By Y.J. Itopa
Engr Abubakar Ohere is not unknown to the people of Kogi State, especially his good people of Kogi Central Senatorial District whose mandate in the forthcoming elections he is seeking to make him one of the Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the already peeping Presidential elections.
Engr Ohere is contesting on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ohere, like other candidates, has a number of campaigners whose main job is to open floodgates of goodwill and support from the electorates for his ultimate goal: “Senator Abubakar Ohere.”
One of such brainy goodwill canvassers of the Engineer-turned politician abundantly relies on is Professor Solomon Avidime, the Ahmadu Bello University-trained Physician.
Avidime, a Fellow of West African College of Surgeons (WACS) as well as Fellow International College of Surgeons (FICS) is a holder of good clinical Practices of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and London School of Tropical Certified Trainer in Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care.
He has 21 years of cognate experience in teaching/ training research and clinical services in Obstetrics and gynecology.
Hungry for versatility in many spheres of life, and rightly so for the good of his society, Avidime had a few years ago taken a plunge into the murky waters of politics (With a keen aspiration for the Okehi/Adavi Federal House of Representatives) which he believed and still believes knowledge, and he has it aplenty, could cleanse for the thirsty throats of the people.
He did not eventually make it to the national legislative house. But the experience he drew from that effort has continued to gird his loins of politics and politicking.
A very active academic, Avidime has chosen, in this political dispensation to give a hand to another politician to climb to the top as the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Kogi Central Senatorial District and he is vigorously working round the clock and sagaciously to make the lofty dream of his candidate a reality.
And the candidate he has chosen to throw his weight behind as campaigner is Engr. Abubakar Ohere.
The young Professor has elected to be the head of the youth Vanguard of the Ohere’s Political Campaign Council (PCC) and he is carrying out the campaign in a most effective way.
His busy academic and medical activities such as lecturing, membership of the Governing Board of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital and that of the Association of Gynecological Endoscopy Surgeons of Nigeria (AGES) etcetera not withstanding, Professor Avidime is everywhere campaigning for his candidate of his party.
His major preoccupation is to see Ohere and his party’s other candidates like Hon Idris Ozi Shaibu who is the APC’s candidate for Okehi/ Adavi Federal Constituency emerge as winners in the forthcoming elections.
He believes that he who helps others also helps himself; one good turn, the professor would always say, deserves another.
With great zeal and energy, he has carried the campaign for the election of his principal to every nook and cranny of the Central Senatorial District of Kogi State.
He goes to towns with Ohere message. He visits the rural populace armed with reasons why it is Engr. Abubakar Sadiku Ohere the the people should choose to vote for instead of his opponent, Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduagha who runs on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
There is hardly any meaningful event held that Avidime would not attend to represent his candidate and canvas for vote for him.
In a recent interview with The Graphic Newspaper, Professor Avidime discussed a number of issues among which was the assurance that Engr Abubakar Ohere would defeat his opponent in the race to the Senate without challenges.
Excerpts from the interaction :
Question: Tell us briefly about your self
Answer: My name is Solomon Avidime. I hail from Ihima in Okehi Local Government.
After my pre and post Secondary Schools, I gained admission into the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) from where I obtained the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BS) degrees. I am a Fellow, International College of Surgeons among other qualifications.
Question: What informed your choice to be one of the campaign Managers of Engr. Abubaker Ohere among other choices?
Answer: Though an academic, I have taken time out to closely look at the successes recorded by His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, the Executive Governor of Kogi State. I found out that Engr. Abubakar Ohere has been part and parcel of the governor’s success story especially as his Commissioner for the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs and that of Works.
In both Ministries, Ohere’s performances were excellent.
At the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs, he was not found wanting. He positively touched the lives of the people. Not long after he took over the affairs of the Ministry, he turned the whole place around in terms of infrastructure.
Any one that knew the dilapidated buildings called the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs before Government Bello appointed Ohere as Commissioner will bear me witness.
Today, the Ministry is a beauty to be hold. The place is now an architectural masterpiece in the true sense of the word.
Ohere’s startling achievements should not surprise us. He is an Engr. of high repute.
Today, Kogi State can be rightly described as infrastructure hub of the North central.
I mean no exaggeration here. Infrastructural facilities have continued to remain one of the focal points of Governor Bello’s administration.
Is it the imposing revenue house you want to talk about? That edifice has simply beautified the State Capital. There is the magnificent President Muhamadu Buhari Square. It is an event centre that has great potential of earning much revenue for the state.
Behold the newly reconstructed Kogi State Specialist Hospital in Lokoja, well reconstructed and weall equipped.
Also, the Okene Reference Hospital is now being compared with the best hospitals in the country and even beyond. The new Ganaja Junction Flyover at Lokoja is one of the legacy projects of this administration. We must remember the GYB Model Science Secondary Schools which he spread across the state- East, West and Central. Ohinoyi’s Palace is an architectural wonder.
Kogi State is one huge infrastructure site. And I tell you with pride that most of this achievements happened while Abubakar Ohere was the Commissioner of Works. Through his Ministry, he supervised the constructions.
You can now understand why I am now campaigning for him to realise his ambition to become a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ohere has performed well in his previous assignments. The governor was well pleased with him and he decided to give him the needed support to become the next senator from the district. Governor Bello has trust in his capacity and competence.
This is why I see my choice in him. Ohere is young and full of energy. He has vision for the people. At the Senate, I don’t have any doubt in my mind that he will perform. He will fight for the quick completion of Ajaokuta Steel Complex. As an Engr of cognate experience, he is most suitable to go to the Senate to fight for the revival of the Africa’s Steel Octopus.
I am therefore calling on the good people of Central Senatorial District to cast their vote for Engineer Ohere to be their next senator. A vote for our opponent is a vote cast on a waste basket. Ohere will make our people proud at the Senate.
Question: With the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), voting exercise is no longer business as usual, so to say. It is now a grassroots thing. Vote must now count. How close to the people at the grassroots is your candidate?
For me, my principal is a grassroots politician to the core. At the ministries of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ohere was dealing directly with the people at the grassroots.
His immediate constituency was the people through the traditional rulers.
He has always been in their midst which is why he is enjoying overwhelming support from the people. Ditto the people he had met at the Ministry of works as Commissioner.
If any politician is a man of the people that politician is Ohere, our Senator to be.
He has positively touched the people’s lives in one way or the other. I know many women he has financially assisted to enhance their business.
People trust him. He is touch with women and our youths personally and through their various organizations and and for a and he has helped them in one form or the other.
They believe in him..I have worked closely with him. I know he is a good man. Very kind. Ohere is a patriot and Philanthropist.
I have represented him in many occasions.
And I know how openhanded he has been to those people. Handsome messages from him were delivered through many of us. He has given scholarship to many indigent students. One good turn deserves another. It is now time for the people to pay him for the good he has been doing to them.
The Senator to be is a man of enormous good will. I am sure our people will troop out to cast their vote for him to be their next Senator.
Question: Most of our previous Senators were said to have under performed at the legislative housePeople fear that a Senator Ohere may not fare better than the previous Ebira Senators. What difference can your principal make if he eventually emerges the winner as Senator?
Answer: There is no cause for alarm. He will do very well. Let me convince you with his intimidating profile. Born on 13th July, 1966, Abubakar Ohere attended ST. Andrew Primary School, Okene. He attended and finished from Lennon Memorial College, Ageva in Okene LGA.
He went to Kwara Polytechnic where he studied Metallurgical Engineering after which he attended Idah Polytechnic precisely in 1992 for his Higher National Diploma(HND).
Not satisfied with his academic hunt, Engr. Abubakar Ohere sought and gained admission for his Masters in Mining Engineering at the University of Abuja which he brightly completed.
Before his exploits in his home state, Kogi as Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and twice the Commissioner in two aforementioned ministries, Ohere had worked and reached administrative level at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
With his splendid credentials and experiences in many areas of life, and to allay your fears as to whether he could shine as the Senator of the Federal Republic of Ebira extraction, I call on our people to have confidence in his abilities.
He will not disappoint the people if we entrust him with our mandate to represent us the highest legislative house in the land. Ohere will make a good Senator. I trust him.
