By Tyolumun Agwaza
Good morning to you in Dayton, Ohio, USA, Your Excellency, Senator, Ambassador, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, OON. I believe you are doing well, and like many people around the world, you are hoping for the best for your family and Benue state in this 2025 and beyond.
I read your testimonial on the personality of our leader, Senator George Akume Dajoh, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), which was widely circulated on social media as your honest opinion about him. As a young man from Tiv speaking part of Benue State, I am not ignorant of the strengths and weaknesses of the SGF, who unarguably is the most favoured Tiv politician in recent times.
I enjoy reading your works because you always write in a simple – to – understand style. Your message is usually clear and crafted in a style that the reader does not wonder about the aim of your writing. So, when I saw your name as the author of the write – up about the SGF, I suspended what I was doing and read the 7 sub-theme article with 25 paragraphs. I admire the manner you titled your sub – themes as:
(I) introductory remarks (paragraphs 1 – 7),
(II) the making of George Akume (paragraphs 8 – 14),
(III) a mantle without blemish (paragraphs 15 – 16),
(IV) Akume’s leadership assets (paragraphs 17 – 18),
(V) the Akume leadership conundrum (Paragraph 19),
(VI) Akume as strategic communicator (paragraphs 20 – 21) and finally sub – theme (VII) conclusion (paragraphs 22 – 25).
It is important for me to declare that my intention in this response to your testimonial about His Excellency, Senator George Akume is not to challenge you nor him, but to politely interrogate some of your sweeping encomiums on him, and also to direct your attention to the opinion of some people who chose to constructively criticise the SGF so that he may re – consider his leadership style and do better and wake up from his “slumber.”
In your paragraphs one to seven, you said that George Akume remains the best person in Benue State to occupy the office of the SGF, and those who felt otherwise are just being selfish and jealous. That, in 2003, Hegemons, Godfathers, and Satraps in Benue state congregated to make him one – term governor, but he was re – elected to their disappointment. This historical account remains subjective, and there is no big deal about it because in all democratic societies, people are entitled to contest for any political office and also aspire to be appointed to any office. That is the beauty of democracy. However, in a totalitarian society, the Ruler’s caprices become sacrosanct, and nobody dares challenge his authority even if his policies were terribly bad and counter – productive to the developmental aspirations of the people. It was because of Akume’s implementation of the “wicked and evil ideas contained in the book, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene,” which you personally accused him of implementing in the first tenure of his administration that Benue people were not happy with him .
Consequently, the masses were determined not to re – elect him in 2003. In fact, the late Wantaregh Paul Unongo, who contested for the governorship election in 2003 on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), was generally believed to have won the election. It was widely reported in national dailies that the election was unfortunately massively rigged against Wantaregh Paul Unongo. So, it remains debatable that in the exercise of peoples’ right of franchise and in pursuit of their democratic right, they became Hegemons, Satraps, and Godfathers just because they opposed George Akume.
It is also questionable to allege that the competition for political power among the contestants was because Akume’s “bright future may have been revealed to other contestants through fasting and prayers or witches coven” as you put it.
The re – election of George Akume in 2003, which according to you was an indication of the Birth of National Greatness, which Benue State owed Nigeria through Akume, was unfortunately a wasted opportunity. This is because he had no agenda for the development of Benue State. Instead of courting a mutually beneficial relationship with the federal government under President Obasanjo, he was busy needlessly fighting the president and, consequently, he failed to lobby for federal projects to Benue State. His visionless fight made Benue State loose many federal government interventions including federal government shares in Benue Cement Company (BCC), Gboko which were divested to Dangote Plc instead of the preferred and more competent bidder, Cementia Lafarge, which incidentally was the company that built the cement company. This was intentionally done to punish Governor Akume and, by extension, Benue people. Back home, there was a commissioned killer – squad and arsonists, that went about killing and burning down the houses of the people of Turan and Nanev in Kwande LGA. Different militia groups were brought from across Tiv land to rain hell on Kwande people. According to Plato, a man is a good man if his actions are good. So, would you judge Akume’s actions as being good and, therefore, a good man?
As painful as the truth may be, it is better told than never. No wonder Friedrich Nietzsche contended that sometimes people do not want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.
Sir, you stated the obvious in paragraphs 8 to 18 that George Akume was elected as Governor of Benue State at the age of 45, and since then, he has never been out of political power culminating to his appointment as the incumbent SGF. What a lucky man he is. You also said Akume has installed three successive governors in Benue State, and his political palace is almost scandal free, unlike other national elites whose political careers are marked by stories of physical, moral, financial, relational, and immoral scandals !
I must commend you for knowing much about the SGF. This is what you have carried in your heart in favour of the SGF. According to Goethe, a man sees in the world what he carries in his heart. So, my prayer is that Akume should equally appreciate your good heart because of what you have carried in his favour and demonstrate his love for you and your people in terms of employment opportunities and provision of social amenities for their comfort. However, I wish to humbly suggest to you to advise the SGF to surround himself with good advisers so that after he is done reading his sociological books in order to understand society as you wrote about him, he should also respect people and desist from using uncouth language on Tiv elders. Nicolo Machiavelli strongly recommended that the first method for estimating the intelligence of a leader is to look at the men he has around him. Who are the people working with Senator Akume? It is important that he needs people with a high intellectual capacity to organise and coordinate his office in a manner that would bring out enduring legacies for the benefit of Benue people.
It is my opinion also that Akume needs to truly understand the deep meaning of “all politics is local” as averred by Meaghan Winter, whom you quoted. All politics being local should be understood in the context of bringing development to the locals and not just terrorising voters who have contrary opinions about him.
Your view about Akume’s super generosity and giving listening ear to people is not peculiar to him. He carefully does this to a select few to curry political loyalty. It is not his natural inclination. In other places, politicians build houses for people, construct roads, and provide other social amenities for isolated local communities. I expected Akume to have completed the Tomato Processing Factory in Wannune, his hometown, to provide job opportunities to Benue people. Let us therefore, be reminded that the English poet Charles Dickens admonished us to be aware that there are two classes of charitable peoples: one, the people who did a little, and made a great deal of noise; the other, the people who did a great deal and made no noise at all. If you contend that Akume is so generous and has done great things with huge value, Chief Samuel Ortom would argue that with you. According to Ortom, Akume is a chronic drunkard and a miserable failure with no enduring legacy to point at in Benue State. He also threatened to expose details of how Akume embezzled N2 billion when he was the governor of Benue State. So, you can not claim that Akume’s political palace is devoid of financial scandals.
Sir, in paragraph 16, you said people accuse George Akume of being too slow and, in fact, lazy. This may be true. But the context he is seen in this way is not the way you have put it – “They see Akume as wasting time to convert the SGF office for rent taking.” This is not the context he is seen as being a lazy man ! Rather, Akume is perceived as a lazy man because he does not know how to lobby and articulate the aspirations of his people at the highest level. I refer you to the words of Viktor Frankl, who said, between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.
It is surprising that Akume does not appreciate the urgency of smart response to important stimuli at all. His swift response is only when it comes to fighting a fellow Tiv man, the way he fought the late Paul Unongo, as his Tiv brothers accused him of allowing his associates to sponsor militia groups to destroy Paul Unongo’s father’s grave and exhume his corpse and had it wiped helplessly. He is accused by his fellow Tiv folks of being so fast in responding to mobilising militias to attack any section of Jemgbagh or Mbakor people, the way late Hon. Baver Dzeramo was instructed to coordinate the killings of Mbakor people who were not supporting him. He responds so fast to submit petitions for the removal of a fellow Tiv man from an exalted office, the way he fought Chief Barnabas Gemade and had him removed from the office of the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). During the administration of Chief Samuel Ortom, he called for the declaration of EMERGENCY RULE in Benue State. This was simply because Ortom audaciously identified the killers of Benue farmers as Fulani bandits. He would rather have Nigerians believe the lie that not Fulani, but Tiv were killing themslves. That angered Ortom, and he took his revenge by ensuring that he did not return to the Senate for the 4th time.
When it comes to productive activities, Akume’s response time is so slow. In fact, he sees no urgency to articulate the positive aspirations of his people except when it comes to fighting his imaginary political enemies and destructive ventures.
As the SGF, George Akume is expected to lobby the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and President Tinubu, to have the North Central Development Commission Bill passed and assented to by President Tinubu. Before someone will say Akume is not in the Senate, what took him to the National Assembly when he used to go and work against the efforts of Hon. Prince Solomon Wombo efforts appointment as Deputy Chairman or member of Appropriation Committee?
Unfortunately, issues of development won’t interest him. For the records, there are six (6) geo – political zones in Nigeria, and all except the North – Central zone have their Development Commissions. In the 2025 budget, these development commissions received the following appropriations:
1) South West Development Commission (SWDC) = N498.40Billion
2) South East Development Commission (SEDC) = N341.27 Billion
3) Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) = N776.53Billion
4) North West Development Commission (NWDC) = N585.53Billion
5) North East Development Commission (NEDC) = N290.99Billion.
6) North Central Development Commission (NCDC) = Non – existent!. Does this not bother Akume? What are his aides doing to direct his attention to this very important development initiative?
Senator Akume is the SGF and national leader. These are things that should bother him.
So, to knowledgeable people, if Akume opens his doors from morning to night and feeds people with pondo yam or rice with beans without engaging in serious leadership activities that promote development, he is just wasting his time. In fact, if I were to advise him, he should operate a food bank and charitable foundation and properly coordinate his generosity in the manner suggested by the english poet Charles Dicken.
Winston Churchill, the war time Prime Minister of Britain said, a good leader sees opportunities in crises, not just problems. This should be important to Senator Akume. He must leverage his position and discuss with President Tinubu about the poor state of federal roads in Benue State. He should select at least 2 federal roads in the 3 Senatorial Zones in Benue State, that is, Zones A, B, and C, and have them rehabilitated within the 8 years of Tinubu’s presidency. He has 19 federal Parastatals under him. Our people expect him to be proactive and have young graduates employed in these agencies. Board appointments are good, but they don’t last for more than 4 – 8 years, whereas, if young graduates are employed, they could rise through the ranks and build their careers. He should follow what Paul Unongo , David Mark, Gabriel Suswam, and Chief Mike Aondoakaa did when they held leadership positions in government. They empowered people and facilitated political and civil service appointments for many Benue indigenes at the state and federal levels.
In paragraph 19, with the sub – theme, the Akume leadership conundrum; you wondered why people who were empowered and facilitated to various political leadership positions turned against him. This phenomenon has become an albatross not only to Akume but also a challenge in different states in Nigeria. I agree no less with you, sir. I also know as a fact that just as Akume “made three governors in Benue State,” Chief Gemade and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu also made Akume governor in 1999. But he doesn’t respect them nor acknowledge this fact. He has suggenly become the only elder and sees people as small boys (Wan mbayev er Gemade man Akaagerger nahan). Even when Paul Unongo was alive, Akume never saw him as an elder.
In your paragraphs 20 and 21, you wrote that Akume is a strategic communicator. Granted, let him extend his communication skills to cover areas of infrastructural development and employment of Benue young graduates into the federal civil service. I hereby pose these questions to you and Senator Akume. What tangible projects has he communicated to the speaker, President of the Senate, and President Tinubu ? Why are Idoma and Igede ethnic groups in a single Senatorial zone (zone C) still leading Tiv with 2 Senatorial zones (14 LGAs) when it comes to recruitment of officers in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Navy, DSS, and paramilitary agencies? What is our “strategic communicator” doing about the employment of Benue youths in the grade A federal parastatals under him ?
I must inform you, sir, that Kwande Graduate Forum felt ashamed of the so – called “recent assignment of the SGF in Benue State” as according to you, “left Akume’s opponents scampering for shelter from his fiery rhetoric as he gave his opponents the spread of fingers insults”. This behaviour can only be admired by illiterate villages.
Sir, could you explain why the vice president, Senator Kashim Shettima, represented President Tinubu at the official wake keep of Wantaregh Paul Unongo at Government House, Makurdi, and in Jato – Aka, our son, the SGF drove on the bad road from Gboko through Jato – Aka to Unongo village only to occasionally wave a piece of paper, supposedly President Tinubu’s condolence letter with his left hand ? And he was busy insulting the sensibilities of Tiv people with the spread of five fingers of the right hand ? Why did the SGF convert the solemn occasion of the burial into an insult – hurling event ? Were you proud that the behaviour the SGF exhibited was civilised ?
As far as the Kwande Graduate Forum is concerned, the irreducible minimum standard of behaviour expected of the SGF should have been a solemn message of condolences with concrete promises and remorse over the desecration of Paul Unongo’s father’s grave. Kwande youths expected the SGF to have made the following pronouncements:
1) Tender apology over the killings of Turan people and the inhabitants of Adikpo township when he was the governor of Benue State.
2) Tender apology to Paul Unongo and Kwande people for the rigging of 2003 governorship election because Wantaregh Unongo won the election.
3) Tender apology to Kwande people for using his influence as Federal Minister in Muhammadu Buhari’s government and changing the location of the proposed Federal Polytechnic, Adikpo to Wannune.
4) Promise Kwande people that before 2027, President Tinubu would rehabilitate Yandev – Ugbema – Jato Aka federal road.
5) Provide scholarships to at least 2 of Paul Unongo’s children in tertiary institutions in Nigeria or overseas. This would have demonstrated his generosity and sensitivity as a good leader. Unfortunately, the SGF did not say the aforementioned. His concern was to seize the opportunity of Wantaregh’s funeral and speak gibberish.
The retinue of friends of the SGF were expected to have complimented him at the funeral by speaking peace and development, and not the “fiery rhetoric” and spread – of – fingers insults at his Tiv brothers.
I must commend your humility for admiting that when you were consulting Northern political juggernauts for support to your presidential ambition, you were told that you could not have made it as a flag bearer of Social Democratic Party (SDP). That, Senator George Akume would have been a better option ! This is humbling, but do you think Akume would appreciate your humility and respect you?
Sir, you are a renowned professor of Theatre Arts and have published extensively. But I query the sampling procedure you employed in your presidential campaign consultation. You needed to have employed random sampling technique with the right statistical formular to determine the number of respondents (N), which should have given you the correct representation of the large sample size you were supposed to draw from in order to make their responses valid. If you did that correctly, I doff my cap for you for revealing to the public that Akume remains the only presidential material we have in Benue State as attested to by the so – called northern political leaders ! I also commend you as someone with a beautiful heart towards Akume. Remember, Shakespeare said, one beautiful heart is better than a thousand beautiful faces. Akume should appreciate your beautiful heart towards him.
Let me say that our leader, Senator George Akume, must remain humble and not see other people as his small boys (wanbayev). He must understand that the late JS Tarka’s political ideology was partly shaped by the Realistic Group Conflict Theory of Ethno – Centricism as propounded by Robert Le Vine and D.T Campbell in 1972. This theory assumes that group conflicts are rational since groups do have incompatible goals and do compete for scare resources. Tarka understood this very well, hence his unflinching commitment to the creation of the Middle Belt Region, where he used the UMBC – AG political alliance as the vehicle to pursue this dream. He must understand that inter – ethnic conflicts exist in every society. So, he should be more proactive in articulating the interests of his people at the national level and desist from fighting imaginary political enemies.
Sir, my interrogation of your testimony on the SGF is borne out of my desire to encourage him to do more, and it should not be seen as an insult. According to Arthur Schopenhauer, all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self – evident. I, therefore, leave my views subject to the admonition of Schopenhaur.
Tyolumun Agwaza is a Public Affairs Commentator and writes in from Turan, Kwande LGA, Benue State.
