…Same Spade With Which He Might Be Buried Tomorrow
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia’s media men have once again shackled him in their quest to advance their narrative of his questionable war to claim Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
In responding to a probing piece by veteran broadcast journalist, Akange Nyagba, which pointedly accused the governor of undeservedly seeking to claim leadership over the party, the media handlers advanced their argument in contradictory illogic.
They accused Mr. Nyagba of undermining their boss by questioning his leadership status over the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator George Akume, seeking in the process to deride modern day political godfathers as selfish, avaricious and lacking in altruism and patriotism.
They then cut out a fine dress measurement for the older generations of godfathers in Nigerian politics, thus:
“In Nigeria’s pre-independence era and the early days of the first republic, the godfathers were esteemed statesmen and nationalists, dedicated to fostering regional development competitively. Unlike today’s godfathers, whose main aim is to accumulate wealth and exert control, these earlier figures prioritized mentorship over power grabs, creating a nurturing environment for their proteges.
“Godfathers characteristically should be legacy people. They are men of honour that are driven by passion and directly demonstrate or leave footprints that served or could serve as reference points for past and present generations”.
The question which quickly arises is, how then rationally should SGF Akume not wear this dress so finely measured for godfathers by Alia’s men?
Is he not an esteemed statesman and nationalist who to date is rated in vintage standing across Nigeria as one of the protagonists who fearlessly dared President Olusegun Obasanjo to scuttle his Third Term bid thereby saving and preserving our then nascent democracy?
Did SGF Akume as Governor of Benue State (under PDP) between 1999 to 2007 not leave indelible footprints in the sands of the developmental landscape of the state? Wasn’t his administration clearly defined in paradigm as welfarist hence on a mission to feed, revive and empower a people impoverished by close to two decades of military rule through the philosophy succinctly coined by his then Permanent Secretary of Finance and Economic Planning, Barr. Chille Igbawua, as “The Akumenics of Poverty Reduction”?
Wasn’t he a governor passionate enough about the development of Benue State to have opened up and transformed Makurdi the state’s capital city through judicious application of the Ecological Fund to open up rural roads and streets, established the first and only Industrial Layout in the state which is thriving to date, established the prestigious College of Health Sciences of the Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, with the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), and also built General Hospitals in the local government areas of state, among several other milestones?
Are the evidently indelible footprints of SGF Akume so far not worth being referenced by present and future generations, or has he not mentored proteges who are walking tall on the leadership spectrum of the state and beyond, notably the two governors after him – Gabriel Suswam and Samuel Ortom – Senator Emmanuel Orker Jev, an army of past and serving state and national legislators, holders of various offices of public trust, presently Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Joseph Utsev; Nigerian Shippers’ Council helmsman, Barr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah; NNDC Commissioner, Nick Wende; North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Commissioner, Stephen Tsav; FHA Executive Director, Housing Finance and Accounts, Dr. Mathias Byuan; FHA Mortgage Bank Executive Director, Dr. Terlumun Akputu; Senior Special Assistant to the President, Torhile Uchi; Special Adviser (Political) to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mark Hanmation; recently a battalion of federal board heads and members, among them younger breed leaders such as Mike Msuaan, Austin Agada, Arc. Anthony Obekpa, Dr. Godwin Ochepo Ochiche, Jonah Ode Erue, among others?
Arguing further, the governor’s spinners claimed that “Godfatherism has always been a part of Nigerian politics. Typically, when godfathers try to dominate or become authoritarian with their godsons, the reaction is inevitably open resistance.”
Yet it is curious to note that the governor did not wait for the SGF to try to dominate and become authoritarian before launching a resistance war.
Their claims that there was an attempt to foist almost all of the appointees of the governor on him by the SGF are allegations not supported by facts on ground, for it is widely known that Governor Alia had left no one in doubt well before his inauguration that he was going to be his own man.
He had gone to war early obviously preferring early attack as the best form of the defence he wanted to have for his stay in power, and he made it abundantly clear he was not willing in the least to share his power turf with anyone.
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The argument by his men that he was not consulted on the choice of the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly by the APC caucus in the state is where he was irredeemably handcuffed, for the duty is solely that of the party to determine the leadership of the Legislature which is a separate arm of government from the Executive which the governor heads.
Both the Legislature and the Executive are children of the party which sponsored them, and it is obscene for the Junior (Executive) though much stronger in overt terms, to seek to openly superimpose on the Senior (Legislature) even though it is weaker.
The strident and abrasive ululation by the governor’s men that he should by right be accorded leadership of the Benue APC is a mere alibi and facade for an unjustifiable war, even as is their fatuous claim that every governor in Nigeria in the APC and other political parties do enjoy such accolade, for it is fresh on record that Samuel Ortom as Governor under APC from 2015 was not the leader of the party, but exercised power under then Senator Akume who was leader of the Benue APC, and when he (Ortom) couldn’t have it anymore, he left the party.
In the same APC where Governor Alia seeks to annex the title of Leader just for the fact he is Governor, Muhammadu Buhari was President, yet throughout his 8 year reign from 2015 to 2023, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was openly and loudly proclaimed everywhere as Leader of the APC worldwide.
The leadership status in issue here isn’t statutory but a conventional creation based ipso facto on the practical realities of the contributory strength of an individual, and the position so ascribed to SGF Akume in the Benue APC is one which Governor Alia wasn’t unaware of, but one which he had subscribed to when the contributory strength of the godfather, Akume, was brought to bear in his favour consequent to his emerging Governor over and above other more deserving persons.
It grates against good conscience that Governor Alia should today be in the public arena seeking to push the dubious narrative that he is being victimized and oppressed by the godfather who is taking away his rightful leadership position and seeking to dominate over his government, for the Latin maxim “volenti non fit injuria” holds true, to the effect, that he who voluntarily and knowingly subscribes to a pact cannot claim injury within the terms of same.
But the reason is not far fetched why the Benue State Governor has launched a war against SGF Akume and APC in Benue, for it is decipherable that he needs the distraction the invasion provides to hide the serial gaffes and maladministration in his government.
It is classic demagoguery at play under which Governor Alia seeks to hoodwink the gullible among the people to see the political class as enemies of the state while he has come as a knight in shinny armour to war against those enemies and save the state.
SGF Akume and everyone else who takes a stand against the governor is derisively labelled a “stakeholder” while he, Alia, is the defender and savior of the masses, and with this sort of crude manipulation of the psyche of the unsuspecting, he seeks to screen all of his actions in office away from public scrutiny and probity.
So in Benue State today constitutional democracy is on suspension, as the law has become the words and actions of Governor Alia, not what the statutory rule books say, be it in the award of contracts for projects or the enforcement of extant laws such as the ban on open grazing which enforcement he has tacitly refused to continue with, even as he is touted to be making moves to outrightly repeal.
This hedonistic approach to governance in Benue State seeks validation in the banal cliche that “a doon Tiv je, ka cii la” literally translated to mean ‘once the people are happy with WHATEVER the governor does, that’s all’. In other words, the end justifies the means, and such means could be hiding governance totally under a shroud darkness.
And the vacuity in the rational pretensions of the governor’s town criers is laid bare in their upside-down interpretation of a simple analogy by Akange Nyagba thus:
“Mr. Akange in his epistle asserts that while Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa held the position of Prime Minister, Sir Ahmadu Bello was the unquestionable leader of the North. What prevents a similar dynamic from occurring here? If Akume serves as the SGF akin to Tafawa Balewa’s role as Prime Minister while Ahmadu Bello maintained leadership of the North, why couldn’t Governor Alia maintain leadership of Benue State and Benue APC?
But it is clear even at the kindergarten level that it was the older and more powerful Sir Ahmadu Bello who vaunted Tafawa Balewa to power, and in decent and orderly fashion, the younger Balewa, though the Prime Minister, duly deferred to the leadership of the older Ahamdu Bello.
Between Alia and Akume, it is the latter who is in the position of Ahamdu Bello while the governor is in the position of Tafawa Balewa, and there is no ambiguity about this, except to those intent on demagoguery like the governor and his spin doctors.
But while Governor Alia today finds it convenient to use his war against SGF Akume and APC as the spade with which he is burying constitutional democracy in Benue State, he should be wary that same spade might just be the tool with which he is buried as time unfolds and the intoxication from his demagogic brew wears off.
For you may fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time (apologies Bob Marley).
Chief Bemgba Iortyom (Vande-U-Mbaiwer) writes from Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.
Friday, 24th May, 2024.
