There's no gain saying that politics in Plateau State and indeed, the middle belt is one and the same with ethnic supremacy. Ethnic chauvinism largely form the basis for most (if not all) political permutations and decisions. With the state being a microcosm of Nigeria, the political battle for the soul of the state by the cluster of the very many distinctive ethnic groups is always dirty and transcend the realm of sanity and logical positivism. This couldn't be more pronounced than in the ongoing gang-up against Barr. Solomon Dalung in the heat of considerations for political appointments in the in-coming Buhari administration.
With many things counting for him, it's only natural that Dalung faces stiff resistance from rivals and political wannabes who are horrified with the idea of a "Minister Solomon Dalung". Having tasted - first hand - the efficacy of his name, moral quality and public acceptability I don't blame them after all, self preservation is the first rule for survival especially in murky waters politics. Of course, their fear is not unfounded even if their efforts to contain these fears are weird. If they could not swallow Barr. Dalung as an ordinary member of the society, how could he be swallowed when he's offered a chance to make more visible the starling qualities that made him extraordinarily a household name across the length and breadth of Nigeria using public office as experiment apparatus. His record at Langtang South Local Government where he served as chairman are still around to keep their "fear meter" at "red" level.
The "ifs" and "buts" surrounding the eligibility of this honest and committed Nigeria start with the question, should he be sacrificed to the sharp blades of the guillotine of primordial sentiments and repressive considerations? Certainly no! Unless the just fought and won battle for "Change" is no longer about sacking an old stagnant order to usher in a new order which will correct the ills that kept Nigeria hanging between a confusing situation of being a potentially great country with a single destiny and a large collection of ideologically fractured communities with no known destination.
I'm happy that Barr. Dalung's intimidating name is causing enough sleeplessness among the political class in Plateau State. I don't expect him to be forgiven for teaching Nigerians how easy it is to be a Nigeria first before being anything else. I don't expect him to have a smooth ride in the shark infested Nigeria's political waters after exposing most of the sharks as ordinary toothless cat fishes with fake shark tail fins.
However, I neither expect this unforgiving lot to be so childish and way off the ideals of incoming administration in fighting their wars. I can understand should Dalung be denied a ministerial nomination which, by the way I consider a position of honor he earned as a hero of the just won "New Nigeria", should it be established that he's not qualified using normal scales of assessment. But, to accept his impressive credentials and approve his quality yet, turn around and question his eligibility for public office simply because his home local government is neighbouring the home local government of the Senator-elect of his senatorial zone, what could be more repulsive and absurd.
By this weird system of culling, Nigeria culled out its best minds out of the system and promoted the trash that we now see blowing sirens and harassing innocent citizens while guzzling a large chunk of nation's resources in a disproportionate ration with their productivity all in the name of leadership. We can't afford to go down that repressive lane again. Is President Jonathan not enough to keep us off that track? But for such considerations, who could imagine a timid, clumsy and disorganised President for the African giant?
Our inclination to regional, provincial and local myopic consideration almost cost us the nation, yet, some people still seem determined to remain tethered to a mad, backward galloping horse of hopelessness on which Nigeria keep moving backward, sliding past countries like Chad and Cameroon into nothingness simply because their agenda is selfish and visibly divorced from the agenda of Nigerians that made the "Change" they are fighting to pocket possible. We say no! Let Plateau State Governor-elect, Simon Lalung and indeed, all the elected Senators and MHRs won by APC in the state be from the household of Barr. Solomon Dalung, we still demand his presence in the centre to form the nucleus of President Buhari's regime of change.
With our recent experience, Nigeria should go beyond traditional considerations for leadership selection. It's time the system is open up for those who exhibits promising potentials to participate in the process of policy making and execution, people who live for Nigeria as opposed to those who live on Nigeria. Dalung is a balanced choice we can't afford to sacrifice to appease the gods of the old order.
Perhaps, the suitability of Dalung for higher calling could be said to be contained mostly in the reasons considered his liability by this gang. His dogged insistence for each Nigerian to see his fellow Nigerian as equal is one of such "liability". His anger against constant harassment of Muslims in Plateau State has earned him a new Hausa/Fulani identity that many see him as a mole of the "devilish" Hausa/Fulani oligarchy. For this reason, Dalung is as fair a game as your average Hausa/Fulani Muslim on the streets of Jos even when he's a christian Taroh. It's debatable if any of the big Muslim names in Jos was subjected to as much threat as Dalung was. With 4 attempts on his life, I don't think there is any Nigerian alive who paid his dues for a new Nigeria and who deserve a place in the incoming government as Barrister Solomon Selcap Dalung. May the Nigerians who crowned him "Garkuwan Talaka" stand up in his defence, if for nothing, at least to prove we belong to the civilised human family that have the ability to see evil and reject it, see good and appreciate it.
Ironically, no one seem to notice the folly of those fighting Dalung's nomination on the silly basis of geographical or ethnic convenience. A careful review of the power sharing formula in Plateau will prove that issues being raised to check mate Dalung's candidature are nothing new or impracticable. From 2000 to 2003, Simon Lalong, the current Plateau State Governor-elect was Speaker PLHA while Pauline Tallen was Minister and Fidelis Tagun, Ambassador. All these 3 were from Shendam LGA and nobody made an issue of it either out of sincere belief that it was none issue or out of selective sense of justice.
To prove the acceptability of this formula among politicians in the state, almost the same formula was adopted in 2003 - 2007. Lalong retained his position as Speaker, Tagun was elevated to a Minister and Cosmos Niagwan was the senator representing the Zone, all 3 from Shendam LGA. In a more recent situation, from 2011 to date Governor, Senator Gyang Nyam Shom Pwajok and Sarah Ochekpe, Minister for water resources all from the same tribe were the "chosen" representatives of Plateau State. How nobody question this skewed formula then or now remain a puzzle to be solved by the anti Dalung advocates.
Whereas, it could be said that none of the visibly favoured politicians mentioned above could measure up to Dalung's public acceptability, it's clear that since 1999 nobody from his LGA or tribe was deem fit to hold any executive position be it minister, ambassador, SSG or chief of staff either in the centre or closer home in Jos. Considering his investment in the Nigerian project, Dalung had paid his dues and it will only be fair that Nigerians rise to demand justice for him. Nigerians should not stand aside, hands akimbo watching some decampees in a marriage of convenience with architects of the "bloody" crises in the state who never see anything good in his crusade keep Plateau state in permanent political bondage.
No comments:
Post a Comment