ANOTHER MIRACLE: An OKADA RIDER, Donatus Matthew Elected Into The House Of Representatives In Kaduna On The Platform Of The Labour Party.

His campaign poster.

When activit and social crusader, Aisha Yusuf was everywhere jumping up and down with the slogan, that she foresees a country where the children of nobodies could become somebodies in Nigeria, people thought she was just joking or saying them just to feel among.

These sayings have gradually sank into the mentality if and it is yielding the desire fruit as the Okada rider has been elected to represent the Kaura Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

He is none other than Mr. Donatus K Matthew, a Labour Party member and aspirant who defeated an incumbent and other to clinch the win to represent his people in Abuja as a legislator.

In an interview he granted Punch Newspapers, ISRAEL BULUS, the very elated man spoken extensively about how he won the election, which is being talked about around the country.

According to him, he says he is from Kpak, Kagoro chiefdom in the Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State and presently an elected member of the Federal House of Representatives to represent Kaura on the platform of the Labour Party. I was born in 1976. I attended LGEA Primary School Kadarko, then proceeded to Saint Jani Seminary, but completed my secondary school education at Teachers’ College, Kagoro. I am a graduate of Saint Albert Institute with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and I am married with four children.

When asked what inspired him to contest the election, the Philosopher said there are a lot of issues, both personal and communal, based on our perception of how things should be done as everyone will testify to the issues and the problems we are facing in the Kaura Local Government Area, and to a larger extent, the state and the national levels. So, it became very imperative that people should decide for themselves. So, people like me, with great conviction, believed and adopted the ideologies of the Labour Party and the candidate for the Labour Party at the presidential level in particular. So, it was one of the issues that drew our attention.

I joined the Labour Party to work for the presidential candidate then. But later on, in the course of events, many people came up to suggest that we should go into the contest, which I reluctantly went into, because I never intended to before now. However, after due consultation, people insisted that I should come for service and that triggered my interest. That was the simple reason why I joined the contest. Also, we want to give people the credible leadership they expect, most especially my constituency.

Assessing the National Assembly where he would be sworn in a few weeks, the very excited Mr. Donatis says that in his eyes, what led to my victory was a collective decision of the people of Kaura, most especially, the youth, who seriously needed that change and who believed in me. They put their trust in me; they came out en masse and stood by me, and I am thanking them for that.

Donatus Matthew acknowledged that he is a okada rider, infact, he says he uses riding okada to sustain himself and his family. Honestly, it is very true. Before I became a councillor, I was an Okada man. I have been using a bike to sustain myself and I am proud of that. Even now, I have colleagues who are still doing it (riding Okada) and I think there’s nothing wrong with that. That is my humble beginning. Riding Okada is just like any other business that puts food on the table. These (Okada riders) are a unique set of people in every society. When a visitor visits a town or community, they (Okada riders) are the first contact to convey passengers to their destinations. They also help in identifying people with negative intentions. My experience helped me to meet and interact with people from different backgrounds. I live most of my life in Kagoro, and I know what it means to get a meal in a day to put on the table. As you grow from one level to another, you learn how to assist others. I have visited almost all the nooks and crannies of my constituency and I am aware of their peculiar challenges. That’ll guide me on what to do for my people. In the course of my experience as an Okada rider, I gained knowledge of what’s called human existence. I was a supervisory councillor in my local government before I contested to become a councillor and won.

This is the story of resilience and perseverance, patience and hard-word, which would on the long-run, payoff with good reward.