Paper Presentation By Rt Hon Comfort Ojoma Nwuchiola Egwaba, At A Town Hall Meeting And Reception In Her Honour At Onyedega, Ibaji Local Government Area, Kogi State

Courtesies,

First and foremost, I give God the glory for this unique opportunity he has created for me in particular and for all of us in general to be gathered to rub minds on this important topic around the development of our God-given land, Ibaji. I particularly extend my profound appreciation to all of you for giving me this opportunity by your votes which brought me on board as the member representing Ibaji at the Kogi State House of Assembly and by the grace of God, today the Deputy Speaker.

This event is historic and refreshing. It is historic because it is happening at our own time to chat a new course for the development of our area. It is refreshing because it revives our hope that a new, well developed, united and progressive Ibaji is possible. To God indeed be the glory.

Let me thank our royal fathers, the clergy, the political class, the youths, business men and women and technocrats within and outside Ibaji, including those in the diaspora who are here for this occasion and those with us online. May God bless you all.

Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State may be looked at from many sides. On one side, one may say it is blessed with both natural and human resources. For instance, it is a blessing that we have a loamy soil that produces healthy staple foods like yam, rice, cassava, maize, potatoes and all manner of vegetables. Similarly, as a riverine community, we are blessed with fishes of all kinds at different seasons of the year. We may also say it is a blessing that we can boast of great talents of Ibaji extraction both old and young. There is no aspect of human endeavor, both science and art, that does not have an Ibaji man or woman that has excelled in the area. So, we have professors and senior academics all over the place, and a large number of intelligent technocrats that are not only making waves in Nigeria but also abroad.

Back home, our young men and women are very hard working and enterprising. They wake up early and return late from farm and business. In fact a typical Ibaji is a perfect definition of hard work. In the face of a challenge, an Ibaji man says he can overcome and he will overcome. He does not cause trouble, but he is not afraid of trouble. After all, a portion of the history of Ibaji says we are warriors, decent and Godly warriors. It is a blessing in its own way.

Another angle that one may view Ibaji is not pleasing. It is the angle that it is the most naturally or ecologically troubled location in Kogi State and one of its kind in Nigeria. Every season of the year has its challenge. During the dry season, we are covered with dust as we move on our paths (I say paths because we have no motorable road). During the season of rain, we work with fear and anxiety because we are gripped with the concern that the rain might not fall as expected. Worst still, we fear the flood from the River Niger which might just swallow and sweep our crops, rendering us foodless for the year. In many instances, the daring floods such as those of 1970, 1994, 1998, 2012, 2019 and 2022 would cover nearly the whole Local Government. The effect is better imagined. Ibaji is a terrain that is faced with serious ecological and geographical challenges. Yearly flooding of the area by the River Niger is as familiar as a friend. That sad story of the 2012 flood is yet to be forgotten. The whole local government was swallowed by the swelling flood, leaving us with stories of woes. This has made development very difficult. There are no basic amenities and there are no motorable roads in our area. Education is low. Infrastructure is lacking. Industries are nowhere. Even network service providers are not dominant in the area. Despite these terrible pictures, a typical Ibaji man is very hard working and does not speak from both sides of the mouth. By our orientation, we are diligent and very patient to get results. Yet we have a terrain that does not naturally help us.

The third angle from where one may consider Ibaji, which is again a sad one, is that we have people who are so talented and blessed with resources and opportunities, but failed to utilize those opportunities and resources for general benefits. Founding fathers of Ibaji had certain moral and social etiquettes that suggested oneness and selflessness. It manifested in the way we played together in the moonlight without discord; the way we went to farm as groups to help one another on schedule; the way we celebrated our rich cultural heritage in Eka, Egwonyi or Ugweli; the pride we had as Ibaji whenever our kin went to represent us outside Ibaji; the way we used manual labour to develop our immediate vicinity in form of road rehabilitation and building of basic amenities. Today, these practices are almost extinct among us and in place is disunity, tribal and inter community rancour; and blackmail of all types.

Our founding fathers initiated community development ventures such as manual clearing and rehabilitation of roads, construction of gutters and pit toilets, building of local residences for our school teachers, building class rooms for our schools, contributing money and launching for certain community development projects. At the time, associations and clubs existed with development intents and they were sources of encouragements to our youths who prided themselves in farming, fishing, schooling and business. These aspects have diminished significantly in Ibaji. For instance, many of our feeder roads are left uncleared. Asked why, some people will quickly say the government should do it: it is their responsibility. This attitude suggests a missing link between the social responsibility embedded in us as individual and government responsibilities.

We have visible instances of those who had the rare privilege of occupying critical political offices either by appointment or election at the local, state and federal levels, but who only came to serve their personal interest at the expense of the generality of the people. Let us agree that every political office has statutory personal benefits enough to meet the ideal needs of occupants. Despite all these, some people take delight in siphoning public funds and providing flimsy justification for their acts.

In his book, Ibaji of My Dream, Bishop Crown Adebo (2019, p. 131), shared some dreams about Ibaji, which I align myself with. He says:
I have a dream of peace, harmony and progress in the land. Ibaji where chieftaincy, land and communal crises should be history: where Elele and Iteh, Omabo and Ejule would live together peacefully without the sense of Ojoke and Etiomi dichotomy.

I have a dream of the Ibaji that consciously inter-marry, interact and inter-relate firmly according to our tradition. A place that change, love and forgiveness are preached and embraced practically: a land full of compassion, respect for the dignity of man, equity and equality are demonstrated.

My dear Ibaji brothers and sisters, the dream of a progressive Ibaji must be brought into reality. That is the essence of this town hall meeting. The time for blame game is over. Irrespective of our political differences, the time for unity and sincere purpose is now.

Drawing from the perspectives of viewing Ibaji, you would agree that I have dispassionately pictured our good, bad and ugly sides so that we proffer lasting solutions to the problem areas in Ibaji.

What is a town hall meeting? According to Wikipedia, it is a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or regulation. I should however add that a town hall meeting such as ours is where we put aside our political, regional or village sentiments and harvest lasting solutions to our hydra-headed problems from the individual to family, clan, village, ward and local government levels.

Ladies and gentlemen, before we consider the way forward, permit me to mention a few of the efforts I have accomplished and initiated on your behalf as your representative at the State Assembly within the 8 months so far spent.

Bill for Kogi State Oil Producing Commission
The moment I assumed office on 6th, June, 2023, I sprang into making enquiries on the ways to make our naturally endowed resource a maximum benefit from government. Ibaji was declared an oil producing location and there would be benefits for the immediate local government. In my quest for knowledge on how to bring about this bill, I traveled to Edo, Delta, Ondo and Imo States to obtain relevant information and documents concerning the bill establishing the oil commission. Today, we give glory to God that the bill has succeeded.

2. Grading and Upgrading of Traditional Rulers
Within the period under review, our traditional institution had a boost as some new stools were graded while some existing ones were upgraded. At the moment, 18 stools were so affected and many more were added just before the end of the tenure of His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello. I can assure you that more grading and upgrading will be announced in due time.

3. Siting of Airtel Mast in Ibaji
By the grace of God and with your prayers and support, we were able to attract the attention of Airtel Nigeria Telecommunications Company to carry out a feasibility study on Ibaji for a possible installation of at least 15 masts in various locations. The feasibility study has been conducted and very soon, we will have the installations.

4. Appointments
Recently, my office appointed some persons cutting across all the 10 wards in Ibaji to help ease the work of getting information from you all and receiving from me through them. All the appointees are my eyes and ears, and you have every right to channel your issues through them to me. This is a new testimony in the annals of House of Assembly occupation in Ibaji.

5. This Town Hall meeting
Permit me to say this town hall meeting is one of my biggest achievements as a fulfilment as my campaign promise. It has afforded me the opportunity to intimately interact with my own constituent as a Member of the State House of Assembly and the Deputy Speaker in the House. So, I do not take it for granted. This town Hall Meeting will be a routine activity for as long as i serve you at the state legislative chambers.

The Way Forward
On my part as your eye in government, I have committed myself to lobbying and politicking for the benefit of the entire Ibaji. I am aware that our major challenge is road. We must however thank Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, who, during his tenure, constructed the Idah-Onyedega road. That road has been washed away by the floods and it has become worse than it was. I have begun to speak on your behalf to seek government intervention on our terrible road. At one point, I wept in my heart when it came to my notice belatedly that a giant secondary school complex which was allocated to Ibaji was taken away and sited at the Government Technical College Idah just because there was no access road for the deployment of materials for the construction at the time work was to start. I wept because at the time, I could not do anything about it. But come to think of it. If there is no access road to Ibaji, government should construct the road first. This is my stance and I will ensure I speak for you loud and clear on this to avoid further denials.

Happily, the oil commission would be a major ameliorating avenue for us as road construction would be a priority of the commission. My dear people of Ibaji, better days are ahead.

Secondly, I have begun to champion the cause of Ibaji in other areas such as health, power, agriculture, security and education. All I need is your support and collaboration for quality bill presentation and proper oversight function.

For us as a people with a common destiny, I have drafted these suggestions for us to ponder on and fine-tune for the betterment of our land.
1. We should create a platform through which we commit our political office holders at all levels to make visible impacts within their tenures. There are elective and appointive positions during every tenure. On this occasion, let us ratify modalities for committing a local government chairman, an assembly member or a commissioner to have a footprint on the sands of Ibaji. Better still, we can have a blue-print that spells out the obligations of each political office holder within a period. If consensual agreed by the people, it will be adopted as the Ibaji Development Bible for anyone in any political or non-political office.

2. We should return to our old godly practice of community development through manual efforts, contributions and launching where the youths should be engaged in clearing of our paths and feeder roads while we await the government efforts on our major roads. Community leaders should be proactive and innovative and ensure that they engage sons and daughters within and outside our communities in all sincerity of purpose as a way of resourcing the community to meet needs, improving quality of life, and building community networks. Government would not clear our playgrounds in villages. So, we should do certain things ourselves. Here, our Royal Fathers and heads of communities should put heads together to ensure compliance.

3. There should be community support for education where the community helps in the engagement of PTA teachers, retired personnel services, and free will assistance. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “Community involvement in education is essential in improving student’s outcomes (UNESCO, 2020)”. Education should also be encouraged through initiation of competitive programs in sports, essays and quiz. We could have a trust fund through which we encourage our sons and daughters who have excelled and in need of support. Liase with good spirited individuals/ groups to key into the MOEST “adopt a school programme” where prominent individual/ political office holders will be made to adopt a school in his/her ward or village to assist, mentor & report on its progress. By providing additional support to these students, communities can help to level the playing field and ensure that all students have access to quality education. These will lead to the revitalization of the education sector in Ibaji. Let us debate on the modus operandi for attaining this.

4. We should consider ways of standardizing our cultural festivals as a symbol of unity. Happily, there are organizations such as the Ibaji Resort Limited working in this direction. All we need is partnerships with relevant bodies to bring about cultural unity and diversity. This could be achieved through setting up a cultural committee to observe and review some of our festivals so that we can come together to celebrate as a people with interesting cultural orientation.

5. Lobbying government on other areas aside road. This can also come from individuals, groups and associations. By so doing, government would be made to sit up and act right. In any case, it should be done constructively.

Summary and Conclusions
I have attempted a three-sided definition of Ibaji and have pointed out areas we can come together for the overall good of our land. I have restated my commitment to speaking and fighting for our progress. I have also highlighted ways we can chat a new course together as a people. I also wish to propose for a sport competition for the ten (10) wards in Dcember 2024 as way to start. The impact of sport in Health, Education, Community Cohesion, Community Unity, Peace building and conflict resolution cannot be overemphasize. I am humbled by the attention I have today and I pledge to give my all best for the growth of Ibaji now and always.

Thank you and May God bless you all.

Rt. Hon. Comfort Ojoma Nwuchola Egwaba, Deputy Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly. 24th February, 2024

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