Opinion: Senator Atai Aidoko Ali, Our Joy, Our Pride, Our Asset

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Penultimate 2003 and since the return of democracy in 1999, about 19 years down the line‎, the people of Ankpa/Omala/Olamaboro federal constituency never knew politics of development and infrastructural upliftment. The area was inundated by politics of aggrandizement, ostentatious living and self centredness in spite of the obvious backwardness occasioned by poor representations by our former political office holders.
Until the 2003 keenly contested house of representatives election between a young lad in his late 20s and his opponent that saw him attaining overwhelming victory ‎by realising his political ambition in the history of the area. Though he had vied to represent his people of Olamaboro in the state assembly that was later aborted due to political exigency.
Aidoko, from a privately ran entity, became a member representing Ankpa federal constituency from 2003-2007 with his people ‎clamouring for continuity in 2007 having performed creditably well in terms of law making, oversight functions and constituency obligations.
At least pundits and political opponents said he dug toilets in public places in Ankpa and Olamaboro, the first of its kind to embrace sanity, avoid open defecation and other abnormalities. But alas, Aidoko built roads, hospitals, clinics, provided transformers, electricity, boreholes and class rooms in these areas.
Having performed to people’s satisfaction, Senator Aidoko walked over a Prince of Ankpa kingdom, in spite of a well orchestrated political maneuvering and ‎connivance which was informed by his rising political profile and distinct performance.
The revered prince was sent into political extinction and returned as a ranking member of the House; a record yet to be broken till date. The period heralded his political clout and success as Chairman House committee on FCT that attracted human, material and infrastructural development to Ankpa federal constituency for 8 years he held sway in the green chambers.
Senator Aidoko in his mien, is not in the category of people that blows their trumpets. For 8 years at the lower house, he attracted so much in the areas of employment, provision of social infrastructure, safety nets as well as scholarships to indigent students of the area in the higher institutions of learning, hence the people’s clamour for him to climb to the ladder of the red chamber at the Senate in 2011 defying all odds and his return in 2015 in spite of open resistance from the elites and political gladiators.
Senator Aidoko, in the history of Igala race, emerged victorious after a tense legal fireworks between a renowned lawyer of repute at his first instance, a technocrat and a retired general ‎at the second shot and created a record of the long serving federal lawmaker in the history of Igala race, a position the former Speakers of the green chamber and President of the upper chamber never attained before their emergence as leaders of the two houses.
Having attained this profile ordained by God Almighty devoid of human efforts, it is crystal clear that sadists and and ‘pull-him-down’ practitioners that will never dream of more progress of the Igala race have devised their ways to blackmail the untainted leadership traits and profile that had positioned him as the next shot to senate leadership to the betterment of the area when returned in 2019.
It is no longer news that the record of performance as a senator representing Kogi East at the 7th senate is in the public domain‎ and not contestable, with grand plans to roll out that of the 8th senate in top gear heralding the provision of four boreholes equitably distributed with other interventions in the pipeline due before the year rolls out.
Laws, bills, motions and contributions that has placed Kogi East and the state in national discourse is always at the front burner in terms of contributions and suggestions from the Senator Atai Aidoko led office in spite of the gang up and legal distractions to return the area to the back row to deny his people ‎of dividends of democracy.
For those who compared Senator Atai Aidoko Ali to previous Igala leaders, they have no bearings of their assessments as all, including the current Kogi East senator started ‎on a separate scale and will tarry for posterity to judge, unlike those divinely installed that had transformed to demi gods.
– Abubakar Yusuf is a media consultant

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