By Christopher Sunday
IDAH, Kogi State: There are moments in political life when a routine engagement acquires a significance that extends far beyond the immediate circumstances. The solidarity visit by QS Aminu Abubakar Suleiman, FNIQS, to the Idah Local Government Executive of the African Democratic Congress, comprising party executives at the ward and unit levels, at the ancestral compound of the late Dr Stephen Omakoji Achema in Idah, was one such moment. The visit brought together contemporary political aspirations and a historical memory that remains deeply embedded in the political consciousness of the Igala people.
The choice of venue was particularly significant. The Achema ancestral compound is associated with a defining period in the political history of Idah and Kogi East, when political conversations were shaped not merely by the pursuit of elective office but by questions of identity, representation, collective interest and the political future of the people. It was in this political environment that Achema made the famous declaration, “Abo mi Igala, Akitu’ñyi nwu oko la n,” translated as, “Let us not sell the house to the pigs.” The statement has survived as one of the memorable expressions of Igala political consciousness, largely because the “house” was never intended to mean a physical building. It was a metaphor for the collective political inheritance of the Igala people, encompassing their rights, dignity, numerical strength, political influence and rightful place within the political structure of Kogi State.
Achema’s declaration was, therefore, more than an electoral slogan. It represented a warning against the surrender of collective interests for temporary political advantage and a call for the people to understand the value of the political space they had inherited from previous generations. Its political resonance became part of the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the late Prince Abubakar Audu as the first Executive Governor of Kogi State. Decades later, Aminu’s presence at the same ancestral compound inevitably brought that history into conversation with the political realities of the present.
The occasion was further enriched by the presence of Dr Sule Odoma and David Apeh, two political contemporaries of Achema. Their attendance was significant because they represent a generation that experienced the political struggles of that era firsthand and shared political space with a man whose words and actions became part of the region’s political history. Also present was Dr AY Baba, one of Achema’s political students, whose presence introduced another dimension to the gathering. While Odoma and Apeh provided the perspective of contemporaries who knew Achema within the political environment of his time, Baba represented the transmission of political knowledge and experience from one generation to another. Their presence transformed what might ordinarily have been a routine political engagement into an intergenerational encounter in which memory, experience and contemporary political aspiration converged.
For Aminu, the symbolism of standing in Achema’s ancestral compound could not be separated from the larger meaning of the political house invoked by the late politician. The house represents the collective rights of the Igala people, their claim to equitable representation, their numerical and political strength and their ability to negotiate from a position of influence within Kogi State and the Nigerian federation. It also represents the expectation that political strength should translate into meaningful outcomes for ordinary citizens through quality representation, purposeful legislation, infrastructure, employment opportunities, educational advancement, healthcare and broader human capital development. In this sense, the preservation of the political house is not simply about winning elections; it is about ensuring that political influence is converted into sustainable benefits for the people.
This distinction is important because numerical strength, by itself, does not automatically constitute political power. Numbers acquire political significance when they are organised, strategically deployed and translated into effective representation. A people may possess considerable numerical strength and yet fail to maximise its political value if that strength is fragmented by individual ambitions, short term calculations or internal divisions. The deeper lesson in Achema’s famous declaration, therefore, remains relevant to contemporary politics: collective political inheritance must be protected through unity, strategic thinking, competent leadership and a clear understanding of the interests that bind a people together.
The encounter at the Achema compound also raised a broader question about political succession and generational responsibility. Achema’s generation fought to establish and defend political space. Those who came after inherited that space and continued the political conversation in different forms. The present generation now faces the responsibility of determining whether that inheritance will remain merely a subject of historical remembrance or become the foundation for a more purposeful political future. The answer will depend largely on whether political leadership can move beyond the symbolic celebration of numerical strength to the practical deployment of that strength for development and effective representation.
Aminu, while expressing his appreciation for the solidarity shown by the Idah ADC executives, acknowledged the historical significance of the venue and the opportunity to interact with people whose political experiences are connected to the legacy of Achema. He particularly recognised Dr Sule Odoma and David Apeh as political contemporaries of Achema and acknowledged Dr AY Baba as one of Achema’s political students. He expressed his respect for Achema’s memory and emphasised that the most meaningful way to honour political figures of the past is not simply to invoke their names, but to preserve and advance the collective interests for which they stood. He also thanked the party executives and supporters for their confidence and solidarity, stressing the importance of approaching political responsibility with humility, competence and a strong sense of duty.
Viewed from that perspective, the visit was more than an engagement between a political aspirant and party executives. It was a meeting between history and the present, between the memory of an earlier political generation and the aspirations of a generation now seeking to redefine its political future. The physical compound merely provided the setting; the real subject of the encounter was the political consciousness represented by Achema’s famous metaphor.
The “house” is therefore not the building in Idah. It is the collective political inheritance of the Igala people. It is their right to meaningful representation, their dignity as a people, their political bargaining power, their numerical strength and their place within the political architecture of Kogi State. It belongs not to one individual or one generation, but to the people as a whole, and its preservation imposes a responsibility on every generation that inherits it.
That responsibility cannot be discharged through nostalgia or political rhetoric alone. It requires the capacity to organise political strength, build consensus, develop competent leadership and translate representation into tangible improvements in the lives of the people. It requires a politics capable of looking beyond the next election to the long term interests of the communities whose political inheritance is being defended.
That is the enduring relevance of Achema’s political house. The challenge before the present generation is not simply to remember the warning that the house should not be sold, but to understand what the house represents and why it must be protected. The question is ultimately one of political responsibility: whether those who inherit the collective strength of a people will preserve it, strengthen it and hand it over to the next generation in better condition than they received it.
At the Achema ancestral compound in Idah, QS Aminu Abubakar Suleiman stood within a space where that question had once been articulated in a different political era. The presence of Achema’s contemporaries, Dr Sule Odoma and David Apeh, and his political student, Dr AY Baba, gave the occasion an additional historical resonance. It was a reminder that political history is not merely preserved in archives; it survives through people, memories, ideas and the choices successive generations make.
Achema belongs to history, but the question he raised belongs to the present. The political house of the Igala people is ultimately a metaphor for their collective rights, inheritance, dignity, strength and place in Kogi State. Whether that inheritance becomes a foundation for greater political influence and development or gradually loses its value through fragmentation and short term interests will depend on the choices of the present generation.
The message remains as relevant today as when Achema first uttered it: the house must not be sold. It must be protected, strengthened and ultimately made more valuable for those who will inherit it tomorrow.
And that, perhaps, is the most enduring significance of Aminu’s return to Achema’s ancestral compound: the present had returned to a place where history once spoke, not merely to remember what was said, but to confront what must now be done.
QS O’CLOCK.
