Frontline aspirant for the 2027 Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency election, Prof. Kohol Iornem, has said he is running for office because he has witnessed firsthand how effective systems, laws, and infrastructure are maintained for the betterment of citizens.
Prof. Kohol, an accomplished Director of Executive Education and Professor of Business Management with over 15 years of experience, is passionate about supporting widows and orphans, especially those living in rural communities.
The Ushongo-born, who enjoys promoting and enhancing the socio-economic and cultural development of the Tiv people in the United Kingdom and supporting similar advancements in Tivland, told TNT that he is duty-bound to bring his experience and knowledge back home to serve the people of the Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency.
He believes that Kwande and Ushongo deserve the best representation, saying that is exactly what he is offering.
Read the full text of Prof. Kohol’s declaration for the 2027 Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency election, titled “Why I Want to Represent My People.”
The job of a National Assembly member is to make laws and provide oversight and scrutiny of the executive branch, representation, and constituency work. However, the role that impacts the people the most is representation and constituency work. Effective representation means:
1. Speaking up for your people
2. Defending your people
3. Bringing all the dividends for your people
4. Listening to the concerns of your people
5. Collaborating with critical stakeholders to attract opportunities and support for your constituents
The question we should honestly ask ourselves is: Are the good people of Kwande and Ushongo getting the best they deserve? Your guess is as good as mine.
How do I come in? What can I and will I do differently?
Let’s start with the main challenge the constituency is facing. Besides basic infrastructure and economic challenges, the biggest challenge is insecurity.
First, we have to recognise that this is the only time we can get it right, now that we have access to the presidency. I do not want to say we have underutilised this opportunity; I want to state that we have not even used it at all. We can achieve progress through collaborative effort.
If I am elected as a member of the House of Representatives, I will build a coalition with other lawmakers and the state government to make them see these killings as a national security problem and get them to buy into our narrative of seeking urgent intervention from the presidency.
You know, it is very simple. Even the Bible tells us in Matthew 24:43 that “If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into.” So what is stopping us from keeping watch, knowing that we are always being attacked?
I will work with stakeholders from the state governor to the local government chairman, traditional rulers, community leaders, and even my fellow National Assembly members, to facilitate self-defence, as it is evident that our communities cannot currently defend themselves. I will provide resources to empower them through community policing. If you are a strong and effective representative, you can even bring the Speaker to visit the affected communities. Seeing is believing.
When I was in a position of authority as a leader of the Tiv people in the UK, I recall that in 2018, when our people were being killed, I led MUTUK in one of the most widely publicised protests in London to submit a petition against the government of President Buhari. We collaborated and echoed the state governor’s cries at the time; we did not present a different narrative. We submitted a petition to then-Prime Minister Theresa May, and action was taken, leading to the President deploying security forces to the affected communities.
This is not a one-man fight, as we are currently seeing. Are we not tired of always issuing statements condemning these attacks? We have failed to use the power of synergy. Synergy means that the combined effort of a team is far greater than the sum of individual efforts. This is what we need now.
What inspired me to seek elective office was my experience in the UK. I saw how public education is free for children from primary to secondary school, and even at university, there is access to student finance. Healthcare is also free. I saw how, whenever there were issues affecting us, we could simply write to our MP and receive a response within 10 days. Whenever issues arose, our MPs committed their time to ensuring we were effectively represented.
Having studied and worked in the UK higher education sector as an academic and as a leadership and management coach, while running my own executive education institute, I have developed a good grasp of what a functional government looks like.
On a personal level, I am passionate about supporting widows and orphans, especially those living in rural communities. It was for this reason that I set up the Menroi Rural Priority Foundation in 2018 and the Mzehemen U Tiv Foundation in 2019, using part of my income to support vulnerable households in the areas of education, health, water, business, and innovation.
Over time, I have received support from family, friends, and the general public in carrying out these projects. This also reinforces my belief in building coalitions, because we achieve more together than through individual effort.
Some of the projects we have undertaken include:
1. Essay competition at ICC, Ikyobo, Ushongo.
2. Essay competition at Mbagwa Community Secondary School (MCSS), Lessel, Ushongo.
3. Medical outreach (treatment of malaria and distribution of mosquito nets) in Jato-Aka, Kwande.
4. Sewing machines were distributed to two credible loan recipients in Makurdi.
5. Interest-free loans awarded to over 50 business owners in Benue State.
6. Menstrual health sensitisation and donation of sanitary pads at Uavande Girls School, Aliade.
7. Cash and sports kits donated to Galaxy Sport Club during their tournament in Makurdi.
8. Menroi Essay Competition organised for International Day Secondary School, Lessel, Ushongo.
9. More than 20 IDP camp visitations at Federal Housing, North Bank, providing food and other basic amenities.
10. Menroi visitation to NKST Orphanage Home, Mkar.
11. Menroi visitation to Gidan Bege Orphanage Home, Makurdi.
12. Menroi visitation to Tivid Orphanage Home, North Bank, Makurdi.
13. Menroi outreach to the IDP camp in Daudu.
14. Borehole projects.
15. Career and education scholarship projects awarded to individuals and schools across Benue State.
16. Hygiene and sanitary project in collaboration with the Samuel Ioron Foundation in two schools in Makurdi and Oturkpo.
17. Skill acquisition programmes (bead making, shoe making, hairdressing, and pastry making) were carried out in over 10 locations in Kwande and Ushongo.
18. Back-to-school project distributing books and writing materials to schoolchildren in over three schools in Ushongo.
19. Visitation and support for the sick and vulnerable in Makurdi and Abuja, including:
• A sick girl in the National Hospital, Abuja
• A cancer patient in Makurdi
• A disabled woman using a wheelchair in Makurdi
20. Distribution of money and basic amenities to the less privileged women and children across Makurdi.
21. Distribution of mosquito nets to over 50 widows in Ushongo.
22. Renovation and donation of drugs and basic amenities to the Primary Healthcare Centre, Tomahar, Benue State.
23. Donation of ICT textbooks to the ICT centre of ICC, Ikyobo, Ushongo.
24. Scholarships and free school uniforms awarded to pupils of Menroi Nursery and Primary School, Makurdi.
When I ran for the House of Representatives in 2023, my message was simple: the rot in the system requires time to clean. I came to let the people know what they can achieve that they may not yet realise. I came to let them know that it was time for them to change their destiny.
I went door to door. We spoke with the people. They shared their concerns, and I recorded them. We now have a list of the top three challenges facing each community across Kwande and Ushongo, which the communities themselves listed.
For example, when we visited Ityu Ukase, we saw that there were no motorable roads. There was also no mobile communication network from Anwase to Abande to Ityu Ukase. The people told us that when Fulani terrorists attack them, they cannot call for help because there is no network and no motorable road. Sadly, these killings have persisted.
I tried to distinguish myself from regular politicking, where, once someone loses an election, they disappear until the next election cycle. I lost, but I have remained present and continued our community development projects.
I lost the election on February 25, 2023. Exactly two weeks later, on March 11, 2023, I returned to complete the renovation of NKST Amokaha in Ushongo. It was a promise I made to the community during the campaign. I told them that whether I won or not, I would renovate the school, and I kept my promise.
I joined APC because of the governor’s visible projects. Within just two years of assuming office, we have witnessed the construction of township and rural roads, including underpasses and flyovers in Makurdi and Gboko, easing traffic and boosting connectivity. Hundreds of schools have been rehabilitated with furniture, water facilities, and modern learning environments. Over 9,000 teachers have been hired to reduce staff shortages. Benue State University has expanded with new faculties and campuses, and the University of Agriculture, Science and Technology has been established.
The administration has also revamped the Benue State University Teaching Hospital and revived agricultural agencies to support fertiliser distribution at subsidised rates. Under Governor Alia’s administration, BIPC has been transformed from a poorly performing, loss-making organisation into a strategic engine for economic growth. Benue Links has also experienced recovery and expansion, with 100 new buses procured after the company was on the verge of collapse. Transport fares have also been reduced, making travel more affordable compared with private operators.
Governor Alia has involved youth in key leadership positions, giving them the opportunity to contribute to the development of the state. We are not yet where we want to be, but we have made a positive shift despite the challenges confronting us.
I will end with a piece I wrote titled “Benue Politics: A Must for Tiv Diaspora” in 2025, reflecting on my experience after the 2023 general elections. The excerpt below captures my motivation for joining active politics:
“A story is told of a captive who was tortured by his abductors. They locked him in a cell, maltreated and starved him. They occasionally brought him little food, and before giving it to him, they made him suffer by using a stick to pull it closer. One day, he had a chance to escape when the guard on duty brought him food. As the guard was about to leave, the key to the prison fell nearby. The captive was in a dilemma. He was caught between using the stick to pull the bread that the guard dropped for him or using the stick to retrieve the key and free himself. But what did he do? He took the bread instead. This story has generated many philosophical responses to the question, “Why did the prisoner choose the bread instead of the key?”
During my interaction with citizens in my constituency, one person said, “If you keep people busy with basic needs, they will forget about the freedom they lost.” Another said, “It is the way he has been conditioned.” That he did not “have any other means of survival and did not know how it feels to be free.” One response that caught my attention was, “When someone is hungry, they stop thinking properly.” All these comments make me begin to see an application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in the prisoner’s choice.
According to Maslow, people have five sets of needs that come in a particular order: as each level of need is satisfied, the desire to fulfil the next set kicks in. It is difficult to skip a level to the next. The lowest of the needs is physiological, which Maslow described as the basic needs for bodily functioning, e.g., food, water, shelter, and sex. The next level of needs up the pyramid are safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualisation needs. We can therefore conclude that the captive acted in line with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs by going for the basic need – food (physiological needs). It is only after satisfying the physiological needs that safety needs would have arisen.
Another classic example is the Bible story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup in Genesis 25:29-34: “And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me? 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.”
The two stories I have shared are exactly what our people are going through at the hands of our politicians. During my consultations with key stakeholders and the grassroots to seek their blessings for my House of Reps ambition in 2023, I was met with this sad reality. Our people are suffering. Like the prisoner, they have been conditioned to believe that eating a slice of bread in captivity is better than dying from “starvation” in freedom. The governments and politicians have deliberately made them rely on breadcrumbs. The people are not empowered to fend for themselves. They don’t know what freedom feels like. Farming, their main source of livelihood, has also been taken away due to insecurity.
Our politicians have conditioned their minds to subscribe to ethnic (zoning) and religious sentiments. They have put fear and uncertainty in the minds of the masses. You hear them say, “If this position goes to this ethnic group, they will marginalise you, or it will never come back to your zone again.” For this reason, people throw away track record, experience, accountability, and credible people and settle for mediocrity from their ethnic background or ward.
Politicians have starved our people so that they cannot think properly. They have created a system to checkmate the masses into doing their bidding. They have created a system to eliminate the youth and people of integrity. They have been able to achieve this by selling the party’s nomination forms at exorbitant prices. When credible people with a good track record join their party, they say, “You will have to join the queue as there are others in the party before you.” Our politicians have no other job other than being in active politics. That is why, when they lose elections, they continue to court the government-in-power for political appointments, while others go on sabbatical and return after four years to contest again. This is also why politics has become a do-or-die affair, with assassinations and the proliferation of killing gangs as the new normal of politics.
In Benue, we have leaders who have held top government positions for many years; most have served for over 20 years. Yet, we cannot boast of a single local industry in the state. It is indeed shameful that we are still referring to Aper Aku and Fr Moses Adasu as the only Governors who had foresight, when we now have greater government expenditure and enormous technological capabilities that can be leveraged to develop the state through industrial growth and innovation.
My recent political outings have made me painfully realise the importance of the diaspora in salvaging our failing country. Many of us migrated to seek better lives, whether in terms of quality education as a student, or job opportunities as an economic migrant, or through other means not elsewhere classified. We have witnessed firsthand how effective systems, laws, and infrastructure are maintained for the betterment of citizens; therefore, we are duty-bound to export our experience and knowledge to help our country.
Many of our people cannot ask for good governance if they have not witnessed it. They are like the prisoner who will always go for bread instead of the key. They are like Esau, who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. That is why they sell their votes for little things like salt, Maggi, and a few hundred Nairas.
Notwithstanding, I’m glad that many Tiv sons and daughters from diaspora are playing active roles in politics. However, we need more like-minded people in the diaspora to come together because politics is about numbers. The masses are looking up to us in the diaspora. They know the truth (that we have what it takes to deliver based on our exposure), but the reality (poverty) hits them hard, making it difficult for them to make the right choices. The message which they must be told is that anyone can give them food, but the key to their freedom cannot be given; it must be fought for. But more importantly, we in the Diaspora should also take the lead in the fight for our people’s freedom because we are not economically vulnerable like them!”
It is now 2026, and many of the issues confronting the people of Kwande and Ushongo have persisted, if not worsened.
We need a coalition.
We need action.
We have talked enough.
Kwande and Ushongot deserve the best representation, and that is what I am offering.
