Take it or leave it, aside unemployment, illiteracy, ethnicity and religion, another key factor of insecurity is political interests. By default, it varies. But in the interest of national continuity, it must conform with perceptual expectations of the people. If political elites goes either ways, governance is practically impossible. Former president Goodluck Jonathan was vehement about it in his book titled “my transition hours.” He shed light on how certain political elites wanted him out of office against the backdrop of our constitution. Invariably, we witnessed a deepened Boko-Haram insurgents. We also witnessed how planned subsidy removal was sabotaged and how the famous 2012 protest showed his Administration an exit door.
In 2021, we saw how political interest, opposition and inflammatory statements fueled attacks on the people at a Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) rally held at Kwekwe, a metropolitan city of Mwananyanda, Zimbabwe.
Furthermore, on October 2nd 2021, the Chadian government instigated security forces on the peaceful protesters at the capital city of N’Djamena because, they believed it was politically motivated.
The popular EndSars protests which resulted in the killing of youths at the Lekki toll-gate by security forces was also in affirmative, government claimed to have sensed opposition interests regardless of a well stated motives behind the protest. The list goes on and on.
Election is not just about producing a candidate or conducting a poll, it is about the unification of political elites for the advancement of the society. A political party that is unable to unite its members should not be seen on Ballot. Reason, it is a direct route to democratic crossfire.
In view of the lingering instabilities, we’ve continued to advocate that, loyalty to political party is cool, but it is not enough. A people oriented candidate tops the requisite check. Time would not permit me to x-ray how this works. But, Luckily, the People’s democratic party Kogi East and by extension, Kogi state has heeded this calls. If you have keenly followed the spree of events, the People’s democratic party conducted the most sane and credible primaries in history, semblance of what is yet to be witnessed in the ruling party APC.
In Kogi East for instance, the party produced an outstanding candidate in Dr Victor Alewo Adoji. In Kogi Central, Barrister Natasha Akpoti is an Amazon, same goes to Kogi West. That says, the consortium for senate under the party is indeed formidable.
The lower house of representative was not left out. Austin Usman Okai Austin Cca, a down-to-earth social crusader and youth advocate will be on the ballot. In short, Okai will be pulling a large chunk of votes from the ruling APC, same goes for other candidates. Story for another day!
Unlike the People’s democratic party PDP, the crisis in APC Kogi is like a time bomb waiting to explode. I won’t go deeper until the fullness of time. However, if you recalled, the result of the APC senatorial primaries in Kogi East was outrightly rejected. In Kogi West, we all saw how senator Smart Adeyemi ably sponsored one of the most viable bills in the history of the 9th assembly. Still, he prostrated before the grand master but was denied the returned ticket. Kogi central got the same fate, the list is endless.
Fellow Kogites, as we begins campaign proper, it is necessary to know how ready the various aspirants are. You need to know who knows what and who fits what. Gone are the days when public offices are allotted for compensation. Nowadays, it is base on character, competence and capacity.
If sentiment is out it, you will realise that PDP is the most readily available political party. Kogi East’s Adoji is the only candidate who has constantly identify policy related problems and how ready he is to tackle them. A vote for Adoji is a future secured.
JOHN PAUL
