By Onjefu Okidu
Akume, as he is popularly known, the former Governor of Benue State, former Senator representing Northwest zone of the state, and present Minister for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, has seen and seized great opportunities in the affairs of Benue State, the food basket of Nigeria.
Since the advent of the Fourth Republic, Akume has been undoubtedly the chief kingmaker in the State. In fact, due to his steepness in the state’s political affairs, his name is used synonymously with that of the state in some quarters. As a politician, he is never lacking in fearlessness, he is never a coward. He has given and received many hard knocks. Many Benue people adore as many others hate Akume, who whatever his shortcomings has become a formidable force in the making and unmaking of political office holders in the state – the JAGABAN Benue and political leader of North-Central.
Like many contemporary Nigerian political leaders, Akume started party politics with the promise of addressing injustice and unfairness. When he was elected Governor of Benue State in 1999, he declared unequivocally as one of the main thrusts of his government that he wished to avoid antagonism resulting from the unequal distribution of political power. He further declared exuberantly that his leadership would be meaningless if he did not make brethren out of all Benue peoples. Consequently, he used part of the state resources to promote what would appear to be like the building of a new Benue State – a surging model of inclusiveness and love for all.
His bulldozing of Gabriel Suswam to the number one seat in the state eight years after the declaration made him clearly walking the talk. Whatever the misgivings, Akume stood safe from self-contradiction as power truly shifted from his zone (B) to another zone (A). However, for Benue people generally, and for Benue zone C in particular, Akume missed his political debut objectives of equality and fairness when he used Samuel Ortom as an election baton in 2015. Although he was able to pull Ortom through with an agglomeration of strength, many regarded his action as a gross self-contradiction. There was a widespread feeling that rather than Ortom, Akume should have used a Zone C element as a baton to shift the seat of power from Zone A to zone C in order for him to achieve a full circle of fairness and balance.
To be fair, Akume has raised the hands of numerous aspirants from Zone C who have clinched many peripheral positions in the state. However, there is a widespread belief inside and outside the state that he will never raise the hand of a Zone C aspirant on a podium aimed at clinching the number one seat. The belief is premised on the notion that the man is hyper-immersed in identity politics couched in outright self-interest and nepotism. Hence, he has continuously ignored serious commitment and intense discussions that will lead to a zone C hand.
To be sure, the 2015 gubernatorial election’s strategic policies and plans in the state, most of which were articulated in Akume’s bedroom, saw the elimination of Barrister Emmanuel Jime, a brilliant Zone B gubernatorial candidate, partly because Jime typifies traditional liberal attitudes with a spouse from Zone C who was seen to be capable of influencing the future emergence of a Zone C Governor. The primary election campaign messages of Akume and Ortom’s wives confirmed this very well. His reluctant acceptance of Jime as a gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 elections which was apparently forced on him from Abuja saw him embark on a décor trip to south-south, paving the way for Ortom to steal the show. In fact, according to some insiders, Akume preferred the opposition party winning to Jime taking over the leadership of the state but was too careful to be charged with anti-party.
Since the election of Ortom in 2015, Akume has been merely playing politics without living the essence of his political debut. As events turned out, his self-contradiction made him to also lose his senatorial seat in 2019 which some consider a great demystification. People now believe Akume can be defeated in any Benue elections. Apparently, till this day, the situation has left him limping and licking occasioned by tense uncertainty. It is an irony of fate that both Suswam and Ortom who he catapulted to the number one seat in the state have almost turned him into a political pequeno. Thus, Akume faces a problem. But he is not better or worse – he is still somehow part of the main currents of the politics of the center.
Hence, rather than scampering for cover, he is at the moment running pell-mell trying to repair the political damages he has done to his party and himself. He is struggling to recover his possession as evinced by the large number of pilgrims to his house seeking political blessings, the gale of defection from other parties to his party, his on-and-off romance with Suswam and Ortom, and his regenerating political temerity.
As Akume struggles to re-possess his possession, a consciousness that transcends the self and ethnic identity is also beginning to develop among Benue educated elite and politicians, and opposition to the old political arrangements is creating a unity of purpose. The growing consciousness is being further supported by the influence of Benue non-indigenes who have been condemning the decades of harsh political marginalization of Benue South. Consequently, the amorphous, insensitive, fickle, shortsighted and largely ignorant motley that led Akume to the 2015 tragic error may be far removed in 2023.
AS the chief kingmaker in Benue State, Akume’s biggest failures to date are his deliberate suppression of the hand of Zone C gubernatorial candidate on a podium and guileful use of the people of the zone as political cannon fodder. All over the world, people are discovering more and more, the moral and spiritual benefits of fairness, goodness and kindness to others, and the old barbaric, primitive and uncivilized ways of doing politics are receding. And so it would be an extended tragedy for Akume if he remained insensitive to the dynamic nature of society and its wholeness by continuously suppressing Zone C and expending its people on election wars – more so that the people have become very wary and see him as politically beatable even in the presence of power.
In spite of the suppressed hand, the people of Zone C in the recent receding darkness still cannot see Akume more clearly, and have continued to maintain the usual intense loyalty to him – a kind and gentle people, even under the burden of unfairness and indignity still believe very strongly that Akume can change the narrative. Perhaps, it is a unique political opportunity that may stir up Akume’s perceived sleeping conscience to re-think the underbelly and visceral hatred he supposedly and speculatively has for the people of Benue South – more so that the people emerged from the 2019 elections overwhelmingly in tears pleading for the hand of their kinsman or Kinswoman to be raised by him for the first seat for the first time in 2023. How Akume faces up to the tearful plea of the people will further tell on the reality of his past failures, and continuous habitation on the negative side of history.
...Dr Onjefu Okidu writes from Ilorin, Kwara State. He can be reached through: E-mail - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Tel: +234-80-366-36-139. NNL.
