By Toluhi lanre
For every political minded Kogite, this season calls for a deep introspection.
For some, it will take the intervention of God to ignite change in Kogi State; for others, it will take the power of our voter card to orchestrate this change. Either way, what is apparent is that there is a (strong) desire for change and this is not merely a debate but a widely held notion.
The question as to who is capable to orchestrate change- wholistic growth and development as opposed to what is currently obtainable is perhaps the most important question to ask. As I have come to understand it, the quality of our state’s leadership is grossly deficient.
Kogi state, as it appears, needs more than just a technocrat, it needs someone who really understands some of our key peculiarities as a state entity and is capable of navigating the dynamics of our national politics to make much desired impact across board.
The significance of experience in all of these cannot be overemphasized. It would take one with years of practical political experience to drive the much desired change in Kogi State.
Arguably, there are 4 major Contenders of in the November 2023 Gubernatorial Election namely: PDP,- Sen. Dino Melaye, APC- Alhaji Usman Ododo, SDP- Alhaji Muri Ajaka, ADC- Hon. Leke Abejide. These Candidates have variously gained a certain level of momentum, igniting strong campaigns across the 3 Senatorial Districts.
The question remains, who is fit for the Confluence Job? The Confluence Job is absolutely a rigorous one, which will, among other things include remedying systemic rots of many years, infrastructural decays and alot more. Hence, There is so much clarity required to answer the above question, such clarity must be devoid of sheer ethnic, political and social sentiments.
Out of the aforementioned candidates, Distinguished Sen. Dino Melaye is clearly the most positioned in relation to the issues raised in the preceding paragraphs.
From his days as a Students’ Leader at the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University to being appointed by the then President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo as Leader of the Presidential Advisory Council on Youths and Anti Corruption; and later as Member HoR, then Senator respectively, Melaye has transversed many areas of political leadership through series of political engagements.
As a Senator, representing the good people of Kogi West in the 8th National Assembly, Melaye sponsored about 20 “people-centered bills”, with issues cutting across Education, the Welfare of PWDs, Domestic violence, Extra-judicial killings, discrepancies in subsidy and matters relating to the general economy.
In 2012, Senator Dino Melaye registered the Anti-Corruption Network, an Advocacy group which is affiliated to an array of Non-governmental Organizations in 54 Countries across the globe.
Through this group, Melaye has canvassed for outright good governance that is devoid of any form of corrupt activities; where necessary, he has used the tool of this network to institute legal actions against prominent players in government in order to redress varying issues of financial misappropriation, lack of accountability and general issues of gross misconduct.
In 2017, he released a book titled, “Antidotes For Corruption: The Nigerian Story” which in many ways detail different evangelistic know-hows that is capable of helping Nigeria combat corruption.
In ways that may be too numerous to mention, Senator Dino Melaye espouses a mixture of unrivaled experience, exposure, education to be one of Kogi’s most qualified candidates for the forthcoming Gubernatorial election.
While the other candidate may have had their own fair share of political engagement, available facts are that, none is as eventful as the road traveled by Senator Dino Melaye.
While a voter’s prerogative is uncompellable, the collective pains shared by all Kogites should make us to choose well this time. The issues surrounding non-payment of salary, poor infrastructure, unholy state recruitment exercise and poor security have become too rampant in Kogi State and the consequences are suffered by all.
As a state, we are a crucial time to salvage our situation and rewrite our narrative as a people. Undoubtedly, we have to choose wisely.
LANRE TOLUHI (MLT)
Twitter: @MrRealMLT
