Media group decries marginalisation of Igede nation

The Igede Media Forum, a network of practicing media professionals from the Igede extraction, has decried the gradual and steady removal of the people of the area from the scheme of Benue politics and administration.
The group which took a holistic view of the recent happenings in the state, especially the defections of some key political actors, including Governor Samuel Ortom and some lawmakers in the House of Assembly, said the leadership changes that followed the incident did not follow the path of fairness or political equation.
The defection, particularly by 10 lawmakers from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prompted leadership change at the House of Assembly.
The media forum, in a statement signed by its chairman, John Okpong and the General Secretary, Lawrence Okwe, said it believes in the freedom of individuals to associate with whichever group, organization and political party of their choice, saying it welcomed the development, “if only that is the best way Benue should go to bring about peace and development which everybody yearns for.” The Forum however noted that the House of Assembly in the constitution of their new leadership failed to adhere to the Federal Character Commission’s position, especially as it relates to the three major ethnic groups existing in the state: Tiv, Idoma and Igede.
The group decried a situation where the only position of deputy majority leader of the House occupied by an Igede person was taken away without compensation.
“We condemn in its entirety this situation where the House of Assembly has constituted its new leadership without a single Igede man among the principal officers as it used to be in the past when at least a slot was given to a representative from Igede land.
“We note that the Igede ethnic group, and in particular, the two of her representatives have consistently remained loyalty to the party since 2015 and so, deserves to be reciprocated in order to show that Igede is duly recognized.
“We view the action with sadness and part of the continued, willful, calculated, and deliberate attempt by some individuals in the state to marginalize, punish and humiliate the Igede people, out of sheer hatred, and subsequently relegate them to the background in the political business of the state, ” the statement lamented.
Giving a clear view of the ongoing marginalisation under the present regime, the group said none of the key positions; Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Judge of the state, SSG, Head of Service, Ministers, Ambassadors, Senator, House Majority Leader, state party chairmen, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip, etc is occupied by any Igede person.
We understand that it is not the inability of Igede to get a person or persons to occupy any of those offices, but it was and has been a ground plan by some highly placed Benue citizens, particularly in Zone C of the state to deny Igede people a chance to lend their voices to the governance of the state.
They group also pointed to deliberate sidelining of Igede land from benefitting from development projects in the state and asked Governor Ortom to give attention to the ongoing Oju-Awajir and the Aliade-Obarike Ito road projects abandoned by the state for the past three years.