“Your government has no life, it could best be likened to a rocking chair, making all the noise without any significant movement. Not even a single problem that you met or that cropped up under your tenure has been solved.”
YOUR Excellency, we join your family, friends, well-wishers and political associates to celebrate your birthday anniversary. We pray the Almighty God continue to bless and keep you. Evidently, you have enjoyed His Grace.
On this day of your birth, and remarkably the last days of your 8-year tenure as governor of Benue State, you must reflect on your leadership and stewardship and the legacies.
Recall your Excellency, that on several occasions we have had no option but to publicly draw your attention to your dismal performance which has stagnated the state over these years. We had in our patriotism listed several areas of leadership deficit during your tenure.
With few days to hand over to a new government, it is pertinent to ponder over a few things.
Have you left the Tiv nation and Benue better than you met it? The answer is a resounding NO. Never in the history of the Tiv Nation has a governor failed in giving direction like you have. Within these years, you have disconnected the Tiv nation from the federal government by engaging in a needless and self-serving antagonism against the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You have been unable to secure either federal government jobs for our teeming youth or federal appointments for people of Benue State.
What will the Tiv nation and Benue point at in nostalgia of your leadership? The answer is a resonating NOTHING SIGNIFICANT. while campaigning for both your first and second terms, you promised to move the state from a civil service driven economy to an industrialized state. Apart from winning a medal in signing meaningless and fruitless MOU’s, not even a cottage industry has been established by your government.
“What confounded many Benue people was when you did not spare the Aper Aku of blessed memory. In some of your lame attempts to justify your notorious non-payment of pensions and Salaries, you gleefully boasted that even Aku owed salaries for several months but is celebrated today as an epitome of good governance and responsible leadership. But Aku has several legacies projects to his credit. This attack was one, too many. It was indication that you have fought all former governors, both living and dead.”
Where have you placed the Tiv Nation in the national scheme of things? The answer is nowhere. Your leadership lacks focus and has disconnected Benue from the national scheme of things as well as hurt the relationship between the state and other tribes.
How many Federal projects have you attracted to the state? Not even one your Excellency. The numerous federal projects in the state are as a result of Mr president’s magnanimous disposition and the efforts of the Honourable Minster of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Sen. George Akume.
Your Excellency, you have failed as governor of the state and failed woefully as leader of your party. I put it to you that, the humiliating defeat and devastating loss of the PDP in the state is simply because of you. The Benue people rejected and revolted against you solely. Never in the history of the state has such ever happened. Your predecessor, Sen. Suswam did not suffer such rejection.
The margin of win between the winner and candidate of the APC, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia and your allegedly imposed candidate, Hon. Titus Uba is such that has never been witnessed in the past. This was possible because, the people felt they were voting against you.
“Before your reelection in 2019, you had the courtesy to visit scenes of attacks, immediately after that elections, you have not visited any, rather you find something to blame. The latest was your interview on Arise Television where you blamed your non-performance on herders’ attacks and the renewed onslaught on some communities to the victory of the APC in the state. What a governor! We have watched States like Borno, and Kaduna, etc. who suffer consistent and devastating terrorists’ attacks commission plenty legacy projects.”
Just when one thought you will begin a remorseful self-examination and begin to seek for forgiveness, you introduced a pension bill for yourself aimed at paying you huge sums of monies and other benefits. But you have treated pensioners with disdain. Protests by pensioners whose only crime is to have served the state meritoriously and to have you as governor within these years has become almost a daily occurrence in the state. Workers are worse off. The Civil service has been annihilated under your watch.
Your government has no life, it could best be likened to a rocking chair, making all the noise without any significant movement. Not even a single problem that you met or that cropped up under your tenure has been solved.
Your Excellency, your years in power have witnessed disturbing fights with other Benue elites, you fought your benefactor, Sen. George Akume and even boasted that you have retired him from politics but with the outcome of the election, who has truly retired who? As an acclaimed born again, you failed to understand that there is a time for everything under the sun. In the early days of your administration, you vilified the former governor, Sen. Suswam, probed him and issued a white paper to indict him. You made him look like a common looter, whose loot was the only reason for your non-performance. Recently, you fought another prominent Tiv son, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, he has been removed from office as the national chairman of the party. It is the opinion of many that it was your orchestration.
What confounded many Benue people was when you did not spare the Aper Aku of blessed memory. In some of your lame attempts to justify your notorious non-payment of pensions and Salaries, you gleefully boasted that even Aku owed salaries for several months but is celebrated today as an epitome of good governance and responsible leadership. But Aku has several legacies projects to his credit. This attack was one, too many. It was indication that you have fought all former governors, both living and dead.
You have refused to build bridges and establish connection in Abuja, especially with Politicians of Northern extraction. You will be leaving office without national connection and without people you have empowered to stand for you. Recall, Your Excellency, that at the installation of the Ochi ‘Idoma, a first class tradition ruler under your watch, no prominent Nigerian, Emir, Oba, Igwe or chief was in attendance. Similarly, your speaker and Guber candidate wedded and no such presence of prominent Nigerians, not even fellow speakers of state houses of assembly attended. These were not too good signs and we pointed it to you
Very disturbing is the number of people in IDP camps. You will be leaving more people in IDP camps than any administration before you. There have been no concerted efforts from you to rehabilitate, resettle and return these people to their ancestral land. It is worrying that a government that boasts of finding a solution to the attacks on the state will have such a record. Before your reelection in 2019, you had the courtesy to visit scenes of attacks, immediately after that elections, you have not visited any, rather you find something to blame. The latest was your interview on Arise Television where you blamed your non-performance on herders’ attacks and the renewed onslaught on some communities to the victory of the APC in the state. What a governor! We have watched States like Borno, and Kaduna, etc. who suffer consistent and devastating terrorists’ attacks commission plenty legacy projects.
The Benue people you claim to be defending rejected your senatorial bid and your party entirely. This is a clear indication that the Benue people did not see you in such borrowed robes and the moment an opportunity cropped up, they rejected you. The celebration that has greeted the victory of the APC in the state is a clear testimony. Benue people feel they have been set free from king Pharaoh and Egypt.
“We had consistently cautioned, expecting that you will heed to our counsel and avoid this embarrassing exit from power. But No, you became deaf to wise counsel. There are bitter lessons you will learn while out of office.”
At a point Your Excellency, you started behaving as if you had fought a territorial expansion war and captured the people Benue. You claimed, you retired, Sen Akume, you had Sen. Suswam in your pocket, there was no one to challenge you. The maxim, ‘power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely’ enveloped you, as such, your moral sense diminished. To crown it all, you got the title of ” Nyamkyume I Tiv“, what a feat! No governor before you was ever conferred with such title, not even Aper Aku. At a point you boasted publicly that you were contesting the senatorial seat of zone B, against nobody, in fact you stated that the seat was in your pocket. When it was time to bring it out, it was nowhere to be found. A contest that appeared like the biblical story of David and Goliath.
Your administration commenced in 2015 with blame games and will end with same. It is painful that these eight years have gone down the drain without any symbolic achievement.
As a socio-cultural organization, we are concerned with the unity and socio-political evolution of the Tiv Nation and Benue at large. We are even more worried now that divisive tones have become resounding in the country.
We had consistently cautioned, expecting that you will heed to our counsel and avoid this embarrassing exit from power. But No, you became deaf to wise counsel. There are bitter lessons you will learn while out of office.
This is wishing Your Excellency a happy birthday celebration.
Hon Mike Msuaan
President,
Tiv Youth Council Worldwide
