Former
Governor of Benue state and now, the Senator representing Benue North-West
Senatorial District, George Akume and, the incumbent Benue
state Governor, Samuel Ortom are disgracefully tearing at each other.
In the
face of the sufferings of Benue people –
economic, physical, emotional – Akume and Ortom are dancing naked in the
market square. They are telling the people why both of them should be
spat on the face. The irony: Both see themselves as leaders of their people.
*Comfort Obi |
My
sincere advice to them: Shut-up and hide your faces in shame! While Benue is
burning, you are playing Rome ’s
Nero.
I
was their fan.A few years back, I took to Akume when a friend of mine, and former Managing Director of the defunct Nigeria Airways, the polished and urbane Chief Agom, a Benue indigene, was killed while in the same car with then Governor Akume. They were on their way from Makurdi to
For Governor
Ortom, I loved his grass to grace story. He was not ashamed of his background
and never sexed-up his less than tidy beginning. He was a motor park tout (Agbero),
a bus conductor and, a bus driver. He also tells you he got a
couple of his educational qualifications by Correspondence. Not
many Nigerian big men and women remember where they came from once they become Very
Very Important Personalities (VVIP). For that, I admired Ortom no end
until he mis-spoke, in a very degrading manner, during an interview he granted
in 2015 after he decamped from the then ruling PDP to the APC.
*Gov Samuel Ortom and Sen Goerge Akume |
Denied of
the PDP governorship ticket, Akume, who was the APC leader in Benue
then, offered him the APC ticket if he decamped. He did, and Akume kept
his words, thus becoming Ortom’s political godfather. Oh, how Nigeria
politicians like to be called godfathers!
There was
nothing wrong in Ortom finding succor in the arms of the APC then. But, there
was everything wrong in his choice words in the interview he granted. He
told the Reporter that he was conversant with the PDP rigging machine, and knew
how it won its elections and would, therefore, check-mate the party.
Meaning: Ortom acknowledged that he was a party to electoral fraud. In more
civilized countries, that statement would have marked his end politically,
or worse, seen him behind bars. I was shocked he could say something like that
just to run down a party which, by the grace of God, made him who he is
today.
Using the PDP platform, Ortom became a Local Government
Chairman, the party’s National Auditor, and later, a Federal Minister. I
found it odd that he could forget all that so easily. But you know, most
Nigerian politicians are shameless and have no ideology. They hide their shamelessness
by telling you “In politics, there are no
permanent enemies, only permanent interests.” Please, interpret that interest to mean their selfish interest
in capital letters. (For the records, Akume was also a governor under the PDP
for eight years!) If anybody had told Ortom then that in 2018, he would go back
to his vomit, as have a good number of his compatriots, he would have said an
emphatic “God forbid.” So, now, he is back to the PDP.
After
that interview, I lost interest in Ortom. But I took notice of him again when
Herdsmen began to deal with Benue state. I
identified with his pain and helplessness and confusion and tears. He spoke up
courageously against the Federal Government’s seeming I don’t-care-attitude
towards the massacre of his people – and, that, without minding that he is a
member of the ruling party, the APC. He blamed the massacre on the Federal
Government. And, at a point, accused the FG, almost, of conniving with the
Herdsmen who were sending his subjects to early graves. He also refused to
spare the leadership of the Military and the Police. And at a point, pointedly
accused their leadership of planning with Herdsmen to kill him.
Not that
he had a choice, but I was relieved, for him, when he quit the APC.
He had fallen out with Akume, his godfather, who according to Ortom, was
already shopping for his replacement, over which he, Ortom, declared himself partyless. But
most important, Ortom, as a former motor park tout is smart. He knows that
remaining in APC would amount to a political suicide. He knows that Benue people, unless a miracle happens, may never vote
APC in 2019 because of the Herdsmen issue. So, smartly, he jumped ship and went back to
his vomit.
But since
then, Akume and Ortom have been insulting us with their pronouncements. In
their bid to destroy each other, they have given us no breathing space. And in
doing so, they have told us in no uncertain terms what a deceit they both are.
And what co-conspirators they are in covering up for each other to the
shame of Benue people.
For me,
this came to a head on Sunday, September 9, when Akume alleged that his godson,
Ortom, the governor of Benue state, has been
parading a fake PhD certificate. Speaking in Makurdi at an APC caucus meeting,
as published in the newspapers
of Tuesday, September 11, Akume said: “Ortom said he has a PhD from the Commonwealth
University of Berlin, but there is nothing like Commonwealth University.” Then
he flaunted his own qualifications. “At least, I am a graduate of the University of Ibadan
where I bagged my first and second degrees. I am also a fellow of the institute of Management
and I have honourary PhD from the University
of Jos .”
Good.
But I
need to find out if Akume prefixes his name with Dr. You know, in Nigeria, when one
is given an Honourary Doctorate from a University, often bought, or given in
anticipation of money and other forms of favours to the university, one begins
to prefix one’s name with “Dr”! Even illiterates do that –
leaving those who actually read up to PhD level at a loss whether to prefix
their names with “Dr” or write PhD after
their names. But I digress.
So, what
did Ortom do when Akume accused him of parading a fake PhD?
Surprise,
surprise. Instead of forcefully defending his “PhD,” thus protecting his integrity,
he reciprocated in kind. He called Akume a Drunk.
Responding
through his Adviser on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua, Ortom said: “Akume is not
an accreditation authority, and he cannot speak on that. In any case, that has
no basis because PhD is not a pre-requisite for governorship. So, it is a
diversionary tactic.” Then, he gave Akume the upper-cut:
“Everybody knows that he is a drunk. What he said stems out of his drunkenness.
He is not someone to be taken seriously.”
True?
Just look
at these guys, our leaders. So, both knew each other’s very dark
sides and covered up till now. One, the governor, is allegedly parading a fake
certificate, and the other, the Senator, is an alleged drunk. And these are
those moulding the character of our youths, our future leaders. They are their
role-models. They are those calling the shots in Benue State .
The
questions are: When did Akume know that Ortom is parading a fake PhD certificate?
And why did he not speak up until now? It is easy, of course, to dismiss it as bad
belle, which really it is, but does Ortom have a PhD or not?
If not, why is he flaunting it? What value does it add to him? He requires only
a School Certificate to be a governor. His Media Adviser missed the point when
he said “PhD is not a pre-requisite” to be governor. Correct. But, if his
Principal does not have it, why add it? If he does not require it to be
governor, why parade it? It is dishonest. And a mark of inferiority complex.
Since his
media adviser has danced around the allegation, instead of giving
us a direct answer, I submit that we are entitled to the truth. Governor
Ortom should clear the air. And there is a consolation here for Ortom: If his
PhD is not fake, he has a good reason to sue Akume for everything he has got.
If, however, it is fake, he should drop the PhD quickly and apologise to
his people and the academic community.
For the
records, if Akume’s allegation is true, Ortom is not the first, nor would he be
the last to flaunt fake certificates. We have a couple of high
profile politicians in this country, parading fake certificates – academic and
none academic –still calling the shots. And even though the truth is public,
it is business as usual. But we can start somewhere.
Not less
serious is Ortom’s allegation that Akume is a drunk. It is
important because here is a man who was a state governor for eight years
and, if whispers from the National Assembly is anything to go by, he had aspired,
and is still aspiring to be the Senate President. Given this allegation,
it will be interesting to know, during his years as a governor,
which decisions he took while allegedly drunk and, those he took while sober.
These are the two leaders – an alleged drunk and, an alleged fake PhD holder –
bequeathed on Benue people by an untidy
electoral process which is incapable of either confirming people’s
certificates or investigating their life style.
If these
two men were not now quarrelling over spoils of office, nobody would have
seen their under-belly. It says something about our political leaders. We know
them only when they fall out with each other, particularly, when a godson falls
out with a godfather. It is a big problem.
Most
times, political godfathers never give their political sons a breathing space.
Anyone they install, they find faults with sooner than later. And I have two
good examples here – former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Governor of
Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Since
Obasanjo left office, none of his successors, to him, has been any good.
Incidentally, he helped install them. Late President Umaru Shehu Yar’Adua,
President Goodluck Jonathan. And now, President Muhammadu Buhari. For Tinubu,
according to well reported stories, he had problems with his hand-picked
successor, Babatunde Fashola and now, he is having problems with another of his
hand-picked governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
Something
must be wrong somewhere. Is it a question of both men being control freaks or,
a question of their political sons deliberately denying them of the respect,
rights and privileges they ought to accord them as former leaders and their
acclaimed political godfathers? We need a research to know the answer and, to
ultimately solve the problem. In not a few states, the problems between
political godfathers and their political sons have stalled developments and,
endangered lives. What is wrong with our leaders?
But back
to Akume and Ortom. Both owe Benue state
explanations and apologies for their utterances and bad behaviour.
The people cannot have an alleged drunk and an alleged fake certificate holder
as their leaders and not be ashamed.
I am, on
their behalf.
*Obi is the publisher of The Source magazine
(Email: comfortobisource@gmail.com;
comfort@thesourceng.com
No comments:
Post a Comment