The speculation in the past few weeks borders on who is who in the proposed cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as ministers. In his acceptance speech following his victory as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and his inaugural speech of May 29, 2023, President Tinubu said that the guiding principle of his administration would be equality, justice and fair play to all Nigerians.
He demonstrated this when he appointed service chiefs, representing all the geopolitical zones of the country.
In Benue state, there are two major ethnic groups – Tiv and Idoma. In the over two decades of Nigeria’s return to civil rule, there’s only one federal constituency – Apa/Agatu – that has been short-changed in federal appointments; no man or woman has ever been appointed even during the military regime as military governor, or minister. This is not because there are no qualified people to occupy these positions. Many political observers are of the opinion that it is a question of clear injustice against the people. The question that arises is whether the people have not articulated their plight loud and clear enough to the authorities that have kept them in political limbo all these years.
In the last four years of the President Muhammadu Buhari government Senator George Akume was deservedly appointed as minister. This time around in the interest of equity and justice, as espoused by President Tinubu, Idoma nation deserves a ministerial appointment. Indeed, since all other federal constituencies within Idoma land have either enjoyed executive positions in the recent past as deputy governors and ministers, the position of a minister in this Tinubu government should be macro-zoned to the Apa/Agatu federal constituency to give the people a sense of belonging because they have been left in the cold for too long.
On their part, the people of this constituency should not sit down and expect that manna will fall from Heaven for them. One may wonder as Cassius told his fellow country man Brutus in Shakespeare play that the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings, and whether that statement could also apply to the people in Agatu federal constituency of Benue state. Have they done enough to put their case to the front-runners that justifies the neglect in which they find themselves all these years? Let it be said that in Nigeria very few people are born with silver spoons; most Nigerians are born with shovels in their hands. Those who are fortunate enough to find themselves in positions of authority should be sensitive that there are people who also deserve the good things of life.
Many political watchers are of the opinion that one of the problems confronting the people of this constituency is leadership. Fortunately, a man like Ambassador Mohammed Abdulahi Mabdul, who has spent many years in the Villa until recently Nigerian ambassador to Algeria and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is being seen as one who would fill the leadership vacuum that has eluded the people for several decades. Mabdul hails from Aila in Agatu local government area.
In the run-up to the governorship election in Benue state that brought Governor Hyacinth Alia to power, Mabdul was one of those rumoured as a candidate for deputy governor. But when that failed, he vigorously campaigned for APC and remains a committed party man. He is speculated to be a ministerial nominee from Idoma land. Mabdul meets all the criteria envisioned by President Tinubu for that position. As a man who rose through a dint of hardwork to the position of a director In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director of protocol to a former vice president for several years, Mabdul is the type of technocrat President Tinubu is talking about.
Ambassador Mabdul is a serious minded person and stands shoulder high above some of those being speculated to be in Tinubu’s incoming cabinet. Those who seek leadership should understand it requires patience, perseverance, hard work, and tolerance. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Dr. Senator George Akume, did not attain his present status overnight. Even as governor of Benue state in 1999, Akume sacrificed his time and energy for the people, thus endearing himself to Nigerians.
After Tinubu, the next president could come from the North-central, possibly, Benue state from among the Tiv, as the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria after the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The Tiv should therefore go for a bigger file and not continue to struggle for unimaginable political positions with their Idoma counterparts because they would ultimately need their support on larger issues of the future like the presidency. This is why they should concede the position of the minister to Idoma this time around while Idoma should concede the ministerial slot to the Apa/Agatu axis that has never smelled any such position in the past 24 years since the return to democracy.
In pushing this position, it goes without saying that qualified people abound in all parts of the country and therefore not restricted to any particular ethnic group, political pressure group, influence peddlers and some other unwholesome connections. Those who know they are incapable of carrying out the enormous tasks to turn the country around should be gracious enough to reject the appointment even when offered to them. They could be compensated with the awards of contract and other packages from the government and allow the other sections of the political groups who have not had the privilege to have a sense of belonging as their complaints are becoming louder and louder.
Adams writes from Abuja.
