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Nyame
Faces Acid Test in Taraba
Governor Jolly
Nyame confronts the biggest hurdle to his rule as Taraba elite resolve
to look a different way from his third-term bid,
writes TONY
IYARE.
For Jolly Nyame,
governor of Taraba State and Reverend of United Methodist Church,
these are trying times. And his prayers and supplications for a
third stanza seem to be failing. Just like it happened to King Saul,
God may have decided to look the other way from this preacher. His
front line challenger, Baba Adi, a prominent Jukun lawyer and businessman
says God has removed all obstacles to his bid to wrestle the Government
House in Jalingo from the incumbent governor in 2003. That may not
be the only worry of Nyame, a two-time helmsman of Taraba. His problems
are compounded by the decision of most Taraba elite to cast lot
for a fresh entrant to the governorship seat. Worse, Nyame’s acclaimed
godfather, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is also singing a different
tune. He may have decided to dump Nyame’s candidacy. But wise counsel
has still not dictated that the troubled governor of Taraba State
seek the help of a diviner.
The greatest
bane of Nyame’s third term berth is what indigenes of the state
regard as lacklustre performance. In the face of myriad of inter
ethnic bloodbath which ravaged the state right from his first term,
Nyame, a Mumuye, a small group located in the northern part of the
state has merely watched from the sideline. He seem to have no idea
on how to pacify his increasingly restive flock, torn apart by ethnic
cleavages and perpetually resorting to bloodletting to settle scores.
When Nyame took over power in the heat of the Tiv-Jukun crisis in
1991, he promised to take steps to fundamentally end the brawl which
has constantly pitched these two middle belt groups at each other’s
throat.
To demonstrate
his goodwill in this regard, he toured the war torn areas of Wukari,
Sake Ibis, Arrive, Sound and Ii. Not much came out of the visits
to these trouble spots except mute appeals to the people to eschew
violence and embrace the path of peace While Name’s shuttle lasted,
Ii which is just a shouting distance to Wukari erupted in a crisis
over the popular traditional Whiny festival Not long after, Takum
which is located about 80kilometres from Wukari, was engulfed in
skirmishes involving the Jukun, Kuteb and Chamba over the Kutchicheb
traditional ceremony. This crisis which endures even up till this
day has virtually torn Takum to shreds and reduced it to the pristine
state of nature. Crises also broke in Jalingo between Nyame’s ethnic
group, the Mumuye, the Kona Jukun and the Hausa–Fulani. In Lau,
Yorro and Zing, the Mumuye also engaged the Hausa-Fulani in perennial
bloodbath over the trampling on their farmlands by herds of cattle.
In Bali and Karim Lamido, the Tiv have also engaged the Bororo Fulani
in skirmishes leading to the death of scores of people.
The Fulani had
to reach out to their ilk in neighbouring Chad and Cameroun to prosecute
this war. Nyame’s second coming as civilian governor has not been
different. It has virtually been replete with very high rate of
inter ethnic brickbat which has engulfed even relatively peaceful
groups like the Mambila. The scares of the Tiv Jukun skirmishes
which ravaged Wukari, Zaki Ibiam, Kwatan Sule and other areas and
eventually led first to the killing of 19 soldiers and the invasion
of Zaki Ibiam by a contingent of soldiers attracted international
opprobrium and will still be felt for many years. Political analysts
generally blame the degeneration of most of these crises to the
slow response of Nyame to nip them in the bud. For instance he got
security reports that events were likely to snowball into bloodbath
over the Kutchicheb ceremony in Takum and could have stopped it
from going on but he opted to tardy. “Nyame’s rule has always led
to crises and should be terminated”, a prominent indigene of the
state noted last week. His Achilles heel could be his differences
with Atiku over the resolution of the Emirship tussle in Muri Emirate
whose former Emir, late Mohammed Abbas Tukur was removed in 1986
by Col Yohanna Madaki, then military governor of old Gongola State.
Nyame appear
to have committed political suicide when he opted to look at the
vice-president in the face and refused to hand over the staff of
office to the son of the late Emir long after the kingmakers made
their choice. His stance which runs contrary to the counsel of Atiku
who has emerged as the biggest power broker in the area, was interpreted
as a low appreciation of real politic. Both in the first and second
stanza, Nyame who once had a shot at the chairmanship position of
Jalingo Local Government was nominated by the People’s Democratic
Movement (PDM), a powerful caucus within the ruling People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) now led by Atiku. Since the aborted Third Republic,
the nod of Atiku, also known as Turaki Adamawa has been vital to
guarantee ascendancy in the area. It is difficult how Nyame can
emerge on the basis of his mindless belligerence. He has actually
been two-time lucky.
In 1990, Nyame
who ran under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), virtually
scraped through a party primary in which he confronted more accomplished
politicians like Abubakar Barred, a former governor of old Gongola
State, Samuel Suleiman Danjuma who later became his deputy, Yakubu
Tuktur, a former commissioner for agriculture and others to become
first civilian governor of the newly created Taraba State. His eventual
governorship contest which pitched him against urbane Gboko based
medical doctor, late Dr Ando Shiaki of the defunct National Republican
Convention (NRC) who also emerged from a close contest featuring
powerful contestants including Dr Ahmed Jalingo, A professor of
political science from Bayero University, Kano provided the inkling
to dedicate his rule in the service of the people. He outlined a
lot of areas including breathing fresh life to the Gashaka Gumti
Games Reserve and making hay from the rich agricultural farmlands
of the Mambilla Plateau.
But Nyame whose
two terms have been bogged down by primordial inter-ethnic wars
is yet to fulfil his election promises to the people of Taraba.
. Analysts also reason that he should have long spearheaded the
convocation of a mini conference involving the different ethnic
groups as a way of assuaging the series of ethnic brawls that have
virtually rendered Taraba ungovernable. The federal government took
the initiative, calling a Middle Belt conference after the killings
and destruction wrought by the recent Tiv/Jukun crisis. His greatest
accomplishment remains the completion of the major dual carriage
way begun by the first military governor, Vice Admiral Samuel Adeyemi
Afolahan, now chief of Naval Staff, the new Government House, the
Presidential lodge and the High Court complex. Nyame must be having
sleepless nights having to face up with a formidable opponent like
Baba Adi. Reputed for strong character and an unimpeachable integrity,
Adi actually won the PDP governorship primary in !999 which was
later upturned in Nyame’s favour by a lobby led by General Theophilus
Danjuma, the Defence minister.
It is not too
clear what the position of Danjuma is given Nyame’s poor performance
as governor. But the non assuming but tough speaking Adi says “God
has told me I’ll be governor”., First published in the National
Interest, Volume 2, No 473 on April 21, 2002.
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