The same scenario is playing out again with some grave implications. Benue State still could not get an early nomination. Suswam who folded his arms and watched in 2007, has changed tactics. This time around, he has sprung a Tiv, Rep Terngu Tsegba (Gboko/Tarka), and the lawmaker could not get through the grinding mill. Tsegba has tiptoed on the corridors of power since 1999, but his popularity hardly transcends his immediate Tiv speaking Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency. He was later said to have withdrawn because of the high stake political horse-trading beyond his reach. He prefers to face his senatorial bid for Benue North-West in 2011.
Lobbying for the appointment was intense, and as if Suswam was shy, he listened to all, ending up with a list too long for him to manage. It was a Tiv list. It had, apart from Tsegba, the Commissioner for Works, Dr. Eugene Aliegba, Second Republic Politician, Professor Mvendaga Jibo, and a former governorship aspirant in 2007, Bill Anakaa. This list was not going to receive the blessing of the Idomas; it was a list which deepens the alleged marginalization by the Tivs against their neighboruing Idomas. So, from Senate President Mark, to the last Idomaman, they kicked it, forcing Suswam to return to the drawing board. The process of consultation and remaking of the list dragged on, delaying the nomination. The delay fueled rumours, speculations and allegations as it introduced under-cutting within the ranks of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), straining some hitherto robust relationships. Suspicion was high among the people, and was sustained by supporters of Mark and Suswam, respectively, on one hand, and tribal apologists on the other.
A ministerial nominee from Benue needs to be popular in the Tiv speaking areas as the Idoma speaking areas. Second Republic politicians including the late Middle-Belt political sage, J.S.Tarka, and his contemporaries in Isaac Shaahu and Wantaregh Paul Unongo, as well as the later day political leaders of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Barnabas Gemade all cut this picture with their tentacles spread across the state. The late Steven Akiga and Mrs. Grace Ogwuche who replaced the former after he died, were handpicked in Abuja, but they had the general acceptance running between the Tivs and Idomas. Even the military administration of President Ibrahim Babangida was considerate with its ministerial appointment of David Mark, then a colonel in the Army.
Aondoakaa and Agada were nominated based on ethnic politics, but the balance that was achieved from the configuration gave them the acceptance across ethnic borders. The whole state went agog, with members of the two ethnic groups yelling and falling over each other top celebrate the two ministerial slots, the first time such a thing was happening to the state. A PDP chieftain in the state, Dr. Godwin Adzuana Dabo’ simply described Yar’adua’s gesture as an act that will make the state “A 100 per cent Yar’adua state,” saying “I am happy the president listened to my appeals and those of other well meaning Benue personalities that the state needs two slots to reflect its peculiar nature of politics. This is the first time we have a fair and listening president.”
All the while, Suswam had his close associate – Sam Ode, a Special Adviser to the governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, for the job. Ode, known around the grassroots of Benue as a tough talking reformist who has blocked the leaks through which godfathers drained council funds into private pockets, hails from Mark’s home town – Otukpo, headquarters of Idomaland, and has a Tiv mother from the family of the late J.S. Tarka in the Tiv speaking area. Akume hails from the same area as Ode’s mother. Ode is believed to receive the blessings of both ethnic groups.
Ode hails from Idiku, Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State. He was born in Gboko in 1968 to the family of one of Benue’s earliest business moguls and Civil War veteran, Col. Christopher Ode. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Abuja (2008), Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from the University of Jos (1993), and Diploma in Law from Benue Polytechnic, Ugbokolo (1987).
He ventured into politics with the return of democracy in 1999 from where he was elected as the pioneer Secretary of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in Benue State. He joined the PDP through his friendship with Suswam, who was then a federal lawmaker.
Ode was appointed a Special Assistant to the Governor Akume in 2005 where he served until he was appointed Caretaker Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, and subsequently. It was from his position as Suswam’s SA he was nominated a minister.
State PDP chairman, Agbo Emmanuel hailed the nomination. He had earlier expressed optimism that the delay, notwithstanding, Benue will have its nomination without qualms – one that will satisfy all interests. He had said “names keep coming and going”, but added that all that has been wrapped now.
Former Lagos State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav also hailed the nomination of Ode. Tsav, a Tiv said an Idomaman was better a minister in this dispensation as he silenced Tiv tribal promoters. “It should not be a case of winner takes all. Idomas are also part and parcel of Benue State and are entitled to federal appointments. Besides, they also voted for Governor Suswam. It is fair and just to concede the ministerial slot to the Idomas. I see nothing wrong with this arrangement. Anything to the contrary will amount to greed, selfishness and insensitivity to the plight of the Idomas who also pay tax to Benue State and contribute to its development.
“What is more, we have marital ties with them. If we treat our brothers and sisters – the Idomas with equity and justice, they will not clamour for Apa State. It is a sin against God to discriminate,” Tsav added.
Ode’s nomination and confirmation is believed to have satisfied Mark, the political leader of the Idomas, and it is believed that the under-cutting which is the bane of Idoma politics will not resurface. “What Sam Ode and Benue State need from the Idomas is their blessing for him to represent the state well at the federal level. Ode is not going to remain there; no, it is not monarchy. Today is his turn; tomorrow will be the turn of another Idomaman. That is how it was before the emergence of Ode and that is how it has to continue. The Idomas are a pivot in the wheels of development of Benue State, and unity is key in maintaining that position”, Tsav advised.
