THE BATTLE FOR LUGARD HOUSE
Behold a Prince on the Niger/ At your first sailing you rowed us along in a boat of success; in your absence fake farmers plundered our farmlands, there was harvesting, there was no sowing. In grief we watched our famished children cry/ who but you can lead by art the great race on river Niger and Benue? (Opega 2002).
In Kogi State, people are agog with heightened interests in their political future as the candidates of the two major political parties contesting for Lugard House plan and manoeuvres for success.
However, the scenario captured above by Roy Opega in 2002 remains true even today and the fact that Prince Abubakar Audu is up in contest against the incumbent PDP Governor of the state, Capt Idris Wada has not in the least diminished his potential for success. The up-beat mood that has enveloped the entire state on account of Prince Audu’s candidature is an indication of the level of expectations about the glorious future. As a matter of fact, if what political analysts say could be given any percentage, the November 21 election in Kogi is but a victory for Prince Audu. Added to that sentiment is the seeming unmatchable campaign strategies adopted by Prince Audu which have more or less reduced the lackluster appearances of the opposing PDP candidate into a child’s play. Over time, Prince Audu whether in defeat or triumph has endeared himself to the ordinary Kogities through his flamboyance, elegance, good sense of humour, exquisite social taste, all of which makes him a loveable man. Prince Audu is both distinctive and interesting. He is an enigma and a phenomenon. In the world of politics and business where he is mainly preoccupied, Prince Audu has carved a niche for himself. He is a man who knows the game and plays by the rules. Arguably, he has shown adequate self-restraint and remarkable refinements by basing his campaigns on issues that carry his plan, and projects for the future of Kogi State and refusing to be goaded into acrimony by the indecent outpourings of the opposition.
Of all Audu”s attributes, his persistence and resilience in the face of serial persecutions from the fields to the courtrooms are awe-inspiring. At the zenith of his fame as a development-infrastructure building governor, came the jackboots who schemed and conspired to eclipse his growing political influence and transformational leadership. Audu was but one man against many. Sadly, Audu lost and since then development in Kogi was arrested. The state was thrown into confusion and the citizens have since been wandering in the wilderness of politics without governance.
Time, the say, brings everything to those who wait. The people of Kogi State have been waiting, Prince Audu waited. The heavens have brought him back in auspicious times. The sailing song of the return of the man whose destiny it is to raise the state again from the dust of penury is in the air. A season of sowing and diligent harvest beckons, a silver-lining shines far in the tunnel only for the reach of the Prince of success. Like President Buhari, Audu is the only cock whose crow at dawn wakes sleeping lions, a crow heard beyond limits. Kogi, a state linked to many legends about our colonial pasts, and endowed with enormous mineral resources that could redefine our national future is in a shambles as a result of neglect and lack of visionary leadership. Perhaps, contrary to the various efforts of traducers to impugn Audu’s character, destiny has imposed on him the responsibility of charting the way forward for the state. In his first tenure, he recorded landmark achievements for which the state is being mentioned with excitements. Things fell apart following his exit from the Kogi seat of power and he was forced into looking on helplessly as the state descended from ruin to ruin each passing year. Judging from the outside, Audu has the advantage of an enlarged vision about what is and what ought to be in the state and is confident about the definite strategies to adopt for revival. Musa Wada, Lokoja