INGLORIOUS ODYSSEY OF NORTHERN LEADERSHIP

Posted on September 15, 2023

The North experienced better leadership under Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Tafawa Balewa. The two were interested in the region’s economic development, so they invested in education and industrialization. In fact, Northern Nigeria was the Textile hub of Africa, and Kano was neck-to-neck with Lagos in terms of GDP. Ahmadu Bello was so interested in the education of the girl child that he visited girls’ schools on any of his tours. A typical example was his visit to Queen of the Rosary Secondary School, Gboko, and Queen Amina College in Kaduna, where he encouraged the girls. He also gave scholarships to brilliant boys in the North, irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliation.

Even though he allowed young Northerners to get Islamic education through Amajiranci, he provided industries for them to work, acquire skills, and earn a living while following the tenets of Islam. He is often criticized by the Igbos for his statement on prioritizing the employment of Northerners. This same approach of considering indigenes before other Nigerians was also used by Michael Okpara in the Eastern region and Obafemi Awolowo in the Western region during the First Republic. It is still being used by State governments. The downside of Ahmadu Bello’s leadership style was the use of Gestapo tactics in clipping the wings of other political groups in Northern Nigeria, viz., his fierceness against Mallam Aminu Kano’s led NEPU and J. S. Tarka’s led UMBC.

After Sarduana’s death, the “core” North experienced a vacuum in leadership as younger Northern politicians could not match his developmental strides and vision. This period allowed radical Islam to flow unabated in the region. Salafist and Wahhabi leaders became the de facto leaders the people listened to. Then Buhari joined politics shortly after Sharia was declared in Zamfara by the pedophilia Governor, Ahmed Yerima, in 2001. Buhari rode on this new religious wave and launched himself into the limelight with a fanatical statement, calling on Muslims to vote only for Muslims. This instantly won him fanatical followers, which multiplied in each round of elections he contested until he won in 2015.

As President, Buhari recruited extremists and fanatics like the self-confessed terrorist, Isah Pantami to implement a Fulanization and Islamic Agenda. He ensured that his Fulani Muslim brothers headed all the security formations, and he then opened the boundary for his violent Fulani brothers from West Africa and the Sahel to come in. He won the hearts of “core” Northerners with this religious bigotry and ethnic jingoism. On the flip side, the popularity of liberal Northern Leaders like Atiku Abubakar decreased in the North due to this new extremist orientation. The lofty memories of other liberal Northern leaders like former Presidents Shehu Shagari and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Shehu Yar’Adua, Aminu Kano, Maitama Sule, etc. were thrown into the dustbin of Northern tragedies as the wave of fundamentalism spread like the Arab spring.

Nasir El-Rufai observed the sentiments of the “core” Northerners, and knowing Buhari would leave the stage, he started the plan to take over the Northern leadership. He realized that the only way he would be accepted was to sell a pro-Islam narrative to win over the largely fanatical “core” Northerners. He experimented with it in Kaduna, and he was about to take it to the National level. Unfortunately for El-Rufai and fortunately for Nigerians, he was rejected by the Senate along with the demons leading him. Although the rejection increased his popularity in the “core” North, it also produced the last nail that was needed to complete the coffin of his political future.

What you just read is a tragedy of the “core” North, descending from a liberal developmental mindset to an extremist, self-destructive fundamentalist orientation.

EXISTENCE

Posted on April 11, 2023

EXISTENCE
Existence is complex and intriguing. Coming from a Christian home that is more interested in morals than daily Christian religious rituals; to a secular primary school, then a Christian secondary school where a combination of religiosity and morality is taught. At the university level, there is a freedom of self-expression and learning of different ideologies from socialism to capitalism, to Africanism to Marxism, to Marxist Leninist and so on which quickly activates the cells and glands of activism. Having also been engrossed in Catholicism through pious societies, there is a fight in the being of which ideology should take dominance.

Then the further reading of history books makes it even more complex, from the history of slave trade to colonialism, to neo-colonialism and imperialism all targeted against the black man. Then echoes the question, who is the black man, and what is his purpose on earth? This question sends another round of battle among the inherent and learned ideologies. The questions of spirituality abound: Who is God? Why are the deities in Africa represented with a small “g” in god? Perhaps they are less powerful or we were told during colonialism and slave trade that they were less powerful. How do we even know anything about our spirituality and links to our ancestors when our artifacts were either burnt, vandalized, or looted by white supremacists? Another struggle begins again: go back to our spirituality or stick to the one from Europe and the Middle East. But again, there are pieces of evidence that the childhood God taught by Sunday school teachers is all-powerful.

Still contemplating faith, race, and political ideology, then a unique brand of partisan politics came to the fore: the Nigerian style which you have to call red-blue and blue-red. A contradiction from the initial moral and spiritual teachings. A weak link between God and Human Conscience. A tragic situation that is largely accepted by the religious people who are quick to invoke their deities as the most moral and the most holy. A double contradiction and irony of shame. Then appears a dilemma to subscribe to the unholy rules of Nigerian politics even if you want to change the situation to help the poor masses. At this point, the abnormality leads to more confusion. A people who claim their deity abhor evil and wrongdoings but can’t stand for what is right. It is either they have failed their God, or their God has failed them. Verily, existence is complex for a young Nigerian of good conscience.

The Pariah Image of the Fulanis and the Need for Atonement

Posted on October 27, 2022

One of the most hated ethnic groups in Nigeria today is the Fulanis. This wasn’t the case 8 years ago until Buhari became the president of Nigeria. It has been perceived that as a life patron of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, he elevated the Fulani nation above the Nigerian State by initiating a one-point agenda to relocate Fulanis facing crises in West Africa to Nigeria under the guise of grazing routes, grazing reserves, cattle colony, and RUGA. A former APC National Chairman even reported that some of these Fulanis from Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, etc were brought into the country on the eve of GEJ’s regime to fight in case GEJ refused to step down.

The normal Nigerian Fulanis have a different approach to life. Unlike their brothers from other countries in West Africa that were raised as hustlers in war-torn countries, the Nigerian Fulanis have a different orientation because of our multi-ethnic and multi-religious conglomeration. In the quest by Buhari to give these Fulanis a second home in Nigeria, he reduced the influence of the Arewa forum which was created by Sir Ahmadu Bello to unite ethnic nationalities in the North and he raised Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association to become the sole association of influence in the North.

These battle-ready Fulanis from West Africa have ravaged our communities, perpetrating genocide and Mayhem, killing Hausas in their thousands in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kastina, and Kebbi; killing Nupes and Gbagyis in Niger, and extending their bloodbath in other Middle Belt states like Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nassarawa and Kogi. Even states in Southern Nigeria are not immune to their annihilation.

The Nigerian Fulanis are now feeling the effect of their silence and solidarity with the atrocities committed by their invading West African brothers. They are also living in fear and are psychologically caged like other Nigerians. Their women can no longer sell Fura d Nunu as they used to sell for fear of the unknown, and their cattle are dying as they can no longer move about in some states due to the anti-open grazing law; when they visit states that their brothers have perpetrated mayhem, they find it difficult to sleep with their two eyes closed.

This mutual suspicion and fear will persist until a genuine reconciliation and peace process is initiated whereby these murderous Fulanis are fished out and prosecuted or deported back to their original countries. The plan to hide under the Water Resources Bill to implement RUGA will compound the problem. Uthman Dan Fodio said that conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal. President Buhari should take this statement from one of his ancestors seriously and begin to use his remaining 7 months in office to mend fences and talk to his murderous brothers from West Africa to leave. He should also apologize to Nigerians for the deaths and destruction caused by these his brothers.

The Exodus of Nigerians for Greener Pastures

Posted on October 19, 2022

A lot of Nigerians are on a ‘Japa’ level. Most young people have given up on the country, a country that can not provide basic health care for its citizens, that even the president and his party’s candidate still shamelessly seek medical tourism abroad. The economy has collapsed and insecurity has put the people in constant fear. One can not blame those who are seeking better alternatives considering that we only live once on earth.

Aside from the government’s failure to provide social amenities and other critical needs, we as a people lack basic work ethics to power our economy. We are so dishonest as making quick money has become the order of the day. Almost every handiwork person wants to cheat his client, from mechanics to electricians, to plumbers to carpenters, etc. If you call them for their services and they are not able to cheat you in the purchase of the materials, they will not do a good job even if their labour is paid. So much unprofessionalism.

We also have unskilled graduates with certificates without ‘sabificate’. And most of these graduates don’t want to start small. Everyone wants to sit in a big office watching DSTv and Facebooking and expect a salary at the end of the month. The system is saturated with so many incompetent workers as employment is strictly based on nepotism and who you know.

The CEOs of big companies like Dangote and Adenuga hardly employ Nigerians to manage their companies because of our unprofessionalism. They prefer Asians who are normally trained with the basic work ethics and principles that are lacking in most Nigerians. They know that no business will grow with our inherent anyhowness, half-heartedness, our disdain for excellence, our passion for shortcuts, wastefulness, lack of courtesy, dishonesty, our no be my papa work, and where man the work naim him dey chop mentality, our just manage am mentality, our wish to be as rich as the CEO overnight, our inability to keep confidential information.

We have very poor work ethics such that even successful Nigerians abroad still prefer to employ Asians over Nigerians. However, the system abroad will compel Nigerians ‘Japaring’ to learn how to do the work as they are supposed to do it. The increasing level of Jepa will create a brain drain but it will significantly increase the foreign remittances to Nigeria in the next couple of years. It will also create a subset of Nigerians with basic work ethics that may come back to add value to our polity if serious and competent persons emerge as leaders after the 2023 election and beyond.

Increasing Productivity in Nigeria through an Effective Civil Service

Posted on August 18, 2022

Civil servants are supposed to drive and execute every policy of the government and provide the necessary bureaucracy for achieving the government’s short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. An efficient civil service will improve the economy of a country and the well-being of its citizens. The Nigeria Civil Service is nothing but a conduit pipe draining the resources of the country with minimal impact on the nation. The recruitment process is very shabby such that appointments are based on who you know, and not on merit. No announcement is made for vacancies but letters of employment are given to random people who did not apply. There is so much nepotism in the system and a lot of incompetent people are heading sensitive positions in the civil service. This is why even the government does not believe in the civil service so they use ad-hoc committees to do the work of civil servants.

The result of this faulty recruitment process is a lukewarm and lackadaisical attitude of the workers at their places of work. This is why if you go to most civil service offices, you will see people either gossiping or playing scrabble or cards, or sleeping during the work period. Once you try to wake them up and remind them of work ethics, you will become a bad person. This set of unproductive staffers is usually the first to call for a strike if salaries are not paid.

In Europe, the US, and the UK, if you do an 8hrs shift work, you will know that work is work. If the white man pays you $1, he will remove $2 energy from your body, so you won’t have the time and strength to always sit at bars after work period as some Nigerian workers do. This should give us an insight into why the minimum pay abroad is better than ours. Here, a job done by 3 persons (e.g 3 drivers to one car) is done by one person abroad.

To correct this abnormally in our civil service, we need to run our civil service using the private sector template. Those square pegs in round holes should be given alternative work in the food value chain and on farms to increase food production. There should be a serious capacity-building program for the remaining competent workers and their salaries should be increased such that the minimum wage should not be less than N100,000. This is if we are ready to boost productivity by operating in the 21st-century work ethics and environment.

Reworking the Nigerian Educational Policy

Posted on August 17, 2022

Our people should understand that education is very expensive everywhere in the world. The government may not be able to subsidize tertiary education in the future even if the annual budget for education increases. In the UK, Europe, and the US, only a few percent of the population attend tertiary institutions. This is so because there is a weeding process that prevents people who have no business with the university environment to go in. The recall is so high that only very few people find their way to MSc and PhD. The majority of the population are admitted into technical and ICT academies and they graduate as experts in different fields like chefs, welders, carpenters, programmers, plumbers, etc.

In Nigeria, the quest for a paper certificate is so high that people jump into the system and come out with a certificate without the system passing through them, while the government continues to pay billions of Naira for educational subsidies and get half-baked graduates in return for their investment. Government should prioritize primary and secondary schools and build public schools like the model schools built by Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers State and then give special scholarships to outstanding students from poor homes who wish to get a university degree. Government can then invest in technical and ICT education so that secondary school graduates will have the technical skills needed to drive production.

The money deployed by the FG to subsidize education at the tertiary level can be used to build educational infrastructure, fund research, and improve lecturers’ welfare so that they can be paid like their counterparts in other parts of the world. Since quality education is not cheap, we should de-emphasize paper certificates and prioritize skills to create a pool of ready-made employable citizens that can drive the economy.

HOW TO LEAPFROG BENUE OUT OF POVERTY

Posted on July 1, 2022

Benue as a State is on an oxygen mask considering the loans, decay in infrastructure and the high unemployment rate. The recent statistics from DMO, NBS and BudgIT are not smiling with the State. So how can we navigate ourselves out of this growing level of poverty caused by bad governance?

One may say massive Agriculture considering our arable land. Unfortunately, most of our farmers are peasants who carry out their farming activities to solve fundamental life issues and not for business. We are yet to go into complete mechanized farming and there is no clear link in the value chain from the farmers to the middlemen to the production plants.

Another person may suggest massive industrialisation and rehabilitation of moribund industries like Taraku Mills, Otukpo Burnt Bricks, Sheraton hotel, Fruit Industry Kastina Ala, Mbatiav Cement Gboko, Benco Rooftiles Abinsi, Guma, Coal Powered Plant, Owukpa, Igumale cement etc. This cannot be achieved with a debt-burdened government. The private sector may not jump into salvaging the situation since they are not charity organisations. Also, the enabling environment is not yet created by the government to lure the private sector.

So how can we lift the next generation out of poverty since the majority of the population is into subsistence farming and small-scale businesses? Although education is one of the state’s comparative advantages over other States, most of the graduates are not in science, medicine and engineering or ICT. In essence, we have so many people with certificates and limited skills to drive the industry.

To leapfrog our way out of poverty, we need to focus on the area of ICT like the Indians. ICT is the new Oil and Gold. Raising a generation of ICT experts is not as expensive as medicine and engineering. Here you just need a human being who is ready to learn, a reputable ICT institute, and a laptop installed with the needed Software and internet. And within six months, that person will have all the skills to work anywhere in the world. Through my experience as an IT Consultant and CEO of an IT firm, I know our people are brilliant enough to learn and acquire new ICT skills quickly. If they acquire these skills, they can work remotely in Benue for ICT companies in Europe and America, and they will be paid in hard currency.

I see a possibility of another Silicon valley in Benue State if we all put our hands on the deck and key into this vision!

IS VLADIMIR PUTIN CRAZY?

Posted on February 24, 2022

I have read comments where people described Vladimir Putin as crazy, perhaps they don’t understand what is happening. Russia (the epicentre of the former USSR) and the USA are super world powers. Both nations have been on each other’s necks since after WWII of who should become the defacto world power. That was why when USSR travelled to space on April 12, 1961, the US replied by landing a man on the Moon on July 20, 1969. This type of mutual suspicion of domination exists among rivals even in the private business sector.

Both countries have allies based on treaties signed. USSR (Russia) were able to get allies in South America with countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua etc. America never liked this because having friends of your enemies close to your borders is like having your enemy at your border. The US used CIA and sanctions to destabilize these governments and also caused a change of leadership using surrogate coup plotters. Only Cuba under Fidel Castro was able to resist every destructive move of the US, others like the vociferous Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and President Evo Morales of Bolivia were neutralized.

America then borrowed this template of ‘making friends with countries close to the borders of your enemy’, so they became friends with Hong Kong and Taiwan close to China, though China resisted this and got Hong Kong back to itself. In Russia, the US made Ukraine their friend at the discomfort of Russia. Since Russia has made efforts to destroy that relationship to no avail, they then decided to work with separatist groups in Ukraine in order to annex them to Russia and widen Russia’s territory.

This power play is quite normal among rivals. For instance, if Nigeria and South Africa are enemies, and Benin republic or Togo want to become an ally of South Africa, Nigeria will do everything to prevent that for the safety of Nigerians. The general rule is that once you share boundaries with a Superpower, the Superpower will decide who your friends should be. So, Putin is not crazy as people think, he is doing what any superpower will do to protect her territorial boundaries from possible future invasion.

Working the Unworkable Democracy in Africa

Posted on February 16, 2022

Although democracy as a form of government is widely seen as the best way to elect leaders, it is, however, not very effective in Africa. This limitation is due to our leadership recruitment style which according to Chinua Achebe is based on monarchy and age. This is the reason why even though our leaders are elected, they do every kind of manoeuvring to perpetuate themselves in power, either in person as can be seen in Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea etc, or by proxy as can be seen in Nigerian politics.

Another unfortunate angle to our present democracy is that it was copied from the West with no consideration for our unique way of life and diversity. We also did not put into consideration the cost of running an expensive democracy as practised in the developed world in poverty-ridden underdeveloped countries in Africa.

This keeps us in a vicious cycle of elections such that one year after swearing-in of elected leaders, we begin the cycle of politicking again. We then lower our standard of measuring dividends of democracy to flyovers built, boreholes sunk, transformers installed and a few kilometres of roads, forgetting that the measure of a people’s progress is based on per capita income, GDP and the number of persons elevated from low-income class to middle-income class. The provision of social amenities is the basic requirement of any government.

The late Dan Masanni Kano, Alh. Maitama Sule suggested that Africa should have their form of government which he called Afrocracy. Although he didn’t elaborate on how it should be structured, it points to the fact that the present expensive democracy is not working well in Africa. If we still want to continue with this brand of government that is alien to Africa, we should benchmark a minimum performance index for any government, irrespective of a political party, such that social amenities must be done within a given period following a minimum income source. Any government that can source money elsewhere and perform above the minimum threshold, will be seen as an outstanding government. These minimal requirements in all sectors of the economy must be accepted by all political parties and the agreement signed by party chairmen at the State and National levels.

This master economy plan can come into being by unifying political parties’ manifestos and bench-marking growth index with possible deliverable dates. The growth rate and implementation of this joint manifesto should be evaluated by an independent body. This is the only approach that will guarantee continuity of government projects from one administration to the next, and a long term plan for development as we continue to practice this alien and expensive democracy.

Promoting World Peace via Christ Approach

Posted on September 12, 2021

I was first introduced to Christianity by birth, then I learnt about the theological part of Christ through societies in the Catholic church like Block Rosary Crusade, Legion of Mary, Sacred Heart, Brown Scapular, Rosary confraternity and Alter server. These societies helped us to emulate Christ through his teaching and ministry.

When I stepped in the UK and started a rediscovery process of myself as a Blackman, learning about Pan-Africanism from great black ancestors like Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Kwameh Nkrumah, Fela Kuti etc, I began to have a mix feelings about the Abrahamic religions from the Middle East and its purpose in Africa.

I then decided to study Christ on a philosophical table. I juxtaposed him with Socrates, Aristotle and other philosophers and conquerors like Julius Caesar, Alexandra d great and Napoleon Bonaparte. I examined their conversion methodologies, whereas Aristotle and Socrates used wisdom as their primary ingredient, Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon and the other leader of the Abrahamic religion used violence, Christ used a simple message of Love, asking his followers to turn the other cheek if slapped.

This approach by Christ signifies weakness in the eyes of men that at a point in the history of the Catholic church, they went against this tenet and used their Knights to violently attack resistant areas, killing heretics and those who opposed their laws. After centuries, they realized that violence in the name of the Crusaders never won the people’s heart, but only love did. This was why Pope John Paul II in the year 2000 apologised for the wrong the church caused to humanity in its history.

This man Jesus Christ never used strength even though he has it, and he preached the message of love and died a humiliating death on the Cross, but his message is on every surface of the earth. This man Jesus Christ and his approach need to be followed for a lasting peace in the world. For wisdom and strength may fail us, but love conquereth everything.

Benue: A Death Dilemma between Herdsmen and Unpaid Salaries

Posted on September 9, 2021

Considering that time is fast running out, the Presidency might be playing games with Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association with the call for the recreation of grazing routes, knowing fully well that the FG does not have constitutional powers over land in the country, and land belongs to the State government. Perhaps the FG reached an agreement with Miyatti Allah and they are giving them false hope following the resistance by most State Governors as we count down to 2023.

In trying to impress Miyatti Allah by insisting on grazing reserve, the presidency are also giving the Governor of Benue State an opportunity to capitalize on this declaration to shine, taking cognizance of the fact that the verbal and body language of an average Middlebelter and Southerner abhors the obnoxious policy.

Most Governors are silent about the declaration to resuscitate the medieval grazing routes, not because they like it, but because they have realised that it is a declaration in futility and it cannot hold water, following the provisions of land ownership in our constitution.

I watched Ortom live on Channels TV, I also read the counter press statements from Garba Shehu, Terver Akase and Sen. George Akume. It was more of politics towards 2023 at play even though people are killed on a daily basis by herdsmen. Both the Federal and State governments are playing politics with people’s lives in the State.
I, however, found Akume’s press statement revealing, and being a Minister, I believe the statistics he rolled out about the money received by the State government from the federal purse.

He said Benue State received over half a trillion Naira from the FG since 2015. He also said the State gets 800 million naira as monthly security votes, and the Governor deducts 200 million Naira monthly from local government allocation to feed IDPs. The Benue State government has not come out to refute this particular part of the press release. This is outside the unaudited internal generated revenue that is estimated to be over a billion Naira monthly.

I was shocked to read all these revelations considering how Ortom has been singing an anthem of paucity of funds and how pensioners have not been paid in the last 24 months and how primary school teachers are yet to receive their 10 months arrears. The state civil servants are owed over 4 months salary. There is visibly no infrastructure to justify that such a huge amount of half a trillion Naira has entered Benue.

Benue is in trouble! How do all these social media boys sleep at night after praising the Governor with this kind of mess? This is our only state for goodness sake. Ortom and any Governor will come and go. As for me, I am ashamed of my state, the leaders and every stakeholder who knew about this and kept quiet. Every young man or woman who come out to write on social media to defend the Governor even with this allegation should be ashamed of themselves. Your education is not simply to satisfy intellectual curiosity or unholy interest, but for societal and economy well-being of our people.

Benue deserves better!

BENUE: A BEAUTIFUL STATE ENCAPSULATED WITH MEDIA NEGATIVITY

Posted on April 6, 2021

The type of toxicity emitted on social media by some young Benue people about the State is shocking. One wonders whether there is no good news in the State. In our quest to play politics, we discharge optimally, the negative energy sufficient to drag our perceived opponents along with the State through the mud. It is one thing criticizing or critiquing a public office holder, and it is another thing bringing down the institution he/she represents. The State has already suffered various false stereotypes and fallacies of hasty generalisation, from classifying us as people who give their wives out to visitors, to people who are all HIV positive. Methinks the false perception about us is enough for us to fold our sleeves, get to work and correct these untrue and negative representations.

God has blessed us with a lot of beautiful things to showcase to the world. Apart from the rich natural resources that we have in abundance like Tantalite, Gold, Limestone, Lead, Coal etc with mining activities going on, we also have a rich alluvial land for agriculture, making us the food basket of the Nation; the Zaki Biam yam market is the biggest in the world. Over 90% of the oranges in the country is produced in Benue State and the tones of soya beans and sesame seed in the country will drop to less than 10% if Benue decides to shut her borders. If we can create a hashtag for the food produced in Benue and talk about it on social media at least once in the month, we will succeed in marketing these products and enticing potential investors.

Despite having one of the best cultural troupes in the world, we are yet to reap financially from it. The Swange dance and Kwagh hir rank very high among the cultural displays in Africa, but we are yet to use social media to promote our arts. A hashtag of our cultural dance may attract Wizkid or Burna Boy or any other international artist to feature them in their music videos. This will probably put them on the global map, considering the millions of views and streams generated from their videos. Three winners of Project Fame music competition, Monica, Jeoffrey and Jeff are from Benue; and Shaapera, winner of techno own the stage.  We also have legends in the music industry like Bongos Ikwe, Tuface Idibia etc, but these achievements are ignored as we turn a blind eye to them to feast on the negativity that will add no value to the State.

After Agriculture, our next area of comparative advantage is Education. Almost every family in the State has at least one graduate. The State is the fountain where most Northern Universities harvest their academic staff. In Medicine, Science, Engineering and Law, we are pacesetters next to the Southerners. Since we do not control the print or broadcast media, only social media can tell these beautiful narratives.

The British Encyclopaedia described the Tiv man as a natural warrior in the same rank as the Zulus under Shaka d’ Zulu. This is because we resisted colonisation, defeating the British army in their three attempted genocide in Tiv territory. We ended the 1804 to 1809 Jihad, killing the leader of the insurrection and preventing them from reaching the South-east and South-south. The effort of the men from Benue who fought in World War I and II cannot be overemphasized. Their doggedness, gallantry, bravery, and ruthlessness in the face of danger remain an indelible mark in the British history of war. Nigeria is ‘relatively’ united today because many Benue indigenes fought in the civil war on the Nigerian side and won against the Biafran forces. Benue has the highest number of ex-servicemen.

The only pride Nigeria has in the international community is its effort in leading the ECOMOG troops to end the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Gen. Victor Malu, a Tiv man led troops to end the war in Liberia, while Gen. Gabriel Kpamber, another Tiv man led the troops that ended the war in Sierra Leone.

The minority struggle in Nigeria that watered the ground for the emergence of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as President was courtesy of the post-independent agitation for minority rights led by Sen. J. S. Tarka, a Tiv man. The democracy we enjoyed in the third republic was courtesy of the bloodiest coup led by Major Gideon Orkar (a Tiv man), a coup which shook the sit-tight IBB to his bones and made him hurriedly initiate a transition programme and later handed over.

These are just some of the things we should promote about our State instead of dishing out negativity, capable of odiously making our State a pariah State. You can criticise the Governor but try not to bring the State down in your criticism. If the Governor said he was attacked on his farm, it is only the Police that can say otherwise after an investigation, considering that our past two Governors were also attacked by armed men in the same way. Recently, Governor Zulum was also attacked twice but the indigenes in Borno State never came out to say the Governor was lying.

The unfortunate attack on the Governor was even an opportunity for us to raise our voices and speak unanimously against the incessant killings of our brothers and sisters in a similar way by herdsmen and local bandits, and to also call for the rehabilitation and safe return of internally displaced persons to their ancestral homes. We rather chose to play politics above common sense. The same way some students and alumnus of Benue State University take turns on social media to demarket their institution with all manner defamation, antics, and shenanigans.

The truth is whatever we say about ourselves is what others will say about us.

Preventing the increasing heart failure among young people

Posted on February 11, 2021

The rate of young people dying of heart failure in Benue is quite high. Recently, my friend, Dr. Doommaren Diane Awunah raised an alarm on the increasing number of heart failure among young people in the State when she presented a talk on Facebook on how to prevent heart failure, which one of its early symptoms is high blood pressure.

People are passing through a lot, the societal pressure on young people today is more than that of our parents. People are depressed and sometimes they don’t know who to share their inner pains with, for fear of lack of confidentiality. There is also the pressure of competition as we often see on Facebook, some people are yet to get employed 15 years after graduation, some want to marry but can’t find a husband/wife, some are into abusive and unfaithful marriages, some are looking for the fruit of the womb, some can’t pay basic home bills, others are suffering from one injustice or another. Sometimes, that cheerful progressive young man/woman you think all is well with is having inner pains due to an unresolved condition in his/her life.

Since we often celebrate only success on Facebook, someone passing through one of these challenges will feel he/she is alone. We no longer have communual living where we watch our brothers back as jealousy and envy has taken over. Even when we find time to commune together, we spend most of the time on our phones. We are gradually behaving like Europeans (where it is every man for himself) even when we don’t have social security to back up that lifestyle.

In the UK and other European countries, once you hit age 40, a letter will be sent to you from NHS to come for a thorough medical checkup, which is followed by medical advice based on your condition. In Nigeria, we have none of this and our hospitals are basically first aid centers. The Newspaper headlines alone in Nigeria coupled with bad governance of our incompetent leaders can be a possible cause of high blood pressure.

To prevent the growing heart failure, we should check on each other from time to time, get a trusted person you can relate your problems and worries with, stay away from envious persons and avoid competition. Reduce alcohol intake and unhealthy lifestyle, exercise, eat fruits and vegetables, check your BP from time to time and try to have a Doctor friend you can call at any time to discuss issues of health if you can’t visit a hospital.