“History is written by the survivors (victors).” – Winston Churchill When losers write history it can only breed chaos in the years ahead. This is the thinking behind this rejoinder to the above titled article by Okpe Odaudu as published in THISDAY Newspaper of August 19, 2014.
Granted that no account of history can ever be objective and unbiased in the sense we desire, it is always tainted with the bias and personality of the writer, right down to the choice of words and narrative technique, Odaudu however took this concept too far. He thus evokes a sense of a loser recounting history thus assailing the senses of the reader with endless gripping over the losses suffered by his camp and apparently his sponsors or benefactors.
To dismiss governor Gabriel Suswam’s seven years at the helms of affairs of Benue state as a disservice to the people is at best self serving and a deeper interrogation of this position is symptomatic of the tantrums of a pre-teen who is losing out in a game with defined rules. To arrive at such weighty verdict one would expect that there is some sort of referendum (which sadly has no place in existing laws of the land) or opinion poll of Benue people, which can be easily conducted by indigenous firms in the country. Instead, the writer embarked on a voyage to chronicle his opinion peppered with anecdotal references that are easily proven as worthless.
The opening sentence in the article is the very fact that dismissed all other elements of fiction that were strung together in the intense effort to besmirch a gentleman governor. The admission that “Hon. Gabriel Torwua Suswam was elected governor of Benue State in 2007” the author of the feature boxed himself into a corner and struggled for the remainder of the write up to disprove the very same concept he opened his write up with.
For example, the reference to the bribe for budget scam in the National Assembly when Suswam was the chairman of House Committee on appropriation is a sad reminder that in Nigeria we still mistake accusation for conviction. The then President Obasanjo made pronouncement on national television and other fora but when has the pronouncement of the executive arm become a conviction as obtainable in a law court? We are all witnesses to the fact that some of the people the same Obasanjo made strong pronouncements about at the height of his regime are today in the same camp with him. This underlies the dynamics that drove those pronouncements at those times. Okay. Suswam stopped being the chair of the House Committee on Appropriation, but isn’t that the most common demand these days that a person occupying an office should step aside while pending allegations are investigated. If Suswam were complicit as being insinuated by the writer then he wouldn’t have flown the PDP flag as security reports would have indicted him regardless of whatever Obasanjo wanted to call him while handing out flags in Lafia.
Also, for other aspirants to have added their votes to Suswam’s votes after a primary that produced no clear winner apparently meant that these aspirants are honourable men who recognise capacity and pitched their tent on desirable grounds. How this became a crime was not explained in the write up. And by the way, Professor Daniel Saror is an elder statesman, even at national level so his name should not be brought into any attempt to do a hit job. By acknowledging that “The Tiv elders and stakeholders persuaded Saror to withdraw the petition against Suswam. He did.” It is a confirmation that the state is not bereft of people who have the state’s interest at heart and would support a leader that has demonstrated commitment to serve.
This commitment to serve the common good was amply demonstrated in the inaugural speech which Odaudu was generous enough to copiously quote for the benefit of the reader. The extent to which Suswam has kept faith with the promises in this speech is something for the people of Benue state to judge. In making any assessment however, one must be wary not to be drawn into the trap of assessing a governor’s performance on the paces of how much urban renewal takes place in the capital city. Beyond renovating a state capital what happens in towns, villages and non urban communities of a state? What has been the impact of the Suswam’s administration on agriculture, security, education and healthcare? Benue people have the answer to this and any none Benue person seeking to find answers to these questions must be wary of seeking answers from losers.
Attempts to insult the entire country as a banana republic by claiming that Suswam used PDP machinery and compromised the judiciary to stay on in power supposedly because the people voted him out amounted to taking infamy to a new low. It is up to the PDP as a party and the judiciary to decide what legal actions they want to take after being so maligned.
As for water works, funds for local governments, partying abroad, penthouse at Dunnes, mistresses, companies owned by the governor’s wife or contracts executed by her , one would ordinarily think that these allegations are fantastic opportunities to move from there realm of rumours to hard facts by tendering concrete evidences. Some of thes fall within federal jurisdiction and the Freedom of Information Act can be invoked to acquire the documents that would prove – or disprove the points raised.
Suswam’s role in the handling of security issues, Tiv/Fulani crisis and the flood relief fund are issues that are well documented in media reportage. It is however worth repeating that he has received recognition severally for the desirable way he dealt with these matters.
The whimpering of a loser’s narrative climaxed at the close of the article as the writer played the hand he had to his chest all along. The true essence of the article was to shoot down a Suswam bid for the Benue North-East Senatorial seat with matching accusations that the governor is distracted and spending state resources to pursue this ambition. Sadly again, these claims were made without compelling facts that will justify analytic responses. Such responses would at this point be wasted if directed at a person who erroneously thinks that being elected a Senator guarantees immunity from prosecution. This again is possibly the hysterics from the mouthpiece of a group that sees no fighting chance in dislodging a formidable politician in the contest for the Benue North-East Senatorial seat.
By all means, President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP must not be deceived about the true state of affairs in Benue state. They must ask what makes the ruling party’s tickets the most sought after in the run up to the 2015 general elections. If they must seek information then it should not be according to history as recorded by a ragtag gang of the vanquished. Those seeking to retain political foothold in Benue should read the history as recorded by the victorious.
Benue state is today a beneficiary of the visionary leadership of Gabriel Suswam and the people have never had it so good. May history be just unto him now that we live in an era when losers insist on re-writing history.
Written by Comrade Philip Agbese, a public affairs commentator.
