According to David Harris, a prominent anti-Vietnam War activist during the 1960s, in an autobiographical book written in 1982, Dreams die hard. Though sometimes they are cut short, dreams are always necessary to keep the hope of people alive.
If the late former governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu was told that he would not live to make history in the 2015 governorship election, he would probably have sent the speaker to the land of the living dead. But just like when Jesus will come, death comes also like a thief, unannounced to snuff life out of the living, leaving behind deep pain and unfulfilled dreams.
During the campaign, the late Audu presented to his people many electoral promises that will better the situation and benefit the people of Kogi state. He promised to make sure power shifted to other parts of Kogi state if he was voted in. Coming from the majority Igala ethnic group, Audu seemed to have understood the sentiments of other groups in the state, particularly the Ebirra and Okun who have not had the luck of producing a governor. All the governors elected in the state since its creation in 1991 have been of the Igala stock, and the two top candidates in every election are always Igala.
According to him, “Let me make my three-point agenda known to the people of the state because I want to be held responsible for my word later when I gain power. First, I will make sure that power shift becomes sacrosanct. I will be the first governor to change power in the state. I must honour my agreement that after my full tenure I will ensure power rotation either to Kogi West or Kogi Central.”
He also promised to develop infrastructure. Indeed, many Kogi residents believe that since Audu left power in 2003, there has been no progress of any kind in the state. “I will declare a state of emergency in the critical sectors of the state, especially in the infrastructural sector. Shortly after I won my party’s primary, I took a trip outside the country where I met international business organisations, who by now are just waiting for me to be sworn in so that they can come and invest in critical sectors of the state, as well as improve the well-being of the people”.
Confident was he that he had won the election, thereby becoming the second in the history of Nigeria’s politics to have ousted an incumbent leader.
Thecable reports that, late Audu’s political career dates back to 1986 when he was appointed as the commissioner for finance and economic planning of the old Benue state. He served in that capacity until the cabinet was disbanded, two years later. When Kogi was carved out of Benue and Kwara states, Audu contested for the governorship, won and was sworn in as the first elected governor of the state in January 1992. He remained in charge of the state until the military interregnum of 1993. When democracy was restored six years later, he contested on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and won but his bid to return to the Lord Lugard House, as the government house of the state is known, suffered a setback in 2003. He lost to Ibrahim Idris of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who spent two terms and handed over to Idris Wada, his brother-in-law.
So sad it is that death truncated his wonderfully outlined promises, ending his will to make his wilful dreams come true.
