advocating (He/she is an Ebira, Igalla or Okun). What we need is an individual regardless of his/her background, regardless of his/her tribe, regardless of his/her religion that is capable of taking the state from what our previous and current leaders have subjected us to. Capability in this context is one who knows where our problems are and has documented solutions in form of manifesto to take us out of these predicaments. If three different Igalla governors cannot develop Igalla land during their tenure and the Ebira governor and acclaimed son of the President of the Federation has nothing to show to Ebira people as development, then tribalism has not yielded us anything good which is why we must shun tribal politics. Our Agenda should rather be “Kogi Agenda” instead of clamoring for Ebira Agenda, Igala Agenda or Okun Agenda.
On 16th November, 2019 Kogites should be wise enough to at least for the first time chose their leader themselves bereft of tribalism, religious bigotry and other sentimentalism.
Bash3201@gmail.com
A bottle of wine for the admin.... Thanks alot Confluence Reporters.
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