CHIEF GEMADE LAN KE IDYU GA KUA’A; THE MAN HAS NOT SPOKEN IN THE SENATE AT ALL When the popular composer of political songs in Benue state Mr.Gabon Akuhe alias the IKPANKOR I party u P.D.P and his group released a song in pursuit of Bob A.Tyough campaign to solicit support in his honour ,the song became a national anthem for both the ruling party and opposition. Following the reign of this song, many argument came to the mind of Benue Electorates who were asking series of questions in regards to whom the composers were referring to .Also, not many thought that this slogan will be attributed to the Non-Iyange u Tiv who is respected throughout the nation for the status he has attended in Nigeria’s political history having held several positions in this country. The song was also sending a warning signal to those who might be seeking the offices that have been vested with the responsibility of discussing how the wealth and national cake of this nation will be shared. Luckily enough, Chief Gemade had listened to this song before the people of Zone A entrusted their mandate to him. In spite of this, the distinguished Senator has allowed himself to be caught by the slogan of not speaking at all(or lan ga kua’a). Looking at this, one may wonder how someone like Chief Gemade who was the former chairman of the Ruling party, the people’s Democratic Party and the congress for national consensus be classified under this category of persons that are ineffective and cannot deliberate on issues that affect their immediate constituencies. It is surprising that in a country where everybody concentrates on the agitation and expectations of the needs of his people , our leaders whom we have sent to the national assembly are turning to nationalist without caring to know if the people that sent them there are cheated or not. I have known Chief Gemade and became his secret admirer when he chose to contest against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo after the incumbent minority leader of the senate Dr. George Akume and Dr.Iorchia Ayu forced him out of the Peoples Democratic Party (P.D.P.) national chairman’s office. Since then, I have been following his political journey and that has made me to vote and convince several people to vote for him. Yes, he has been involved in several deliberations of the senate and even holds a chairmanship of the committee and deputy chairman of several other committees. Yes, he sponsored the motion for the decongestion of the route linking to the federal capital territory Abuja. It is apparently clear that one of the reasons why I supported Chief Gemade was because I have seen him as a person who will have influence by virtue of his status in the Nigerian political system and will bring projects and present our real plights on the table of the senate for meaningful deliberations. What have we seen concerning the Non-yange u Tiv? Of course, he has been speaking and even sponsored bills and motions and even seconded the re-naming of the Federal Road Safety Commission to the Federal Highway Commission. However, Chief Gemade has not spoken on any of the matters that affects his people and has not drawn the attention of the senate to the yearnings and aspirations of the Benue North-east senatorial district. Gemade is not the only one that has been affected by this slogan but also Senator George Akume who in spite of being the former Governor of the state and two times senator of the federal republic, they have not tabled the marginalization and injustice meted against the Tiv people in sharing of federal appointments and employment into the civil service. How can two senators of their caliber just be watching the Benue’s share to be grabbed by a particular tribe in zone C, year in, year out and our senators will not complain? Or are they the ones who have been selling our slots to our Idoma brothers? How can the Tiv people be treated in this manner? In the words of Patrick Obahigbon,it is regrettably lugubrious that our senators are only watching this continuous injustice without caring to address it. The Tiv people of Nasarawa, Taraba, and Cross-river state have been suffering without any representation. Even the undisputable fact that we are the food basket of the nation has since gone into oblivion as our farmers have not been encouraged in any way by the distribution of fertilizer and other incentives and the little effort they make to gather produce from their farm work has not been encouraged; their farm produce have no value, yet, we claim that we have senators. Why are our lawmakers not complaining about this injustice? We have often seen our Idoma Brothers complaining on the pages of news papers and even to the extent that their mothers were involved in a recent peaceful demonstration which was centered on marginalization for failure to allow an Idoma man become Governor which to me was eye service regarding the gross injustice going on against the Tiv people. It has become a habit and even if the Idomas are made Governor of the state, they will still be complaining that the Tiv lawmakers are not supporting their son. I am not against the Idomas producing a governor because I believe on the principle of equality but are they coming to equity with clean hands considering all these? There is a latin maxin that says he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. The Tiv people have suffered a lot; they have paid the price for the unity of this country. They died in the civil war just to keep this country together and now that the Army, Navy and Air force, Police,customs have become something to earn a living with, they are not considered and are always ignored. Just like I have said earlier, it is surprising that a person of Gemade’s caliber has not spoken at the senate concerning this! I s Chief Gemade not aware of what is going on? Is there no way that this injustice will stop? Are our senators and leaders not aware that our youths are been relegated to third class citizens? Are people shocked that I am blaming the Zone A senator for our problem? Of course, he is not the only man to be blamed for this but others like Senator George Akume and other Tiv house of representative members. It is so annoying that in a year, if there is any recruitment in the military or employment into the federal civil service, you cannot count up to 10 houses in Tiv land that have benefited from that exercise. It is laughable that the recent intake of Nigerian Defence Academy course 66 regular intake, out of the 14 names from Benue state that were shortlisted, 12 of them are Idomas while only 2 are Tiv and out of the 11 selected to resume on the 26th of this month, only one of them is Tiv; while out of the remaining three placed on reserve, only one of them is Tiv and non of our senators or house of representatives members complained. Worse still, among the 11 selected, two of them; a boy and a girl, are the children of one man. This has been happening in every sector and nothing is being done about it whilst our Tiv leaders like Suswam, Gemade and others are always wining and dining with Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. I am, with due respect, tempted at this juncture to ask what benefit has their closeness to Mr. President been to the Tiv? Have these so-called leaders forgotten that it is the people that made them to be important t so as even to be regarded by Mr. President? Anyway, I write this piece as a way of showing my great displeasure over the maltreatment and marginalization of the entire Tiv people. It is also to reawaken the people’s consciousness so that they will be acquainted with the tricks and antics of our leaders who only come to seek for our votes at time like this. Listen now, whenever they come, welcome them and when they give you little money, collect it because it is your money and always demand for accountability from them. Finally, this is an appeal and a wake-up call to all well meaning people of Zone A, particularly the people of Kwande, that it is our turn to send true representatives to the hallowed chambers by our votes and jettison political differences. We need a senator who will speak for us and beat his chest that he is representing his people fairly by bringing to us dividends of democracy and not the one that will be singing the preposterous slogan that the duty of law makers is to make laws. Thank you all.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 16:24:51 +0000
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