THE POWER OF BROTHERHOOD - A LESSON FROM KOGI STATE

HOW SWEET IS BROTHERHOOD?

Just recently, we saw how the Ebiras rose up to defend their own when the EFCC attempted to carry out a legitimate arrest. The sitting Governor had to run from Lokoja to Benghazi street in Abuja to "rescue" his brother using his immunity. When he got to his brother's house, the Ebiras who had already gathered round the EFCC officials started singing songs of solidarity in support of their leaders.

At the end of the day, the sitting Governor succeeded in whisking his brother away from the EFCC. The Ebira's showed solidarity with their own brother not because he is innocent of the allegations. They did it because he is one of them.. Regardless of the huge amount of money alleged to have been stolen, they still risked it all to protect their own.. This should be worthy of emulation right?

The interesting twist to this story is that in Kogi State, the Ebira's are fond of referring to the Igalas as tribalists.. The Igalas are the most populated tribe in Kogi State. To paint you a picture; we have 3 major tribes in Kogi state:

1. The Igalas with a voting strength of about 1,000,000 (million) registered voters.

2. The Yoruba's with a voting strength of about 500,000 registered voters.

3. And The Ebiras with about 450,000 registered voters.

Among the major tribes, the Ebira's have the weakest voting strength. With the population of the Igalas, they play a big role in deciding who will govern the state.

Because of how powerful the Igalas are when it comes to deciding who will govern the state, the Ebira's and some of the Yoruba's started Calling the Igalas tribalists. An Igala man, the late Prince Abubakar Audu (may his soul rest in peace) died before he was announced as the Governor Elect of Kogi State.. As fate will have it, Yahaya Bello who is an Ebira man was used to substitute the late Prince Abubakar Audu.. Yahaya Bello inherited the Igala man's vote and became Governor. While he was Governor, the Ebiras continued to label the Igalas as tribalists. They claimed they were more flexible to power shift/rotation than the Igalas and that when they are done with their 8 years, power will shift to another tribe (The Yoruba's).. This was the promise that brought the Yoruba's on board and they started working with the Ebiras hoping that they will get their chance after 8 years.

Yahaya Bello was terribly bad in his 1st term as Governor. When it was time for his reelection in 2019, Kogites were fed-up and they wanted Bello out. During the election in 2019, votes were written in all the polling units in Ebiraland... They recorded at least 90% voter turnout in all their Local Government via their manipulated results. The Igalas who are the tribalists in kogi state worked for Yahaya Bello and they insisted that votes will not be written in Igala land.. For that reason, the Igalas went out to vote their various choices.. When the results came out, one Local Government (OKENE) in Ebiraland had more votes for Yahaya Bello alone than the two most populated local governments in the state put together (Dekina and Ankpa). The records are there for you to verify.

In their celebrations, the Ebira's returned all the glory to TATATATATA for helping them win the election. This is also on the Internet for you to verify. The TATATATA is the sound of a gun signifying that they used violence to suppress the votes of the Igalas.. As there was no BVAS at that time, Yahaya Bello succeeded in court with his pre-written results before the election..

At the End of Yahaya Bello's tenure, Kogites were anxious to see who his successor would be. Yahaya Bello who claimed the Igalas were tribalists and that power will shift after his 8 years brought his Cousin from the same Local Government (OKENE) as his successor.. Power did not shift to another tribe.. In fact, it did not shift to another local government in ebiraland. What am I even saying?? Power did not even shift from his Extended family to another.. This is the detribalized Yahaya Bello.

The same Igalas who supported Yahaya Bello in 2019 are being called tribalists by the Ebiras for supporting their own brother who is more qualified and more competent than Yahaya Bello's cousin. Ebiras supporting themselves is okay but Igalas supporting themselves is tribalism.

The legitimate winner of the 2023 Kogi State Governorship election, His Excellency, Muritala Ajaka (an Igala man) said it on national television that if Yahaya Bello had chosen a Yoruba man as his successor, he would not have contested the election.. And he would have given his full support to the Yoruba Candidate. The Igalas, even though they are the majority in Kogi State are peace loving people..

They love peace so much that you can mistake it for timidity.. During the build up to the Governorship election In 2023, Yahaya Bello attacked His Excellency, Muritala Ajaka (Muri) and ordered his thugs to kill Muri.. If not for God and the bulletproof car Muri was in, he would have been dead by now. After this incident, the Igalas did not protest, they didn't retaliate.. They didn't call anyone names.. Yahaya Bello granted an interview and referred to himself as a lion who was coming back to his den when an Antelope (Muri) crossed his path.. He said that would be the very first and last time that an antelope will attempt to cross his (The Lions) path. This video is online for ease of reference.. The interview generated uproar on social media.. But that was all; the Igalas did not protest, they did not retaliate, they did not call anyone names.. Just like the 2019 Governorship election, results were pre-written in all the polling units in Ebira land.. His Excellency, Muritala Ajaka timely raised an alarm to that effect. INEC received the complaint and promised to investigate the Claims.. When INEC was done with their investigation, they admitted that results were pre-written in Ebiraland before the election to favor Usman Ododo.. Surprisingly, INEC suspended voting in just one of the local governments in Ebiraland and left the other local governments. The INEC report to this effect is online for ease of reference. INEC announced the pre-written results and declared Ododo winner of the election. That election is being contested in court right now.. You can check out the figures from all the local governments in kogi state and see for yourself which tribe is more tribalistic.. An INEC official was delegated by INEC Upon the order of the Tribunal to display the BVAS machines used in Ebiraland during the 2023 Kogi State Governorship election..

All the BVAS machines showed that there was over voting in all the disputed polling units in Ebira land.. It was also shown to the tribunal that Usman Ododo presented a forged affidavit and a forged Statutory Declaration of age form to INEC.

Interestingly, Ododo did not produce any document to counter the allegation made by the petitioners. By doing so, he has admitted that he presented a forged affidavit to INEC but his argument against the allegation is that a forged affidavit is not a "forged certificate" as provided for in the constitution as a ground for disqualification.
When Yahaya Bello was almost arrested by the EFCC for allegedly stealing 80 billion naira from a poor state like Kogi State, his people rose up to his defence.

His people are still keeping him away from the law. They did not care if he was guilty or not. They are protesting everywhere and threatening violence.
This brings me to my earlier question; HOW SWEET IS BROTHERHOOD?

The Igalas have learnt from the Ebiras how to love each other, fight for each other and protect each other when the need arises. Even though the Ebiras are using their own unity to undermine the Government of Nigeria and fighting hard to normalize crude electoral malpractices, the Igalas have decided to come together and use their own unity to pursue legitimate goals.

Just recently, a warrant of arrest was issued against one of our leaders from Igala Land; no Igala group protested, no Igala group has alleged persecution, no Igala group has threatened violence.
Kogites know exactly how they operate.

Kogites are aware of the leaked chats exposing their evil plans of bribing the judges involved in the case with the scarce resources of Kogi State. Kogites know who won the Governorship election in 2023. Kogites are watching. Kogites also appreciate the judges involved for being upright and transparent so far. Kogites are more united now than ever to see that justice is done in this case. It is not about the Igalas or anyone else. It is about JUSTICE!!!!!

Our plea to the Judges who will handle this case from the Tribunal level to the Apex Court is that they should do justice and save the soul of Kogi State.

God bless Kogites,
God Bless the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
God bless Nigeria.

Akpala Michael Jr.

Judgment day for the white lizard soonest