We live in interesting times much in fulfillment of the great Chinese adage!. Interesting because of the elastic capacity of political spin doctors to connect totally unrelated political dots to fit into predetermined mindsets.
Barely three years ago, the usually combustible atmosphere in Benue State was inflamed by contrived controversies over the siting of a Federal Polytechnic in Wannune, in Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to trending narratives then , the Polytechnic was originally sited in Adikpo in Kwande Local Government Area in the Zone A axis of the State.
The Adikpo school was birthed by Senator Barnabas Gemade who was representing the zone at that time.
According to the purveyors of the story , the polytechnic has been moved to Wannune in Zone B due to the machinations of Senator Gabriel Suswam the immediate past Senator representing Benue North East in the National Assembly and the secretary to the government of the Federation, Senator George Akume who had worked independently to vanquish the achievements of Senator Gemade by erasing one of his star accomplishments as Senator.
Now that the governor of BenueState, Hyacinth Alia, has revealed those behind the relocation of the polytechnic from Kwande to Tarka Local Government would the kwande people apologise to sen. Suswam for falsely accusing him over what he knew nothing about?
The governor confirmed that the removal of the Federal Polytechnic Adikpo to Wannune in Tarkaa, was done by some powerful Abuja politicians who did it in collaboration with officials of the Federal ministry of education then.
If you recall, some sponsored pens took turns to write press articles in national dailies, and social media platforms and cluster WhatsApp groups accusing the former governor and Senator of not protecting their interest, over something that decided by members of then Buhari Federal cabinet.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Senator Suswam, tried to explain, the people of kwande refused to listen to reason, their elites whom we thought would do diligent investigations and explain things to their people back home were in the forefront the attacks on Suswam.
But thankfully, Governor Alia has cleared the air on the true state of things and we thank him immensely for it, and we hope that next time before you accuse public officials on any matter, you will do your research properly or we will continue to throw away and losing good representation, both at home and at the National level.
The storyline then was that Suswam, wanted the state owned College of Education in Katsina Ala to be taken over by the Federal Government while Akume will rather have a polytechnic sited in his ancestral village of Wannune.
The rumour mills then had no doubt been fed by conspiracy theories laden with negative political innuendo, portraying Senator Gabriel Torwua Suswam, of engaging in a selfish game of musical chairs but, the truth behind the relocation of the polytechnic has been unravel by the governor himself.
Very few people then had taken a step backwards to undertake a dispassionate assessment of the state of things. Most people seem consumed by the sentiments of the discussion rather than the facts.
As of three years ago, logic on its head to insinuate that Senator Gabriel Suswam, being a seasoned political player will endorse the “ relocation “ of an institution from a highly populated part of his senatorial district to a place outside of it when he was on the ballot for the 2023 presidential poll was idiotic. That will amount to political suicide.
Secondly, while it is true that the senate in 2017 approved a Bill by Senator Gemade to site a Polytechnic in Adikpo, the same bill was never concurred to in the House of Representatives , neither was it gazetted by the President but,now the issue is in the public domain.
In any case, Senator Suswam has never had a hand in the Adikpo project because he wasn’t in the senate when the bill was presented with the confirmation of the governor today, while addressing the good people of kwande/ Ushongo on a thank you visit in Adikpo.
As a matter of fact, he was in DSS detention when that bill was passed!. To therefore impute that he is part of a design to rob his zone of such a project is mischievous and uncharitable .
As a proud member of the Tiv community, it is incumbent on him to celebrate such a great feat as bringing a federal institution to any part of Tivland giving the consequential chain of development it will bring to the area.
It was strange to observe that the zeal for political victories whether real or pyrrhic outweigh concrete issues of development in Benue state. Rather than pull resources together to celebrate rare privileges such as this, some actors will rather expand the fault lines in the state and paint others black in order for them to take center stage. This is politics of self abnegation, a case of cutting your nose to spite your face.