The Inequitable Political Zoning Arrangement in Igalamela/Odolu: An Open Letter to Governor Yahaya Bello
Your Excellency,
We write as citizens and enthusiastic supporters of your impressive administration and our high flying political party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
We write also, as indigenes of Igalamela/Odolu local government area with a number of genuine concerns as we gear up for the forthcoming local government elections in the state.
Sir, we are deeply concerned about the skewed zoning arrangement for political offices in Igalamela/Odolu local government area that has left one particular ward painfully marginalized.
A vast majority of the supporters of our great party are eagerly looking forward to the local government elections scheduled for December 12 with great anticipation that the stakeholders of the APC in Igalamela/Odolu would honour their agreement to rearrange or even correct what may be described as an obvious and deliberate marginalisation of the great people of Ubele Ward.
For the sake of clarity, Your Excellency, kindly permit us to briefly analyse the zoning arrangement in Igalamela/Odolu local government area and perhaps reveal why the claims of marginalization from Ubele Ward are largely justifiable.
Igalamela/Odolu local government area consists of two Axis: Igalamela Axis and Odolu Axis. Both Axis interchange the position of House of Assembly and chairman in an equitable arrangement in which no single axis is expected to produce both seats at the same time.
The emergence of Hon. (Barr.) Cosmas Ilemona Atabor who currently represents Igalamela/Odolu Constituency, automatically eliminates Igalamela Axis from any claim whatsoever to the chairmanship position in the fast approaching election. The people of that axis understand this arrangement and are visibly happy to comply.
Sir, Odolu Axis (the rightful region to produce the next Chairman of the local government) consists of three Districts and six Wards: Odolu District (Odolu ward and Oji-Aji ward), Avrugo District ( Avrugo ward and Ekwuloko ward) and Akpanya District (Akpanya ward and Ubele ward).
Verifiable data indicate that all but one of the six wards in Odolu Axis of the local government has produced an elected/appointed executive head of the local government or a member of the House of Assembly.
Odolu produced Hon. Akogwu Onuche (1991) and four House of Assembly members: Hon. John Adele (1999), Hon. Haruna Yusuf (2003), Hon. Friday Sani (2011 and 2015).
Akpanya produced Hon. Remigius Onuche (1996), Solomon Onoja (1997), Ernest Abah (2008) and Patrick Onogu (2018).
Ekwuloko produced Late Hon. Raymond Ahman (2004 and 2008), while Avrugo produced Hon. Joseph Baron Okwoli (2016).
Sadly, Your Excellency, Ubele Ward remains the only ward in Odolu Axis that is yet to produce a Chairman or House of Assembly member. This highly skewed political zoning arrangement needs to be addressed in December.
Your Excellency sir, another issue we are concerned about is the desperate, unbridled and do or die ambitions of Hon. Patrick Onogu, a man whose dismal, shambolic and forgettable performance as administrator is still fresh in our memories.
Despite being fully in the know that stakeholders have long met and zoned the Chairmanship position to Ubele ward, Hon. Onogu, an indigene of Akpanya ward, (a ward that has benefited more than any other ward in the local government as far as appointments and elections go), has pursued his unpopular chairmanship tussle with villainous strategies that threaten our hard won peace and harmony in the area.
It might interest you to know, sir, that when Hon. Patrick Onogu succeeded Hon. Baron Okwoli as administrator, he did not only fail to sustain the remarkable progressive steps of his predecessor but instead, launched venomous smear and divisive campaigns that almost tore our party apart.
We dare opine, Your Excellency, that the people of Igalamela/Odolu did not vote against you during the last gubernatorial election. Rather, they voted against Patrick Onogu’s penchant for thuggery (evidenced by his destruction of properties in his own ward during previous elections) and relentless incitement of crisis between party faithfuls in the run up to your election.
They also voted against Patrick Onogu’s continous polarisation of APC in the local government into factions and his failure to execute a single project worthy of mention during his time as administrator.
More importantly, sir, he made the local government unwinnable by embezzling an unimaginable chunk of the twenty million naira meant for stakeholders during the election and this accounted for the poor results we saw at the gubernatorial election. He is incompetent, divisive, manipulative, cunning, selfish and overly intellectually bereft.
Well meaning stakeholders know that he is an absolute disaster, a plague no one in his right mind in Igalamela/Odolu wants to experience ever again.
Your Excellency Sir, as the first non-native of Kogi East to occupy the highly esteemed office of governor, you proved to Kogi State citizens that the barrier of ethnicity could be breached. Your emergence placed the governorship arrangement in the state on the path to some form of equity.
Just as your divine emergence has placed Kogi Central on the map of Senatorial Districts that have produced a governor. It is only fair and justifiable that Ubele ward also joins the league of wards that produce a chairman; and December is the right opportunity to accord Ubele ward deserved fairness.
All well meaning leaders and stakeholders of the local government cannot deny the fact that Ubele ward deserves this great opportunity and they have a perfect man for the job. His name is Hon. Ignatius Omachonu Onoja.
Your Excellency, Hon. Ignatius Onoja is a young man from Ubele ward. He is learned, humble and full of potentials. Since the moment you entrusted him with the enviable task of serving your revered office as Senior Special Assistance on Security to the local government, he has made tremendous efforts to unite the stakeholders of the APC in the area.
Sir, Hon. Onoja’s enormous strengths have reflected significantly in his dedication to duties. He is famous for his brilliant collaboration with multiple security agencies which led to the elimination of criminal elements that tormented innocent people almost unchallenged, right under the nose of Patrick Onogu. Now we can afford to sleep with both eyes closed.
Hon. Onoja is loyal to the party, prudent with resources, visionary in objectives and competent with tasks.
We have done our findings and have come to realise that they is a sinister gang up by mostly self serving minority conservatives to undermine his tremendous contributions to the success of your election and those of all the APC candidates in Ubele ward in all previous elections, in addition to downplaying his the vastly substantial physical and mental capacity in the build up to the election.
We are immensely grateful, Your Excellency, for the time taken to read this letter.
We will be extremely glad if this appeal is given its deserved consideration.
Kindly accept our best wishes for you and your entire family.
Yours faithfully,
Hon. (Alh) Ibrahim Achimugu
For Igalamela/Odolu Justice Initiative