By [Abubakar Rajab]
In the complex theatre of Nigerian politics, there comes a time when a people must choose between the illusion of sentiment and the illumination of substance. Kogi State, today, stands precisely at that intersection. The recurring fixation on ethnic rotation, tribal entitlement, and sectarian politics has become the single most debilitating virus undermining the moral and developmental fabric of our state.
Those who continue to define leadership through the prisms of tribe, region, and religion are not just politically anachronistic — they are philosophically bankrupt. Democracy, at its purest essence, is not a rotational festival of ethnicity, but a merit-based enterprise built on competence, accountability, and verifiable performance.
The Poverty of Sentimental Politics
It is tragic that in the twenty-first century — an era governed by ideas, technology, and institutional logic — many still approach governance through the primitive lens of ethnic arithmetic. This obsession with regional entitlement is akin to demanding that a surgeon be selected not for his skill but for his surname. It is the very antithesis of progress.
When Barack Obama, a man of Kenyan ancestry, became President of the United States, the world celebrated meritocracy over geography. When Rishi Sunak, a man of Indian descent, ascended to the premiership of the United Kingdom, it reaffirmed the supremacy of competence over color. Why then must we in Nigeria — and particularly in Kogi — continue to worship at the altar of tribal parochialism?
This is not equity; it is ethnic sentimentalism dressed in the robes of justice.
The Logic of Continuity and the Science of Performance
Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo represents a refreshing deviation from the habitual mediocrity that has plagued our politics. His governance philosophy — grounded in discipline, infrastructural renewal, and policy coherence — has proven that leadership can indeed transcend rhetoric and tribal demarcation.
A performing governor is not a political commodity easily found in our clime. When Providence grants a state such a leader, wisdom demands continuity, not disruption. Development is an organic process; it blossoms through consistency, not through experimentation. Rome was not built in four years, and no meaningful reform can mature in one term.
Discarding Ododo for ethnic convenience would amount to decapitating progress on the altar of sentiment.
The Arithmetic of Power and the Wisdom of Strategy
Let us speak with the candor that truth demands. The return of power to Kogi East — the largest and historically most politically active zone — is not a question of if, but when. The road back to the East is far shorter and smoother under a performing administration from the Central zone than under a new experiment from the West.
If we sustain Governor Ododo’s administration for a second term, we are merely four years away from reclaiming the governorship in Kogi East. However, should power be diverted to Kogi West, the East will have to endure an entire 12 to 16-year cycle before the pendulum swings back. That is a generation of waiting, a colossal political intermission.
The political mathematics is self-evident: loyalty today is the price for advantage tomorrow.
No wise politician hands over power to those he perceives as adversaries or habitual rebels. The path to power is paved with loyalty, not hostility. If Kogi East truly desires to reclaim the mantle of leadership, it must first demonstrate absolute fidelity, sincerity, and partnership with the Ododo administration. Political maturity demands patience, cooperation, and strategic alignment — not perpetual antagonism.
The Folly of Perpetual Rebellion
There is a dangerous tradition in our politics — the habit of resisting every government and then lamenting exclusion. Some politicians have made rebellion their religion, and disloyalty their doctrine. They sabotage every progress, only to return later to the pulpit of complaints. Such behavior is political suicide disguised as activism.
As the elders wisely say, “Only a fool allows the same snake to bite him twice from the same hole.” We must not allow the poison of disunity to paralyze our future. Gratitude for good governance is not weakness; it is wisdom. Supporting a performing leader is not subservience; it is strategy.
Conclusion: The Verdict of Reason
Kogi’s destiny will not be shaped by the ethnic origins of her governors but by the intellectual quality of her governance. Roads are not constructed by tribes; schools are not built by religion; hospitals are not managed by ethnic sentiment. Only competence delivers development.
Governor Ododo’s second term represents not a privilege to him, but a providential opportunity for Kogi’s consolidation. Continuity, when founded on performance, is not dictatorship — it is institutional wisdom.
Let us, therefore, rise above the corrosive politics of region and religion. Let us choose progress over prejudice, merit over mediocrity, performance over parochialism.
For as the elders counsel, “When the gods give you a drummer who knows the rhythm, do not change him because his village is far.”
Kogi must keep the rhythm of progress alive — for stability, for continuity, and for the greater glory of our collective destiny.
