Senatorial district leaders allege marginalization by successive Kogi govts

LEADERS of Kogi West Senatorial District have given the state government 30 days within which to address allegations of marginalisation or face mass civil disobedience.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the Kogi West leaders led by Senator Dino Melaye alleged that they had suffered marginalisation for the past 16 years through denial of appointments into government services and allocation of resources to that part of the state by successive governments since 1999.

As a result of the alleged marginalization, the aggrieved Kogi West leaders threatened to slam civil disobedience action against the state government if after 30 days, process of redressing marginalization against them is not put on ground.

Melaye in a six-page presentation on behalf of the Kogi west people said the oppression his people has been facing from successive Kogi State government since 1999, have been very satanic to the point that the state government since 2013, has not employed a single person from Kogi West into the state civil service.

The senator in the press statement titled: ‘Marginalization of Kogi West by the Eastern Part of the State,” said the motive of the press conference was to show all Nigerians, through statistical facts and data, the brutal and wicked lopsided ness and deliberate oppression of Kogi West people and by extension, ‘Okun’ people in the state over the years “

Using the Kogi State University as a case study, Melaye said employment at the University as of 2013, shows that while Kogi East (Igala people) where the state governor, Idris Wada comes from, has 94% of junior staff and 76.60% of senior staff, Kogi west has 1.5% and 16.60% of Junior and senior staff respectively, even far lower than percentages Kogi Central (Ebira People) and even non indigenes, have in the state owned institution.

He added by saying that out of the seven internal members of the University Council, four are Igala (Kogi East), one Ebira (Kogi Central), one Okun (Kogi West) and one non-indigene.

He went further by going through the list of the 37 principal officers of the state university, which has 27 Igalas from the Vice – Chancellor down to the Dean of Natural Sciences, while Ebira has six and Okun just two with the remaining two going to the non indigenes.