by Alkasim Abdulkadir

This decision to advice the governor to return the United States for further medical examination and treatment should be supported by all men and women of goodwill and not be judged on the altar of primordial political and ethno-religious sentiments.

These are certainly not happy times for Mrs. Hauwa Danbaba Suntai the first lady of Taraba State and the political associates of Pharmacist Danbaba Suntai, for the first lady -she finds herself ensnared in a vortex of high political drama that has become a test case not only for Taraba State but for Nigeria as a whole.

However, there is a certain sense of déjà vu, that gives the onlooker the feeling that this has happened before albeit with a greater subterfuge and far reaching consequences, one that left 160 Million people without a president; every Nigerian is conversant with the complex labyrinth that marks the Yar’Adua script, in Taraba State we are faced with the familiar, the absurd personification of power and above all our appalling clingy hold to the transient reins of power. This do or die meandering along the corridors of power since the dawn of democratic rule in Nigeria remains the bane of our democratic experience.

Not even the consequences of the end game and swift passage into political oblivion of Late President Yar’Adua’s inner circle nor the vigorous street protests that flooded Abuja and Lagos before the National Assembly could invoke the doctrine of necessity has dissuaded the forces behind Governor Danbaba Suntai’s insistence on remaining in charge.

In a move purely taken out of the Yar’Adua manuscript were the then
Secretary to the Government of Federation Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe was
sacked from office on allegations of being part of a plot to undermine a successor for President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. So also Suntai approved the appointments of Mr. Gebon Timothy Kataes and Mallam Aminu Gika as the Secretary to the State Government and new Chief of Staff respectively. The commissioners were also deposed, however, in a swift move overturning the apple cart of the charade the sacked commissioners went ahead to hold an Executive Council Meeting with the acting governor.

However, in discharging their mandate 16 out of the 24 lawmakers of the Taraba State House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Tsokwa, decided to stay on the course of history, for being on the side of equity and justice. The barring of the governor from resuming his duties as the chief executive of the state in his present frame of mind is not only the right thing to do, but is also in the personal well being of Suntai, this has become imperative for a certain acute alertness is required to govern a state.

This decision to advice the governor to return the United States for
further medical examination and treatment should be supported by all men and women of goodwill and not be judged on the altar of primordial political and ethno-religious sentiments.

The constitutional mandate of the deputy governor Alhaji Garba Umar to act as governor was also reemphasized by the Taraba State House of Assembly until the governor is declared fit to continue in office as the governor.

However in Tsokwa’s words below are true words that must be internalized by Nigerian politicians and those with plans of participating in the art of governance. “We want our dear governor to resist the temptation of those who want to use him to achieve their selfish interest and come out and address the people of dear state through their elected representatives.

“If on the other hand the governor is not fit to address the people, then it means that the governor is not fit to run the affairs of the state and the house will have no hesitation in granting him leave to go back for further treatment.

“In making this request, we have no other motive than love of our dear state as well as the well-being of our dear governor and the happiness of family.

Therein lies a big lesson for the rest of us, it is time we begin to put the country first before our primal self interests, as therein lies the anchor to stop this nation from going further adrift from the rudderless course we find ourselves.

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