Igalaland was once beautifully rooted in a close-knitted existence where everyone was for all and all for one. An Igalaman anywhere is a brother everywhere to someone somewhere. Our home in Zaria used to be a convergence for every Igala in that precinct – so we grew up with the innocent notion that every Igala was biologically related to our parents. That was the era where love dominated human existence and the values that defines humanity was purely altruistic.
In those days of fascinating reference, Igala sons and daughters come together to task themselves for communal good; schools, dispensaries, waterworks are collectively provided by the people – regardless of your financial strength, everyone had a role to play. Our villages were manned by sacrificial individuals and life was a beautiful template of relishing moments.
Boom, came the craze of self as individualism takes the center stage and since then, it has been ‘I for myself and myself for I’. The bond that was communal became severed as everyone now strives for himself and his immediate family. In Igalaland, exists very prominent sons and daughters gifted with the blessings of prosperity but tragically narrowed to self! We have the best of mansions but poorest of roads that lead to our villages- the same way we didn’t wait for government to build us our homes, I feel we shouldn’t wait for any government to fix our roads given the undeniable fact that we have the means!
Dr Kashim Akor is replicating the Ogugu model in Ankpa where sons and daughters of Ogugu go out of their way in unionism to provide certain infrastructural needs of their communities. Story had it that a man whose affinity with Ogugu is his mother singlehandedly electrified Ofante community in the same Ogugu in Olamaboro Local Government!!
Ankpa town is wearing an aesthetic mask, thanks to the benevolence hindsight of Dr Kashim Akor, the Director-General of the National Productivity Center who personally electrified almost every street in the city of Ankpa. A welcoming gesture and a return to the old Igala way when individuals make community development their personal aspirations. This gesture is not only welcoming but a pulsating boost to the nightlife of the ancient town and a move that will help with security concerns. As more of this is expected, we also throw a call to all Igala sons and daughters to replicate this gesture in our ancestral domains. Where our umbilical cord is buried is where our heart should be. Like Akor, do something for your community and Igalaland will be better off.
Shallomly musing
