The Day Lokoja Stood Still For Karimi
By Pastor Stanley Ajileye
By the tickling on my wristwatch, it had barely crept past 11:00 a.m. Yet, at Kay-Galazy Event Centre, Lokoja, the venue of Senator Sunday Steve Karimi’s Town Hall Meeting, there was hardly room for another soul.
The programme was billed for 1:00 p.m., but the people apparently did not receive the memo. Or perhaps they did—and simply decided that arriving early was the safest way to secure a seat. As events later proved, even those who came two hours ahead of time were counting themselves lucky.
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Outside the venue, motorists were engaged in what looked like an Olympic contest for parking spaces. Every available inch of land suddenly became premium real estate. Traffic officers, sweating beneath the August sun, battled heroically to keep vehicles moving around Zone 8. For a moment, one could mistake the area for the venue of a presidential inauguration.
Inside the hall, nature and technology were still friends.
More than fifty giant Polystar air-conditioning units worked overtime, pumping chilled air into the massive hall. The atmosphere was cool, comfortable and inviting. Guests settled into their seats with satisfied smiles.
Then the crowd happened.
People kept pouring in.
They came from Kogi West, from Lokoja, from neighbouring communities and even from places no GPS would confidently pronounce. They came in buses, cars, motorcycles and on foot. They came to hear their senator present his three-year stewardship report, they came to pour out their other desires and perhaps to witness the official flag-off of the Mega Renewed Hope Campaign for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Soon, the mighty air-conditioners found themselves fighting a battle they were never designed to win.
If those machines possessed human voices, one imagines they would politely announce:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that we are now operating beyond our cooling capacity. Kindly bear with us as democracy generates more heat than engineering anticipated.”
The crowd laughed, chatted, waved party flags and waited.
Then came the moment everyone had anticipated.
Senator Sunday Steve Karimi arrived.
What followed was nothing short of political theatre.
The reception rivalled the excitement of a championship final. Supporters surged to catch a glimpse of the senator. Phones rose into the air like a forest of antennas. Chants echoed through the hall.
Someone whispered, “The People’s Senator has arrived.”
Another replied, “No, the People’s Festival has arrived.”
His entrance immediately brought to mind the Biblical account of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. No, nobody spread garments on the floor this time; modern protocol had already settled that matter with a neatly laid red carpet. Yet the enthusiasm of the crowd left little doubt that this was no ordinary political gathering.
Then came the walk.
How exactly does one describe Senator Karimi’s signature movement?
It refused to belong to a single dance style.
One observer called it Azonto.
Another insisted it had traces of Fuji.
A third claimed it looked suspiciously like Sunny Ade’s legendary guitar-inspired rhythm translated into footsteps called Apala Synchro.
Someone at the back jokingly declared it was “a coalition government of dance styles.”
Whatever it was, it worked.
The crowd loved every step.
Beaming with confidence, the senator occasionally clenched both fists in celebration, reminding many of Muhammad Ali after retaining his heavyweight crown. Moments later, he would flash his trademark thumbs-up, acknowledging cheers from every direction as supporters struggled to outshout one another.
For several minutes, the applause simply refused to end.
When calm finally returned, Senator Karimi took the podium to present what many had come to hear—his three-year scorecard.
He reeled out projects and interventions spanning infrastructure, education, healthcare, youth and women empowerment, employment opportunities and constituency development. Each achievement attracted applause, with supporters nodding approvingly as community after community was mentioned.
The town hall was not merely about looking back.
It was also about looking ahead.
Using the occasion, Senator Karimi formally flagged off the Mega Renewed Hope Campaign, calling on party faithful to mobilise support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in future elections.
He described the Tinubu administration as one taking bold decisions aimed at repositioning Nigeria for sustainable growth and urged citizens to remain steadfast in supporting reforms that would yield long-term benefits.
The event also witnessed an outpouring of goodwill messages.
Party leaders described Senator Karimi as “a dependable representative who has maintained constant contact with his constituents.”
Youth representatives praised what they called his accessibility and commitment to empowerment initiatives. They brought gifts for the people”s senator.
Women groups applauded programmes targeted at improving livelihoods and expanding economic opportunities for families across Kogi West.
Traditional and community leaders urged continued unity among party members, expressing confidence that the senator’s style of consultation through town hall engagements had strengthened the bond between leadership and the people.
Again and again, one phrase echoed across the speeches:
“The people have seen; the people have heard; the people have come in their thousands.”
As the meeting drew to a close, one unmistakable conclusion remained.
The event was more than a political gathering.
It was a demonstration of organisation, grassroots mobilisation and public engagement on a scale that left even seasoned political observers searching for fresh superlatives.
Whether one measured it by the overflowing parking lots, the exhausted air-conditioners, the endless cheers, or the sea of people that filled Kay-Galazy Event Centre beyond capacity, one fact stood out:
On that day, Lokoja did not merely host a town hall meeting. Lokoja witnessed a political carnival.
And if democracy could laugh, dance and fill every available seat in a hall, it probably looked very much like Senator Sunday Steve Karimi’s Mega Town Hall Meeting.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, AUGUST 27TH, 2026)
