… When are we getting back the glorious years of a rallying point in the community.
By Otori Ozigi
It goes without saying that Ebiraland is a very unique settlement in Kogi State, blessed with abundant human and material resources that is a testament that the community is God’s own territory.
God so love the community that He gave us abundant iron and ore and other mineral resources that is the envy of other communities in the country today.
The community have produced eminent and highly influential men and women that at one point or the other had dictated the pace of leadership trajectory in the entire country.
Their individual and collective contributions to humanity and nation building were well documented and unprecedented in the chequered history of the country.
At a point in Nigeria, Ebiraland gave to the world the likes of Alhaji Abdulazeez Atta, Abdulmumuni Atta, Alhaji Abdulrahman Okene, Alhaji Mahmoud Atta, Senator Isa Obaro, Senator A.T.Ahmed, Alhaji Adamu Atta,General Salihu Ibrahim,IGP Aliyu Atta, Ambassadors Usman Bello, M.K.Ibrahim and S.S. Lawal.
We also have the likes of Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, Alhaji Musa Etudaiye, Engr
Aliyu Sule, Alhaji Idris King, Rear Admiral Hamzat Sani, Colonel Omananyi, Engr.Sam Uhuotu, Prof. Angela Okatahi, Alhaji Sani Omolori, Alhaji Dr. Ado Ibrahim, Alhaji Isa Ozi Salami, Senator Pius Lasisi, Senator Muhammed Ohiare, Chief Patrick Adaba,Dr Phillips Omeiza Ozovehe Salawu PhD, Alhaji Abatemi Usman, Engr.Joseph Makoju, Chief Moses Okino, Prof. Nuhu Yakub and Dr Lawani, to mention but a few.
Some of these great achievers are late, while others are still living today.
These people were the opinion leaders in the community.
They individually and collectively acted as the rallying point in Ebiraland.
I remember vividly the roles played by most of these prominent figures in the protracted struggle for the completion of the comatose gigantic Ajaokuta steel complex in the past.
Recall too that our past Senators like Engr. A. T Ahmed, Alhaji Nurudeen Abatemi, Ahmed Ogembe, Alhaji Salihu Ohize and other past members of our representatives in the lower Chambers of the National Assembly had at one point or the other, made presentations at the floor of the National Assembly on the need for the revitalization of the Ajaokuta steel complex.
It is on record that there used to be a time when issues affecting the entire community were discussed at town hall meetings held in Okene, before a consensus is reached and aggregated for implementation at relevant levels.
These were the good old days when the community used to speak with one voice.
Recall that the movement and titanic struggle for the creation of Kogi State which was championed by our prominent figures like General Salihu Ibrahim, IGP Aliyu Atta, Alhaji Abdulrahman Okene and a host of other elders including the late Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr Ado Ibrahim was achieved through a process of concensus building among stakeholders.
There is no gainsaying that these days, the community has lost a rallying point.
Unfortunately, that is the sad narrative.
Every stakeholders are just doing things their own way, as dictated by their personal whims and caprices to massage their own personal egos.
And the whole community is worse off,for this poverty of leadership trajectory in the land today.
The bottom line is that we have become a laughing stock in the eyes of the generality of the entire country.
The Yorubas went to the last constitutional review conference with a common agenda, which was a product of a concensus building under the leadership of Chief Olu Falae and other members of Afenifere social cultural group.
They went there with the agenda of the need for restructuring of Nigeria and they made a good presentation at the confab.
What do we have in Ebiraland today?
Since the demise of Senator A.T.Ahmed of blessed memory, we seems to have lost our direction in leadership trajectory.
Political upstarts and half baked political leadership have brought shame and ridicule to the land.
I’m ashamed of myself when I look at the level of shenanigans in Ebira politics.
Are we now under a curse or what.
I pray for God intervention in the affairs of the community in the years ahead.
Let there be respect for constituted authority.
Everybody wants to be a local champion at the detriment of the entire community.
It goes without saying that you cannot be a good leader, if you can not be a good follower first.
May God heal the land.
I crave for a quick return to our glorious years in politics.
Yes. There should be a rallying point in Ebiraland under the present democratic dispensation.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
Otori Ozigi, a veteran journalist and PR Consultant, writes from Okene, Kogi State
08073295000–SMS only.
