Gov. Ododo Appears Poised To Tackle Myriad Of Challenges Facing Kogi, Determines To Rebuild The State

By Abubakar Suleman

Unarguably, the new Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo braced all odds to emerge winner of the keenly contested governorship election in the state.

He beat his opponents, Muritala Ajaka of Social Democratic Party, SDP, Senator Dino Melaye of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, among others, in the poll which was upheld at the governorship election tribunal as free and credible.

Gov. Ododo was Sworn-in as the new governor of Kogi state on January 27, 2024, Gov. Ododo emerged winner after surmounting several landmines orchestrated by some stalwarts within his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The new governor would be facing the stark of reality of governing about 5 million estimated citizens of the state, over half of whom impoverished, and contend with other myriads of challenges facing the state for the first four years.

Fortunately, Gov. Ahmed Usman Ododo knew the daunting task before him and he had initiated a viable healing mechanism process to pacify many angry citizens by prompt payment of salaries of pensioners and local government workers in the state.

Though, on assumption of office, Gov. Ododo has started to find solutions to the harsh economic realities, escalating unemployment rate in the state, poverty, lack of payment of retirement benefits and replacement of retired workers, and more importantly, the payment of full salaries of local government workers.

The Governor, has also procured 105 sienna vehicles which was distributed to security agencies, hunters and vigilantees across the twenty-one local government areas in the state.

Another task before the governor would be finding a permanent solutions to the kidnapping in the three senatorial districts of the state, his recent efforts by taking the bull by the horn clamping down on the kidnappers of CUSTHEC Students was highly commendable and applauded.

The citizens in the three senatorial districts of the state has begun to believe in his administration, with greater hope of fulfilling the electioneering promises, which has been the greater task before Gov. Ododo. Though, It is always difficult for an average Nigerian politician reneging on their campaign promises once they assumed the mantle of leadership, but Gov. Ododo has started well and the people of the state expected him to continue with the same spirit and fulfilment of providing the dividends of democracy.

Nonetheless, Governor Ododo had during his inauguration at Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre in Lokoja, promised to squarely tackle the humongous tasks before him. Ododo told the gathering that: “I knew from the moment I decided to run for the governor of Kogi state that upon victory, I would give my best and work my hardest to ensure that I deliver the mandate on which I was elected”.

Ododo promised to boost local economies, and look into critical areas of development, this would improves government’s collective growth and approach for economic revitalisation and diversification for the betterment of the state.

The governor noted that the modernisation and expansion of public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy can grow at an optimal rate will be his government’s ultimate priority.

He promised to enhance employment generation and youth engagement, assuring citizens of Kogi state to expect more positive changes from his administration, especially in the areas of revenue generation, youth engagement and infrastructure development.

On health and social care, the governor said his administration would embark on an unprecedented drive to ensure that the most vulnerable persons in communities across the state are well taken care of and equipped with the tools to take them out of poverty.

Ododo’s quest for improved access to quality and effective healthcare at all levels by citizens, observers believe, will lead to sustainable universal health coverage and eliminate the spate of infant mortality rate.

His promise of deploying all available resources and working with neighbouring governors to ward off banditry and other criminalities in the state, is considered by security experts as another strategic administrative plan to end killings, abductions and raping of innocent citizens by suspected terrorists.

According to him, “The insecurity issues will be paramount for this administration and I will deploy all available resources to end banditry and criminality across the state. We will also engage communities in this fight to ensure that security is sustained.