The governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kogi State for the December 3 polls, Chief James Ocholi (SAN) spoke to journalists in Lokoja last week, shortly after concluding his consultations with the western and eastern senatorial districts of the state. HAMZAT BABA was there for LEADERSHIP.?
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What informed your decision to join the race to Lugard House???
So many things have gone wrong in Kogi State.? One begins to wonder where to start from. Kogi is over 20 years old now, and yet this child that is over 20 years old is battling on how to crawl. The state has dilapidated infrastructures. Majority of the roads we find in our rural areas, including some urban areas like Kabba, Okene, Idah- an ancient historical town; majority of the road networks have remained what they were, from the then Kwara State. If you remember the journey of Kogi State, many started from Kwara, to Plateau, to Benue-Plateau, to Benue , back to Kwara, and then back to Kogi. The infrastructures are in a deplorable state. The road that leads to Idah, which is the cradle of the Igala kingdom, is the worst of all the roads. The road in Kabba, has a good road network planned out, but that is the much they have, just the planning. The tar itself has been torn into pieces. The edges of the tar are as sharp as knife. A car goes off the road, you can always have punctured tyres.? We have the same ugly situation in the central axis of the state.
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Is the situation that bad???
I’m not done yet. The agricultural setting, which is the primary thing that Kogi State is known for is no longer there. When we hear of food basket of the nation, I don’t see any reason why Kogi should not take a place, competing with Benue State. But today, the farmers are running from farming activities, because the simple patronage of farming activities is lost. Farmers are left; fertilizers are sold and re-sold in triple of the price. Fertilizers are brought in, go through different hands, before getting to the farmers. And how long shall we remain like this? The people themselves are not catered for. Poverty is written on the faces of everybody. That is why you can go to polling units with as little as N20, and bribe the electorate to get votes. It shows the high level of poverty in our state.
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Recently, I visited Bassa Local Government area, particularly Oguma, the headquarters of the local government, and I was told how a woman sold her child in the market, in exchange for a plate of garri! How did she do it? She bought a plate of garri, and had no money on her to pay. She left her child with the seller, and pretended as if she was going to come back to bring money. She left!
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Until the woman who sold the garri to her began to look for the owner of the child. By late evening when the woman was found, she was crying. She opened up that she had no money to pay for the garri! And if she took the garri and ran away, people would chase her, that she was a thief. And she didn’t want to be called a thief. I almost wept the day I heard this story.??
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Look at Lokoja, the state capital. What we find here is dirt. I believe that as much as Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria and Abuja, the political capital of Nigeria, I believe that Lokoja is the socio- cultural centre of Nigeria because it is first capital city of Nigeria . It was the first colonial settlement, and first of many, of the Lord Lugard’s houses. Lokoja has history behind it. The history is enough to create tourism. Apart from the history, the natural resources we have-the Mount Patti and the Confluence.
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We pride ourselves as the Confluence State , but what does confluence mean to us? What have we done with the confluence? How has the confluence impacted on us? What have we benefited from the confluence? How many nations of the earth have a confluence? Nigeria has one, and that one is located in Lokoja. Yet it doesn’t make any meaning to our leaders. Kogi has too much woe to tell. It is difficult for me to begin to narrate but there is a pain in my heart. That is the reason why I have volunteered myself, to provide visionary leadership. Every nation of the earth, where people have changed things, it rises on the vision that the leader carries. If the people have no vision, no matter the amount of money in their hands, it makes no meaning. But if a man has a vision, he may not even have the money, but the vision will drive him in search of money, people, resources, partnership, coalition and collaboration. And things can happen. I do believe that Kogi has come, suffering too long. Men and women who shared my thought should rise up and go into this election and make a change for the better. Otherwise, we will fall into chaos and anarchy.
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What makes you different from those who had ruled the state???
The world of difference between me and other Igala men who have had the privilege of leading Kogi State are basically these. The first is that I carry the fear of God. Secondly, I bring on board, integrity. I have a name to protect. I am a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The title of SAN to me, is better than a governor of a state. It’s by far 10 times better. I am willing to make the sacrifice to come into service to restore integrity and accountability. Many governors treat the state funds, as if it is their personal funds. And that is the wrong concept. The moment they are in power, they think everybody, including the funds, belong to them. It is not correct. It is public funds, and as such must be treated cautiously. I intend to bring those values on board. But one thing that I have and our past governors do not have is that they do not know that the world today is ruled by ideas.
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I will aggregate the best of minds to bring the best of ideas. Wherever the idea is found and I want to say that Kogi has them in abundance. We have the best of brains in Igala land, Okunland and Ebiraland with determination to make a success. I will harness them. Finally, one thing I have and I know the rest do not have is vision. I have vision, a clear picture of the Kogi of my dream in the next four years. That picture, I have painted it. One of them you may be happy to know is that I dream of a new Lokoja.
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