For the records
PROTOCOLS
1. It is a historic moment for me as I address the past, present, and future gladiators of our great state in an occasion envisioned to chart a new course for the Confluence of Opportunities.
2. Gathered here today are the founding fathers of our state as well as those of us working with your vision to create a better and more prosperous future for the state that we all love. I directed my team to ensure that every Kogite who is a stakeholder be brought to this table, regardless of political beliefs or tribal differences. Political and tribal differences are not strong enough to dim our light or greatness as a state. I thank you all for what you have done for our state at one time or the other. I thank you for being good ambassadors of this great state. You have shown our spirit to the world with your excellence and industry. We are grateful to you.
3. I was sworn in to be the servant of all Kogites, the servant of those who voted for me and those who didn’t vote for me. Democracy is an art of choice, and no one must be condemned for his or her fundamental right to agree or disagree. What posterity would not forgive us for is a failure to bring all of our human, mineral, and material resources together to make this beautiful state the greatest in Nigeria.
4. I have a role to play as your Chief Servant, and I will play it with the fear of God and a sense of dedication and accountability to you, the great people of our dear state. I am committed to uniting our strength, connections, expertise, courage, and patriotism behind a great Kogi State. If we have some of the greatest Nigerians as Kogites; if we have more mineral resources than any other state in Nigeria; if we have some of the richest lands in Nigeria; if we have you, and our state remains poor, then we are collectively guilty of not putting our all into creating a Kogi that will be the pride of all.
5. In 1991, our founding fathers were hopeful of having a state that would leverage her diversity for her possibilities—a state that would lead Nigeria’s search for rediscovery, become home for all Nigerians, serve as the food basket of Nigeria, unlock our nation, and become a reference point for growth and development. God played His part by blessing us with some of the best minds, richest soils, a beautiful confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue, nature’s most beautiful attractions, the most valuable mineral resources, and everything needed to make our dear state great.
6. As a people, what have we done to unleash our potential? How have we deployed our diversity to convert it into strength? What mentality have we created to foster unity? What have we done to harness our opportunities? What stories are we telling the present generation and the next generation? How do Nigerians see us?
7. How did we watch our resources carted away by outsiders? How did we refuse to take advantage of what God gave us freely and now is being taken away by others? How much have our moneybags invested in the state? How much influence have we thrown behind efforts to make Ajaokuta Steel work? How much of the limestone and gold in the West is working for the people of the West? How much is the iron ore in the Central working for the people of the Central? How much is the East getting from their rich coal? Yet, our resources play a role in who becomes the richest man in Nigeria, if not Africa.
8. How do we hope to attain economic balance if we are not benefitting from our resources? Where are the people who can provide enough food for Nigeria and West Africa from Kogi State? Is it safe to say that our class has failed our people?
9. We might have failed to wake up our consciences in the past, but it will be worse if we stay on the wrong lane even after discovering our mistakes and failings. Now is the time to recalibrate the socio-economic drive of the state and take decisions that will sail our ship to the shores of greatness.
10. Before I leave here to listen to the great minds gathered here to chart a new chapter of greatness for our dear state, it is also important to give an account of my stewardship, one year after I swore to be your servant.
11. As a person, I believe in dialogue and peace. To a large extent, I have let that show through my style of service to our people. I am talking to every Kogite and making them see the need to see the greatness of this state as the most important. We have no other state to call ours. I started this immediately after I won the ticket of my party to contest for the governorship of our dear state. After winning the election, I continued the consultation. Even now, I keep consulting. No single individual can develop Kogi State. It is a collective responsibility. Our approach is already yielding fruits by bringing our people together.
12. We have put in place a lot of infrastructure across the state. Road infrastructure, health infrastructure, and many others have either been completed or are ongoing. Our administration will not fail to provide infrastructure to serve as enticing platforms for massive development. We have also ensured the spread of these infrastructure projects across the three Senatorial Districts in line with our belief in fairness and equity.
13. We are upgrading 160 Primary Healthcare Centres across the State to be able to render secondary healthcare services. The idea behind this is to strengthen the capacity of our primary healthcare delivery infrastructure. Instead of having to transport a patient who needs an appendicitis operation from Ayetoro Kiri to Ayetoro Gbede, the Primary Healthcare in Ayetoro Kiri will be able to take care of that. The rural areas too need quality healthcare services. Our administration has also invested heavily in our tertiary educational institutions in terms of improving infrastructure and creating a beautiful environment for our students to hatch their visions. We are sustaining the free education we inherited from the immediate past administration and improving facilities at the Basic Education level. Our investments in education are occasioned by the fact that education is the foundation for development. A good road will be destroyed by a bad mind. Education has a way of refining people’s mindsets.
And just a couple of days ago, we paid bursaries worth N316m to our students in tertiary institutions, capturing over 8,000 students across various institutions in Nigeria. We can’t expect a better Kogi State without being intentional in investing in the lives of our children. With free education up to the secondary school level , we have gone further to ensure we pay for all their internal and external examinations. And when they get to the tertiary institutions, they come to benefit from our bursary. Our mission is to ensure that no child is out of school for reasons of social and economic exclusion. I grew up with no spoon of any coloration. I understand what it is to struggle through school due to poverty. As your servant, I will ensure I do everything to give education to every Kogi child. It is our responsibility to educate them, it is our gain as a state when they are educated. Over 30% of our 2025 Budget is going into the educational sector. It is costly to educate our children but it is even more costly to leave them uneducated.
14. During my inauguration, I promised the people of Kogi that I would fight for improved healthcare and do everything possible to reduce maternal mortality. It is unfair for mothers to lose their lives while giving birth to new lives. The remarkable investment we have put into healthcare delivery is already paying off as our dear state is doing well in all healthcare delivery indices.
15. Between January last year and now, our administration has invested over ₦9 billion into agriculture. We have procured agricultural machines for mechanization, provided improved seedlings and breeds for farmers, and employed Agricultural Extension Workers to bring our farmers up to speed on new farming techniques. We also opened up farm centers and prepared 7,800 hectares of land in 84 centers allocated to young men and women across the state for farming. In March 2024, we had the second highest food inflation in Nigeria. By December 2024, our investment had reversed the trend, placing us as the second lowest on the food inflation chart in Nigeria. When people were calling for protests on the streets against inflation, Kogi decided to do the protest on the farm. Protests on the streets won’t reduce food prices. Only massive production can ensure that. Today, our approach and strategy have paid off.
16. Through AcResal , we have worked in collaboration with the World Bank to improve our capacity to deal with ecological challenges as well as empower people who are facing ecological issues. It is not enough to fix roads damaged by ecological factors without thinking of the farmers whose crops were destroyed as a result of ecological problems. What we are currently doing is a holistic approach.
17. Through our coordinated approach, we have raised the capacity of our young people and women through skills acquisition and capacity building. We are looking beyond just the white-collar jobs. We are looking at the blue- and red-collar jobs. To properly fight insecurity, our people must have access to affordable food. Guns without food won’t solve the problem of insecurity. Hundreds of our youth are currently undergoing skills acquisition at the Nigerian-Korean Friendship Institute and we are prepared to give them working equipment at the end of their training. Our administration established the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and through that, we are creating ICT Hubs to develop our youth. We have also established the Ministry of Livestock in order to empower our farmers and encourage the youth to go into livestock production.
18. Our administration has also moved from a top-to-bottom security approach to a bottom-to-top approach. We are empowering communities to lead in securing their communities. This, we hope, will return the security of the people to their communities while we also deploy the kinetic approach where and when necessary. We have been able to achieve greater cooperation among security agencies, and let me thank Mr. President and the National Security Adviser for making Kogi security a priority for the Federal Government.
19. Our administration is building a civil service that is happy and ready to work with us in developing the state. Workers’ welfare has been on the front burner of our administration. The conversation for the development of the state won’t be complete until the workers are happy and brought to the decision-making table. That we are doing effortlessly.
20. The future is about the youth of today, and we can’t discuss their future in their absence, hence our intentionality in bringing them into governance and the all-important conversation of today. Our administration is committed to channeling the energy of our youth towards the development of our dear state.
21. My leaders, I have invited you here today not to celebrate my 1st Anniversary as your servant, but to lock ourselves in this place, brainstorm, frankly discuss our unity, and refocus our state for greatness. If Kogi doesn’t become the greatest state in Nigeria in the next couple of months, it is our collective failure as a people.
22. A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting with a great Kogite, and we discussed how to make our state an investment hub. He told me his experience and how unnecessary bureaucracy stopped him from investing in our educational sector a couple of years back. I assured him, just as I am assuring you all here today, that our administration is removing all the red tapes limiting investment in our dear state. We are open to genuine investments to build a robust economy and create jobs for our teeming youth. Nigeria started here in Kogi. Nigeria’s greatness should also start from our dear state.
23. With the immense blessings God has endowed our state with, we have no excuse not to be one of the wealthiest states in Nigeria. Kogi is rich in human and mineral resources. Our intellectual capital is shining globally—Kogites are excelling and rendering outstanding services across continents, from the United States to the United Kingdom, Asia, and the Arab world. In terms of mineral wealth, God has blessed us abundantly, positioning our state as a potential mining hub for Nigeria. These resources are not just gifts; they are opportunities waiting to be harnessed for the betterment of our people.
24. As an administration, we have taken stock of these resources to attract investments and ensure their benefits are felt statewide. For instance, we have gold deposits in Suku and Daba in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, Ayedayo in Mopamuro Local Government Area, and Abobo in Okehi Local Government Area. Coal exists in commercial quantities in Oloku, Omala Local Government Area, and Ankpa. Globally sought-after lithium—essential for modern technologies such as batteries and renewable energy—is found in Yagba East and Mopamuro Local Government Areas. Other resources include manganese in Ayedayo, Mopamuro; beryl in Ibagbo, Lokoja; cassiterite and tourmaline in Ayetoro Kiri, Kabba/Bunu; feldspar and aquamarine in Unosi, Ajaokuta; tantalite and tin in Ajaokuta; river sand in Adavi; aplite in Achoze, Okene; iron ore in Ajaokuta; and kaolin in Dekina and Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Areas.
25. Distinguished leaders of our state, these resources mean that every Local Government Area in Kogi State is endowed with wealth capable of transforming its communities and empowering its people. Yet, we must confront a hard truth: how much have these resources truly worked for us? We have allowed external players to dominate ownership and control, leaving our people marginalized. While some investors have contributed meaningfully, many have focused solely on extracting value without adequate reinvestment in our state. It is time for us to prioritize a Kogi-first economy, where indigenous investors take the lead in harnessing our resources. We remain open to partnerships with external investors who genuinely have the interests of our people at heart, but we must empower ourselves to take full ownership of our state’s destiny.
26. I am encouraged by the presence of some of our prominent investors here today, and I appreciate their contributions to our state’s growth. However, on behalf of the people of Kogi State, I must ask: have you been fair to us? As a professional accountant, I have a fair idea of the revenues generated from our state’s resources annually. But what portion of those revenues have we reinvested in critical areas such as security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, security, housing, and water supply for our people? This is not just about accountability—it is about justice. The people of Kogi believe that we deserve more, and as their Chief Servant, I echo their voices today. Let us together ensure that the state becomes the beacon of hope as it was meant to be, providing prosperity for all its inhabitants.
27. Before I go further, let me devote this moment to thank the leader of our dear nation, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for his keen interest in ensuring that Kogi delivers on her potentials. He has shown a profound interest and commitment to support our endeavors for a better Kogi State.
28. His administration’s substantial support in agriculture has empowered the sub-nationals to boost the capacities of the local farmers with modern tools and resources, fostering increased productivity and food security. In healthcare, his strategic interventions have revitalized facilities and improved access to quality medical care, ensuring better healthcare for the people of Kogi State through various health programs and interventions. Furthermore, his relentless focus on security has bolstered the safety of lives and property, creating a stable environment conducive for growth and prosperity. These transformative strides underscore his dedication to inclusive governance and the upliftment of every region in Nigeria. Kogi State proudly recognizes and appreciates his visionary leadership at a challenging time like this. He is indeed a leader with bold ideas for transformation and regeneration.
29. Mr President has backed our administration in our agricultural revolution by providing all the needed support for us to shine. When some people were protesting on the streets, we came together as a people to agree that we will fly with the various opportunities provided by the President to do our “protest” on the farm. Streets protest won’t bring down the prices of foodstuffs. We can only bring it down by increasing production and allowing the market forces to systematically drag the prices down. I thank Mr. President for his boldness, his foresight , his leadership. Kogi is indeed blessed to have an uncommon transformational President like His Excellency Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu at a time like this. Mr. President, history will remind you as the big mind that has taken hold decisions to save Nigeria from collapse. Just last week, we had a robust Stakeholders Meeting with the Rural Electrification Agency with a view to ensuring that there is adequate energy supply, not only to the urban areas of our state, but more importantly, to our rural communities to improve their social life and stimulate the economy of the rural areas. These are some of the platforms that Mr. President has empowered to serve the rural people. Thank you Mr. President for all you are doing to impact the lives of Nigerians.
30. To our dear Vice President, His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, you have proven beyond doubt that you are true Nigerian and a detribalized icon. In you, Mr President is blessed with a dependable, reliable, loyal and resourceful Vice President. Your commitment to the development of the nation is also an indication of indomitable loyalty to the man who has renewed our hope. You were here during our campaign and you were here when I took the oath of office. Our journey is your journey too sir and we will not disappoint you.
31. Kogi State is a confluence of opportunities, but opportunities do not convert themselves into results without vision, determination, and action. Today, I challenge us all to rise above divisions and distractions. The true wealth of a state is its people—people with the courage to dream, the grit to work, and the unity to build. The world is moving fast, and the states that will lead tomorrow are those that make the best use of their resources today. We must act swiftly to turn our resources into results, not just for ourselves but for the generations that will follow.
32. Dear esteemed leaders of our state, our administration is charting an ambitious course that aligns with the immense potential of our people and resources. We are committed to executing transformative projects that will secure a prosperous and sustainable future for Kogi State.
33. One of our flagship initiatives is the Airport project at Zariagi, strategically positioned at the geographic center of our nation. This carefully chosen location ensures ease of access from all regions of the country. Upon completion, the airport will be a catalyst for economic growth, promote national integration, and significantly reduce the congestion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
34. In addition, we have commenced the construction of a state-of-the-art international market along the Zone 8 to Crusher Road in Lokoja. This project addresses the safety and urban planning challenges posed by the current international market, whose location, though visionary in its time, has become unsuitable in light of modern realities. The new market, when operational, will redefine the commercial landscape of Kogi State, creating a hub of economic activities that will serve as a benchmark for other regions. I am resolutely committed to completing and delivering this project to the people of Kogi before the end of my first term in office.
35. Moreover, we have finalized the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Agro-Industrial Processing Zone near Ajaokuta. Spanning 245 hectares, this project will leverage the area’s existing rail, water, and road infrastructure to establish a thriving hub for agricultural and industrial development, ensuring Kogi State’s self-reliance and long-term sustainability. These transformative projects are a testament to our dedication to progress, but their success relies on your continued support and partnership. It will interest you to note that in 2024 alone, cashew worth 50 million USD left our dear state without value addition. This is very unfair to our farmers who labour hard to step up production. Together, we will build a brighter and more prosperous future for Kogi State.
36. Let us also not forget that governance is a relay race. The baton is passed from one administration to another, but the ultimate goal remains the same, which is progress. I deeply appreciate the efforts of my predecessors, each of whom contributed a brick to the foundation of this state. However, I call on everyone here to join me in building on this foundation. This is no time to sit on the sidelines. Whether you are a public servant, a private investor, a traditional leader, or a concerned citizen, your role is crucial to the realization of a greater Kogi State.
37. I leave you with this: Our success as a state will not be measured by the promises we make, but by the actions we take. Let this forum not be remembered as another meeting where words were spoken and forgotten. Let it mark the beginning of a new resolve—a resolve to unite, innovate, and transform Kogi State into the beacon of progress and prosperity that it was destined to be. Together, we can make history. Together, we can build the Kogi State of our dreams.
38. It is time to consolidate and build on the remarkable gains of the past while charting a bold new course for our future. The responsibility you have entrusted to me is one I accept with humility and unwavering dedication. Together, we must mend fences, bridge divides, and focus on a shared vision of greatness for our dear state. The challenges ahead may be daunting, but our collective strength, unity, and resolve will see us through. I am your son, your servant, and your partner in this journey. My ears are open, my heart is ready, and my commitment to Kogi State is absolute.
39. May the Almighty God bless you all for your presence and contributions to this historic occasion. Let us leave here today with renewed hope, determination, and a commitment to making Kogi State a model of excellence and prosperity for Nigeria and the world.
40. Thank you all for your patience and a new resolve. I am grateful.
HE Alh. Ahmed Usman Ododo
The Chief Servant of Kogi State
27/01/2025
The Chief Servant of Kogi State
