|
Kogi State After Idris By Paul E. Attah
The cosmopolitan nature of Kogi state is a cause for admiration and envy. Small and medium sized ethnic groups of many hues, transcending what could be aptly taunted as the mid-line of Nigeria or heart of the country. The state shares boundaries with at least seven others and a finger stretching a hold on Abuja the capital city of Nigeria.
My generation grew up in what was then Kwara state, where everyone seemed blinded to ethnic dichotomies when at such a tender age at Government Craft School Idah, there was not a single Igala member of the teaching staff and none of us Igala boys from all over the defunct Igala division then had any cause to feel discriminated against or disadvantaged.
From all over the then defunct Kabba Province as catchment’s area, we came as impressionable kids--the Oworos, the Ebiras, the Igbira-Kotos, the Ogori/Mangogos, Kakandas, the Okuns and Yagbas, and others, we came to Idah Craft School at the dawn of 1970s, free of ethnic poison.
Today, in the same area now called Kogi state, things have changed. In the face of a modern society with limited opportunities and scarce resources for the army of highly educated and well read young people scavenging for daily survival, the recourse to ethnicity as a tool to power and economic opportunities has greatly sharpened political rivalry in the state. Political jobbers in the state are not wasting any time to stoop low and weep up this pre-modal ethnic peculiarity for political advantage.
To the east of the confluence of rivers Niger and Benue reside the Igala, Bass-Nge and Bassa-Komo ethnic group who were excised from Benue state and merged with their compatriots from Kwara state to form the present Kogi State in the last state creation exercise in Nigeria. Ever since then, the Igalas have held unto the governorship position and seem not to be tired of relinquishing it soon. Hopefully Governor Idris Ibrahim will run out his second term in office despite the ongoing legal harassment orchestrated by Abubakar Audu of old glory. Who will succeed governor Idris when his current term ends?
The politics of gubernatorial succession in Kogi state is essential the politics of ethnicity.
Will the governor be succeeded by another Igala person? Intellectually, the answer is obvious based on the assumption that only political parties produce candidates for elections and the winning candidates and supposedly the best, rules regardless of their ethnic pedigree. It sounds fine in a society that is politically and economically enlightened with a sound democratic culture and structures. We are yet to have that in Kogi state and nay in Nigeria and most parts of Africa. But we know about fairness, justice, equity unity. These criteria must be used as basis by political parties for the selection of gubernatorial candidates in the next election. That would mean that other groups in Kogi state must be allowed a chance to produce the next governor of the state because all are entitled to, minority or majority tribe.
Here in lies the phenomenon of Obama presidency in the US today. The whole world is in euphoria over the election of President Obama because it represent even symbolically, justice to the minority African American sub-group which he belongs. This is a group that had been long marginalized and exploited politically and economically through slavery. For President Obama to be elected president, he needed to be selected and voted for by the overwhelming and dominant white population that has always ruled the US. Don’t tell me politics is a game of numbers and that the majority must always lord it over others. The greatness of a nation and a society lies in its ability to provide a leadership that cater for the need of all. One of such need is to identify the best out of every group and elect them without any prejudice. It should be an egalitarian issue for every ethnic group in Kogi state to be elected governor of the state.
Over the past couple of years, I have engaged a few Igala fellows in the Washington DC on this issue of the next governor of Kogi state and I am often surprised at the vehemence of their aversion to the possibility of non Igalas ever emerging as governor of Kogi state. I always point to the Igala experience in Benue state when it seemed decreed that only Tivs could ever be governors of the state. This scenario has not changed in Benue state. As a consequence, the Tivs are the most politically polarized group in Benue State today with a strong sub-group rivalry jockeying for the governorship position.
Does an Igala governorship automatically translate to more benefits to all Igala above other tribes in Kogi state? There is no empirical evidence to prove that. The Igalas have nothing to fear from a non Igala governing Kogi state if they have treated others fairly during these many years they held reign from Lugard House in Lokoja.
It is now time to elect a non Igala as the next governor of Kogi state after Idris Ibrahim. After this many years of gubernatorial exclusiveness at the Lugard House, the Igala should show political maturity with magnanimity by electing other ethnic groups to be governors of the state. It will take off intra-ethnic bitterness and acrimony as witnessed today between the supporters of Abubakar Audu and Idris Ibrahim from among the Igalas and foster unity among all the various groups that make up the Confluence State. It is good for the unity of the state and democracy in Nigeria.
Paul E. Attah North East, Washington DC 01-26-09 |