By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Amb.Hamza Lawal(middle),addressing journalists at the occasion.
Journalists in Kogi State have called on the incoming government of Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo to tap into the huge marine resources of the state to shore up its internally generated revenue and create employment opportunity for teeming youths in the state.
They made the call at the NUJ Press Centre,Lokoja during an interactive session with the Founder/Chief Executive Officer,CEO, Connected Development (CODE),Amb. Hamza Lawal on Thursday.
Mr.Ope Owoeye noted that with the presence of River Niger and Benue meeting in Lokoja, the state capital, Kogi State had all It takes to harness all its marine resources to develop its agriculture and aquatic economy.
According to him, Kogi State is known to be the largest producer of cashew and cassava in Nigeria but that its citizens have not derived the much desired maximum benefit from such an agricultural activity because, the marine economy of the state remained under developed.
Alhaji D.U Ahmed, advised the incoming government in the state to consider establishing Price Control/Commodity Board, to curb the ever increasing prices of food stuffs and high cost of living to the barest minimum.
He noted that though the economy is not smiling on the people, traders in Lokoja had capitalized on the development to arbitrarily increase prices of food and other essential commodity to reap where they did not sow.
Others expressed concern over the November 11,2023 governorship election in the state which they noted was characterized by practical divisive expressions such as tribalism and religion.
Mr. Mike Abu suggested rotation of governorship seat to give room for seamless voting process and peaceful election.
According to him, the rotation of number political office of the state, with legislative backing to make it a law remains the best solution to peaceful election in the state.
He called on political gladiators and other stakeholders in the political process of the state to evolve a system that would pave way for rotational governorship in the state.
Some journalists condemned in strong term, the statement credited to certain people in the state, that a particular tribe is a slave to the other.
Contributing,the immediate past chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Kogi State Council,Alhaji Adeiza Momohjimoh, described such view,as baseless adding that it has no root, either in written or oral history.
” I have never read in any history text book that Kogi state has a tribe that is a slave to the other,” he said.
Other colleagues, however, stressed the need for the Governor-elect , not only to consolidate on the achievements of Governor Yahaya Bello but learn to avoid the mistakes of the current government.
Some also called on Ododo to be conscious of those he would pick to work with him, adding that he should avoid sycophants who would not tell him the reality of the situation of the people, for him to take the necessary action.
Others also advised Ododo to direct his search light, more in the area of agriculture, education, health,tourism, infrastructure, revenue generation,water,electricity and security, so that kogites could derive much dividends of democracy from his administration.
Others called on Ododo to set up peace committee in the three senatorial districts of the state to iron out grievances that arose from the last governorship election to ensure the realisation of lasting peace and boost good governance.
They also called for a more active office of the First Lady of the state, to enable it carry more women along in the quest to provide solution to some of their problems.
Earlier,Amb. Hamzat Lawal had commended the journalists in the state for their reportage of the election and pledged his organization’s commitment towards assisting them to achieve greater heights in the pursuit of their work,through training and retraining.
Our correspondent reports that governor-elect Ododo and his deputy,Joel Oyibo, will be sworn- in on January 27,2024 in Lokoja and take over the leadership of the state from Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
Connected Development is African leading Civil Society Organization.
