Ortom’s Example In Speaking Truth to Power

Ortom’s Example In Speaking Truth to Power

Adams Abonu writes that Nigerians await other leaders with Ortom’s strength of character

Any reasonable analysis of recent issues within the body polity would readily refer to Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor; as a man who has come to assume the face of the champion of those who are not afraid to speak truth to the powers across Nigeria.

As governor of the predominantly agrarian Benue, Ortom’s predisposition as the protector of the fertile valley is unparalleled. As a Nigerian with a national outlook, Benue’s governor has demonstrated through his public interventions that he is committed to ensuring that Nigeria works for her people regardless of any parochial sentiments or political considerations.

Consider the raging friction between Fulani herdsmen and their host communities that has taken an unimaginable toll on lives and property and the courageous strides of the governor to remind federal powers of their statutory responsibility to secure Benue.

Though the recurrent skirmishes between herdsmen, who are mainly of Fulani preoccupation, and indigenous crop farmers predate the days of Ortorm’s stewardship, that he has risen to the occasion and constituted his authority as a shield for his people against the rampaging excesses of supposed cattle rearers and numerous criminal pretenders bent on robbing local people of their ancestral land, is worthy of mention.

It defines the essential character of the man at the helm of affairs in Benue. Upon the inauguration of a new dispensation in Benue on 29 May 2015, there was already a gathering national outcry about the dangerous attitude of Fulani pastoralists who deprive host communities of livelihood by criminally sabotaging their farms and lives in a somewhat futile bid to establish some dominance.

Benue State, widely acclaimed for her fertile soils and nourishing vegetation, remains a coveted asset to many. This has been at the heart of the crisis between the two sides – a struggle between balancing the excesses of the herdsmen and the basics needs of the local farmer.

Governor Ortom has risen through ranks of the Benue society and established for himself a name in national reckoning set about correcting the dangerous tides, which has won him both resentment and admiration in unequal measures.

With the dangerous transmutation of the excess of Fulani herdsmen into a criminal enterprise that makes the lives and livelihood of every Nigerian a bargaining item, the Ortom has once again risen to the occasion and assumed a voice of conscience. Having seen the harbinger of what the dastardly attack on his people would eventually assume, Ortom became a major rallying point when he called the attacks what they should be called: a matter of urgent national importance. In addressing this menace, the government sponsored the Open Grassing Prohibition Law through the Benue State House of Assembly with the support of the people. That this solution-seeking legislation has become a model across many states of the federation should be a policy message to those at the realm of federal might.

As the outrageous elements within the folds of Fulani herders across the length and breadth of Nigeria mutate into a monster called banditry and criminal brigandage, what the country needs right away are people who are not afraid to whip national sentiments towards salvaging the already protracted imbroglio.

The cords that hold Nigeria’s unity together in a firm resolve have been assaulted by the excesses of the criminal elements masquerading as Fulani herdsmen. Every people of conscience should rise to this ominous occasion.

The fallout of the raging insecurity occasioned by the grandstanding of bandits and terrorists manifests in the common existence of the Nigerian people, and any voice that seeks to cry against the common enemy is a voice of reason. While no interest can deny Benue its rightful status as the nation’s food basket, it behooves anyone interested in the existence of Nigeria as a united entity to gather against what is becoming a daily harvest of innocent lives cut short mostly unawares.

The recent worrisome inflation in the prices of staple food items, the increasing unease in the entire populace, and not the least, the widespread apprehension are manifestations of a nation in travail, and all hands must be on deck to save the soul of this giant of Africa.

President Buhari-led federal government recently heeded some aspects of Governor Ortom’s admonitions viz-a-viz the illegitimate claim of herdsmen to possess dangerous arms capable of a wide-scale massacre. While it remains unclear if the government is sincerely committed to the charge, Ortom’s call to conscience has reverberated. Governor Ortom’s strength of character, measured by his disciplined approach to the national malaise of insecurity, is the needed ingredient of national salvation at this point in Nigeria’s socio-political trajectory and stands as an enduring legacy of his colourful political career.

It is encouraging to see that the good people of Benue appreciate this statesmanship and have made their governor a champion of their collective interest. What is left is the willingness of the political leadership to heed this worthy example.
––Abonu wrote from Asokoro, Abuja via adamsabonu@gmail.com

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Ortom’s strength of character, measured by his disciplined approach to the national malaise of insecurity, is the needed ingredient of national salvation at this point in Nigeria’s socio-political trajectory

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