The residents of Lokoja and the people of Kogi State will not forget in a hurry the recent visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state.
The president was in the confluence state to attend the grand finale of the campaign for yesterday’s (saturday) governorship poll, as well as the commissioning of some projects executed by governor Ibrahim Idris.
The the spirits of the teeming supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the people of the state in general, who had spent hours waiting for the president fell when news filtered in that the the president? would not show up.
In a twist of events, however, he showed up, campaigned and solicited support for the party’s governorship? candidate, Captain Idris Wada, as well as inaugurated some projects in Lokoja.
The president’s visit will be remembered for many reasons, one of which was the hardship the visit brought the ordinary citizens. To begin with, loyalists of the PDP who came from the hinter areas of the state were prevented from parking their vehicles close to the stadium, the venue of the rally. Thus, they had to trek long distances to get to the mini-stadium. Not that they had no money, but the motorcyclists operating in the town were prevented from plying the roads leading to the rally, as well.
Worst hit were the school children who had to go through different routes to get to their destination. The civil servants fared no better. A frustrated civil servant who had to trek a long distance to get to the office wished the president to return to Abuja early, so as to enable them get their ‘freedom’ back.
Indeed, the people of Lokoja had never experienced such a thing: they had hosted presidents before (the incumbent even visited them last year) and everything went on fine, but this was one they could not comprehend.
One can understand the feelings of the residents of the ancient city, considering that the statehas been relatively peaceful.
However, the current security challenges in the country necessitated the reaction of the security agents who came in their numbers to provide cover for the August visitor. At the end of the day when the number one citizen concluded his assignment in Lokoja, he left, leaving the people to savour their ‘freedom’.
A public affairs analyst, Sadiq Mohammed, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that what he saw on the 28th of November, only proved that all was not well with the country at the moment, and stressed the need for concerted efforts to be made in tackling the security challenges facing the country. Sadiq further said that anything that would distort our traditional way of doing things must be tackled headlong, because, according to him, “we are peace loving people, and as such, must continue to uphold those virtues that had enabled us to live together over the years”.
Certainly, the memory of President Jonathan’s visit would continue to linger for a very long time, even as there is no gainsaying that the number one citizen had a very wonderful outing in the confluence city, an experience which he described as a second home.
Despite all the noise about the violence-proof security arrangement, the people of the state, once again, rose to the occasion, by displaying their hospitality.