My advice to Gov. Ododo Ahmed Usman

Your excellency,
I want to congratulate you because very soon it will be a month in office for you.

To some people, it is too early to demand drastic actions and expect quick results, but I must say excellent performance is not negotiable at this point of unimaginable economic pressure. The past administration made Kogites believe it had everything under control, but at the tail end, it became obvious why the administration couldn’t achieve much in regards to Key Performance Indicators.

Unemployment has been a major challenge in Kogi state. And we did not witness any reasonable intervention from the last administration to tackle unemployment. I am afraid if nothing is not done to deal with the issue of unemployment most especially through partnerships and job creation in the industrial sectors of the state, social vices, youth restiveness, crime, brain drainage and under-productivity will become the inevitable lot of Youths in Kogi state.

Any society that refuses to engage her productive youths will suffer decades of perpetual retrogression.

I know that you are aware that the civil service in Kogi state is only efficient on paper. I know you are very much aware how it was impossible to consistently pay above 75% of salaries and gratuity of civil servants throughout the last administration. I also know you are aware how poorly motivated Kogi state civil service was under the past administration which you were a critical stakeholder. An administration that enjoyed a more convenient economic atmosphere couldn’t achieve much in the critical reality of things.

I know how highly challenging it will be for you to correct this unjust anomaly in a stringent economic situation around the world. But challenges are what makes the best out of great leaders. And strongly believe that you would love to be remembered as one.

Industrialization is the surest way to get Kogi state out of the shackles of economic hardship it is currently in. There is a need to get more people involved in establishment and strategic partnership with large scale industries.

Your administration should facilitate partnerships between indigenous and non indigenous investors that can be of enormous value and benefit to the state.

A state that produces nothing tangible cannot receive something tangible.

Kogi state is not an industrial state compared to states in the southern parts of the country as most of the major industrial firms in Kogi state employ an unfair amount of non indigenes compared to the number of employed indigenes. This has limited the direct participation of indigenes in the private industrial sector of the states economy.

I would like to bring to your notice that all the major private industrial firms in Kogi state employ more than 60% of non indigenes to do jobs qualified indigenes can do effortlessly and efficiently. I would like you to look into this and correct this abnormalities.

According to data from a 2022 survey analysis conducted by Sociology students of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, It is ludicrous and preposterous that we have Dangote Cement, Ajaokuta Steel Company, West African Ceramic Company and Geregu Power and yet, more than 78% of their combined staff members are non Kogites.

It is pathetic that young people in Kogi state are forced to struggle to get formal tertiary education and end up doing jobs that are unreasonably and ridiculously different from what they studied in school because the society they belong to has not provided efficient employment space to accommodate them.

Job creation through the Private industries should be a major focus of your administration.

Currently as it stands in Kogi state, the only lucrative Sector available to vibrant youths in Kogi state is Political permutation and political fellowship.

The ideas of young people in industrial driven economies are the reason such economies are flourishing with ease even in these hard times of global economic crisis.

Your excellency, i will like to see a Kogi state that is less dependent on the allocation coming from the federal government. A self sufficient Kogi state is possible, and it begins with Strategic Industrialization and Partnership for Sustainable development.

I wish you all the best in the your administration. Together we will make Kogi state better.

Emmanuel Anjolaoluwa Kinrin-ola(_CLN_ )
Anjiekinrinola@gmail.com