Umar Farouq Bakabe is a name certainly not mention among political class of Lokoja-Koto Federal Constituency, it does not ring a bell for political reasons but a big name in the towers of Universal Basic Education School, kabawa.
Farouq, a brain box of Mathematics and Statistics, a guru, with a first class speciality in statistics whose ingenuities the organization highly valued and never wish to bargain by letting him to go at whatever cost.
Because of his nature of service to humanity who believe in the entity of Lokoja having a huge drain in it’s leadership abilities to her people, derailed in fair and justice to all, with a lot of weakneses in the justice and fair play to all and sundry and the loopholes is too bad against millions of the town’s less privilleged people. Beckoned was made for Farouk Bakabe to harness and show case his God given talents and wisdom of leadership to vie for the seat of Lokoja-Koto Federal Constituency under the African Democratic Congress (ADC). A platform whose manisfestoes attracted many Nigerians to believe that it is a place that will deliver Nigerians from the shackles of backwardness in all phases, the party harbours many notable politicians that Farouq respects because of their ideologies to politics and to life.
It’s worthy of note by the general public that Farouq came from a respected and a good name family of mallam Bakabe. A man that’s known decades ago to have a people oriented Islamic and political ideology and played a vital role.
Sufficed it to say that Umar Farouq is not a new person into politics, it is seen in him an inbuilt of Islamic morality and virtues of his late Father of purely service to man kind. In recent times he became very popular in Lokoja especially in Kabawa. the name ring a thousand bells in pursuing a Lokoja-Koto Federal Constituency.
Some months ago before the APC party primaries the name caused an uproar for all aspirants in the APC, PDP, and its Presidential aspirants for introducing a new form of politics to younger generation. He went round releasing abilities in young Nigerians in the area of entrepreneurship, empowerment to Kogi youths through the use of computer Financial empowerment to women and educating the Youths on how to use their social media handles to create wealth, to preaching peace to replace hate speech, to use it as a means of unity to our country that is being tow in the paths of disunity.
While in APC, Farouq a former Ward E governor who is seen as frontliner, a vanguard of Gov Yahaya Bello second term ambition, turned himself a master strategist in Lokoja and he went to work in promoting the Presidential bid because he believe in their style of leadership.
As a thinker he worked well to ensure that President Buhari retain the second term ticket for what he described the continue of his policies will sharpen up the country’s economy blue print and bring about massive employment generation to the Youths and massive infrastructural development.
Those are his premonitions of what APC stands for before the primaries, but as others will say expect the unthinkable when playing the game of politics. Political tables turned against many APC loyalists and card carrying members. Farouk Bakabe one among many aspirants who received the shocks of how the party at apex level skewed and map out a detrimental strategy against many sellable aspirants in favour of unpopular aspirants in whole federation. This made him dumbfounded and weaken his spirit man that the change Nigerians yearned for was changed to enrich few Nigerians. The general opinions of people now sees the change as a mere change that was used for propaganda not for the purpose of bringing lasting solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
The decision of the party automatically disqualified many of them who spend hundreds of millions in canvassing votes in assurance of winning the 2023 general elections. The invention of the party’s problem that consumed many politicians who are aspiring for one political office or the other. The problem became a reason that Farouq took it for good. Fate and destiny took him to the next level of his political career under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), A party his political associates, thousands of his loyalists advised him to pitch his tenth for victory.
Believing in him and his selfless service to all people, sons and daughters, youths of all ages, notable politicians induced him to join the ADC party whose manifestos is a replicate of who Farouq is. A clarion call that convinced him to maintain and stick to his political principles, an ideology of YES for No and NO for YES.
Umar Farouq has been a politically influential personality in Ward E and other wards of the constituency but left APC during its 2018 primaries to join SNP in 2019 and now ADC in 2023, a party he believe will give him the leverage to represent the people of Lokoja of Lokoja Federal constituency.
Immediately he decamped to ADC, he realised that God is bringing a great good through the difficult seasons of his life. His experience of betrayal in APC, the use and dump syndrome of the party is turning to a big colour of decoration in ADC
During an interview with newsmen, Farouq revealed that once there is God in a thing, there is total victory anywhere one is.
“ADC is now my party of Victory, my people count on me, believe in me, have their hope in me and working round the Federal Constituency representing to give me a blog votes.”
The drift and the challenges he encountered with the APC ruling party does not allow it to be a wall of barrier between his set agenda to serve the people of Lokoja in line with his destiny calling. It’s indeed simple to say that God uses problem to help us reach our divine distiny. The destiny of becoming a Honorable member representing Lokoja-Koto constituency is really coming sooner than it appear to be at the initially political journey of Farouk Bakabe. He believe in the future of Lokoja as being bright as God’s promises are to man kind through him a ready set man for God’s use.
For Farouq, the era for politics for godfatherism, the era of money politics are all gradually phasing up. He enjoins people for votes for quality, to vote of people that have the ability to deliver, he sued for voters to votes for people not because of their political parties. According to him at the Green Chamber, it’s not your party that will bring something good for the electorates but your connection and your wherewithals.
Umar Farouq Bakabe (UFB) consolidated his manifesto base on his people’s focused leadership on his Vision to:
Provides services- UFB has an oriented leadership that will ensure effective collaboration with all stakeholders in enacting laws and executing oversight functions that yield positive and progressive result to move Kogi and the people of Lokoja-Koto forward.
FAROUQ’S MISSION:
To ensure effective laws are enacted and enforced and monitored so as to safeguard lives and properties of all constituents and creating an enabling environment for empowering our teeming Youths and Women.
FAROUQ’S focus areas are:
*Safety and security
*Youths and Women Empowerment
*Social welfare for all constituents.
*Employment opportunities
