Penultimate Sunday 14th August 2016, the drums rolled out and gleefully dressed personality from within and outside the Igala decent thronged out to receive its illustrious friend and son, Hon Edward David Onoja who is the Chief of Staff to the Executive governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaha Bello at Ogugu his home town of Olamaboro Local government area of the state.
Undeniably, it well deserved, honour was given to whom it’s due to. Present at the home coming occasion were political appointees from senior special assistants, to local government administrators, special advisers, commissioners and illustrious sons and daughter of Igala nation. while the governor was ably represented by his special adviser on Local government and chieftaincy affairs. The great igala nation celebrated their own in style as the venue was packed full to the brim.
Hon Edward David Onoja’s proclivity for politics started right from his university days where he was the Pioneer President of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and single handedly installed Hosea Onuche an Igala boy as the first Student Union (SUG) President of the University of Jos from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in the history of the school, an election which is considered very superlative till date, being Hosea Onuche's campaign director, he took him round the school canvassing for supports for him to win the election, noteworthy is that it was a tough one as the present APC deputy governorship candidate in Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu was Hosea's rival who gave them an Herculean challenge.
Upon the conviction that he could salvage the people of Kogi state from political doldrums and the state of comatose, the best bet was to go into politics and so he resigned from Access Bank to contest for the State House of Assembly to represent Olamaboro Constituency under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). It is note worthy that Hon. Edward became the candidate of the party the same day he resigned and left Access Bank (14th February, 2011 to be precise). That marks his foray into the political landscape outside his stint with politics at the university environment. In same year, from July to December 2011, he was the State Director and was fully in charge of Project 3R — Rescue, Restore, Rebuild Kogi on behalf of our late great leader and political leader, Prince Abubakar Audu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) who gave the PDP a run for their votes that year.
In 2015, he was the State Director of Kogi Youth Arise Group for Buhari/Osinbajo, the group that worked earnestly and assiduously and whose handwork led to victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 Presidential Election. That was the first time an opposition party won a presidential election in Kogi State. It was thereafter he moved on to becoming the Chief Strategist and Director-General of the Alhaji Yahaya Bello Campaign Organization in preparation for the 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi State. Hon. Edward Onoja led young men who were considered political greenhorns round the 3 senatorial districts canvassing support for Alhaji Yahaya Bello; they were believed and their voices heard, the crescendo of support for change garnered the delegates that produced the votes which put Alhaji Yahaya Bello far ahead of other seasoned politicians with long out dated political experience and made him the runner up of the primary election. As divine providence would have it, Alhaji Yahaya Bello became the governor of Kogi State after the unanticipated but abrupt passing away of our great leader, Prince Abubakar Audu.
Such a man as Edward Onoja with such political antecedent and acumen unequivocally needs to be celebrated by his own people and that was exactly what the Igala nation did.
No comments:
Post a Comment