by Micah Stephen
I like the Idoma man very much. Love him or loathe him, he is one of the most brilliant and charismatic politicians Nigeria has got in the 21st century. Putting it in proper perspective, you have got to be a genius and an enigma to be voted on four different consecutive occasions and not only that, leading the red chambers for a record eight unbroken years is not a feat for the rudderless, it takes a high level of understanding of the political field and great skills to patrol the field. In recent memories, it is only the talakawa politics avatar himself, Aminu Kano that towers above him from the north; the former’s selflessness remains unequal though. But just like epic heroes, of whom mark is none though, he has his own hubris. As intelligent and brilliant as he is, he has some momentary lapse into sheer idiocy, a pathetic Freudian slip you might call it.
Recently, while receiving a delegation from the Idoma constituency of Benue state, he assured them that he would do everything in his power to ensure that a state is created for HIS people, Apa state, to be precise. He believed that that is what his people deserve. His filthy sermonette came just on the heel of the declaration by the chief executive of the nation, President Goodluck Jonathan to the Abuja indigenes that he would give them a ministerial slot in his next administration if voted in. of course, a thoughtful mind begins to wonder if that is the only thing the President thinks that he can offer that becomes a cardinal feature of his campaign. More infuriating is the regimentation of the mind of the recipients of the damned gospel. How on earth did they accept that garbage? How will a ministerial slot improve the lot of the indigenes of the nation’s capital? How would it improve the welfare of the people? But it seems we have so much lowered our expectation to the level of only wishing and fighting for a ministerial slot. Apocalypse is really at the door. But let us leave Goodluck out of this moral gridlock for now. He has had his own share of misfortune. David Mark is the focus.
My vexation is not just borne out of the ordinary, I do not venture into such protestations for the fun of it. But just like I have always said, there is a problem with the understanding of our political class which I think is skewered to put their predicament mildly. I am a big fan of Mark I must say again. If he had contested for the presidency, I would be compelled by prevailing circumstances to go for him. But he has been having some illicit relationship with the media recently. In the last one year, he has called for the social media to be controlled; he might have had a point if his reasons were not selfish. Now his obsession is the creation of a state for the Idoma people. I do not have anything against the creation of a state IF or WHEN it is needed. But you do not make the creation of state the focal point of your campaign and gain my trust. It is fraud. Not the one in Section 419 of the Criminal Code, but the fraud on the emotional weakness of the indigenes. Adding more states does NOT make the people better. What cut out plan do you have for the people, in terms of new infrastructure to be put in place? Is Benue State so populated, large or not conducive now that the Idoma people would need a new enclave for their habitation? What is even the central driving force for the creation of such state? Simple: tribalism. Yes the same thing we have always complained about. Mark is seeing the creation of an additional state as a reward to his people. It is purely a tribal thing. You want to put on the nation what it is not prepared for, a weight on his treasury. Yes he represents his people, an argument from his side, but if you mould something like a whole state on the threshold of tribalism, no matter beautiful the structure looks, it will crumble. There must be a standing plan by the nation for any eventuality that may arise. In summary, the nation should be prepared for it and not the Idoma people. Governance is a big deal; it is not just to satisfy your tribal urge. Mark and his ilk can be rest assured that they will only succeed in exacerbating the nation’s problem if they push their plans through, if the nation is not ready for it. Tribal urge should not be the only reason for their arousal for the creation of a state.
Until the cadres of governance start going for substance in this country, we will still be where we are. Not until we move beyond religious bigotry, tribal sentimentalism, ethnic fanatism, in forming opinion, in building our social relationships, we are going everywhere but forward. David could have struck down so many goliaths in his odyssey in politics. But the biggest, he has not been able to shoot down, ethnic bigotry. And this is his hubris, the nation’s hubris. I like his doggedness no doubt, but automatic David misses the mark…….. again.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
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