…tells Kogi people to vote wisely
….warns youths against political violence
Ahead of the Saturday’s Governorship and Senatorial Elections in Kogi State, the electorates have been urged to use their voters’ card wisely while Electoral officers and security personnel were charged to remain non-partisan as well as maintain utmost professionalism.
Addressing the media in Abuja yesterday, Chairman of Igala Heritage Foundation, Chief Ogwu James Onoja, SAN, cautioned that: “electoral officers and security personnel assigned to enforce law and order should remain neutral and non-partisan… Kogi electorate should rise up and use their voters’ card wisely. All stakeholders should abide by the rules of the game.
“Political parties, politicians and their followers must show decorum and restraint in the interest of our dear state. In this election, we should all stand up for democracy, legacy and development of Kogi State where the interest of the state and the life of every Kogite takes precedence above inordinate ambition.”
Warning youths against being as political thugs and instruments of violence, he expressed concern over the rise in violence and intimidation in the state. “There are fears and intimidation in the land to the point that dissenting opinions to style of governance are cruelly hounded and silenced. Threats of political assassination are rampant and people cry endlessly of hunger and penury in the midst of abounding but unexplored human and material resources.
“We want to challenge voters in Kogi State, especially the youths not to succumb to the divisive politics by desperate politicians in the state. Whichever is your tribe, please vote for good governance and accountability.
“May we also challenge the youths of the state to think about their future more seriously. Avoid being used as political fodders by unscrupulous politicians whose children are either gainfully employed, enjoying some politically ‘juicy appointments’ or in far-away overseas studying.”
Urging the people of Kogi “to remove their eyes from the peripherals to the big picture,” Chief Onoja stressed the need for visionary and purposeful leadership.
“It takes a visionary leader who sees beyond the mundane and bizarre to creatively envision a beautiful, industrialized, infrastructurally developed, poverty-free and prosperous State and then come up with policies and programmes capable of actualizing that vision. That is why countries are known by the kind of leaders and output of governance structure.
“For instance, thirty (30) years ago, China did not have phones and automobiles. Today however, China is a leading net exporter of automobiles and information technology in the world. Why? A leader envisioned it, galvanized and mobilized the resources and the energies of the people to attain that rare peak. Where are the Nigerian leaders? Where are the leaders of Kogi State today?
“The Kogi youth should take or seize the opportunity of this election to enthrone leadership that will govern the state with righteousness, good conscience and maturity. They should be courageous and vigilant enough to ensure that their votes count and are therefore protected devoid of any form of violence.
“The future belongs to the youths and so youths in Kogi State should not sell their birth right for a plate of porridge like Esau did and exchanged his eternal heritage irrecoverably.
“The unity of Kogi State is gradually being mortgaged by the Esau syndrome. What is constituted as Kogi state today was the old Kabba province in the then Kwara State where our people lived in peace and togetherness. Today as a state, selfish and greedy politics have divided us.”
Decrying the rise in Esau syndrome, Onoja said: “This concern represents the disillusionment of several views of critical political watchers, political stakeholders and non-partisan interests in the state in a research conducted by the Igala Heritage Foundation (IHF), an organization founded by my humble self and like minds to fight poverty, hunger and illiteracy.
“This foundation has over the years been empowering hundreds and thousands of indigent people through scholarships, job creation through skill acquisition, training programmes and empowerment schemes, provision of free medical treatments, provision of pipe borne water, sports etc, in the state. A failed government in Kogi State will increase the burden of the foundation and other stakeholders.
“As we conclude this intervention, may we remind politicians and other political actors in Kogi State the immortal words of former President Goodluck Jonathan during the build-up to the 2015 Presidential Election and emulate him. He said that ‘My ambition does not worth the blood of any Nigerian.’
“In the same vein, we hereby sound it loud and clear that no ambition of any political party or individual is worth the destruction of Kogi State.”
