Distinguished
senator sir, I will first and foremost begin by wishing you a happy
new-year celebration and also congratulate you on your third victory as
the Senator representing Benue North West senatorial district of Benue
State in the red chambers.
Kindly
accept my condolence on the demise and burial of your late relative who
happened to be the late Ter Tarkaa. Senator Sir, I know you always have
a lot of people around you who tell you so many things. But most of the
things you are being told may only be good news as no one would want to
put you in the mood that may stop you from doing what drags them to you
(which is, putting something in their pockets) . That being the case, I
have taken it upon myself to tell you what I have come to realize and
also what a lot of people are now saying about you.
The
best news on the street is that a lot of Benue citizens are in
adulation (admiration and praise, especially when this is greater than
necessary) for your heroics in bringing about the change mantra in Benue
State in particular and Nigeria in general which came as a succor and
liberation from the devilish whips of the PDP. This by implication to an
outsider would mean this succour and liberation also exists directly in
the mind and hearts of the people you represent from your constituency.
Unfortunately my distinguished senator sir, the opposite seem to be the
case from your constituents!
The
seemingly worst but necessary and important word on the street is that
you have done nothing for your constituents for the nine (9) years you
have been in the senate. They buttress on this point by saying the only
thing that keeps you gaining victory is your charisma and not your
antecedents and that charisma is not ad infinitum (that is, charisma
does not last forever) and that the name of wantaregh Paul Unongu (no
defamation intended) should ring a bell to that effect. This in essence
means, your constituents are losing confidence in your representation.
For some time as your strong supporter, I had been arguing with them and
this is what I had been telling them. Distinguished senator sir, permit
me to take you back in history. In 1999 when you were the executive
governor of Benue state, I was a JSS One student of Government Secondary
School Gboko and as at that time, the facilities of the whole school
such as hostels, classrooms, staffroom and laboratories were
dilapidated! But just like the messiah, you awarded a contract for the
renovation of the school and in the year 2001, the school became a state
of the art. We started receiving lessons in classrooms that had ceiling
fans and I believe this new found comfort contributed a lot to the six
(6) B’s and two (2) C4’s I made in the WASSCE of June 2005.
(Registration number 4080509110 may be cross referenced). I also believe
similar gestures occurred to other schools and sectors of which had far
reaching effects as can be attested by so many who have stood by you to
date. So in 2007 when you were elected the senator representing Benue
North West senatorial district, I was in a state of agog because I hail
from Buruku local government and I happen to be one of your
constituents! So, knowing your antecedents as a governor, I knew my
senatorial district was blessed and in capable hands. My support for you
only increased. The truth is, I knew as a senator, you were subjected
to limited funds but since you were someone who seemed to have the
concern of your people at heart, I was confident you could still work
wonders. But nine (9) years later, I have seen things differently. I no
longer argue with people who say you are self-centred and domineering
(trying to control other people without thinking about their wishes).
People say you are self-centred because you put your family and interest
before your constituents as can be seen in so many of the appointments
you have influenced where the beneficiaries happened to be your close
relatives. Permit me again sir to limit these examples to Buruku LGA
which is one out of the seven LGA’s that constitutes your constituency.
They say you are domineering in that in so many of the appointments you
influence, you do so based on what you can get out of it and not based
on what your constituents want. To further explain the latter, people
are saying the appointment of the present VC of the Benue State
University just a few years after another indigene of Buruku left the
office is because you want to compensate them so that the Buruku people
will not contest against you for the senate position. It is said that it
was from the Buruku people that you first bought that slot from and now
that you have it, you don’t want to return it. If this is true, I don’t
know but that is the word on the street. The word even says the senate
seat for Benue North West has been zoned to the Tombo people of Buruku
LGA and the present VC of BSU now happens to be from there! To me, I see
this as just a way of influencing this appointment to your constituency
but to those people saying it, it is more of a proof! I strongly argue
with them that such an appointment was decided by our beloved Benue
State Governor but they still say, no appointment will come from your
constituency without you swinging it in your favour. That to me is not
the reason why I now hold my reservations about you. I started having my
reservations about you for the first time in 2012 when I was a
beneficiary of the David Mark scholarship scheme despite the fact am
from your constituency and not his. I applied as a student from Buruku
LGA and to my surprise, I was successful and it helped me in my final
year project as at that time. It only reminded me of how I was swindled
of N500 when I went to apply for the botched scholarship that was
purported to be from your wife. Again, my second doubt about your
representation came in 2013 when I was posted as a youth corps member to
Aninri LGA of Enugu State. The local government happens to be the local
government of Origin of Senator Ike Ekweremadu. When I went there, I
saw the number of projects he embarked upon and I was astonished
greatly. The projects included amongst others, rural electrification ,
provision of water, scholarship grants to students, numerous women and
youth empowerment programmes and construction of rural roads. The
Project that surprised me most was the construction of the Oduma – Nenwe
road which even the state governor said was impossible to be
constructed due to the terrain of the area. The road was under
construction as at the time I left. Some will argue that the names I
have used occupied bigger positions and so had more resources and
government influence at their disposal but I bet to disagree because
some people occupied such positions before but could not impact that
much to their constituents. This by implication means the ability of one
to deliver for his constituency is dependent on will and not only on
wealth. Every senator as we are made to understand have funds set aside
for constituency projects except if this is a hoax. Be that as it may,
everyone has his widows might which will always be appreciated. My
senator sir, if anyone has lost faith completely in you, I haven’t! I
must tell you also that your charisma alone has won you more supporters
than you can imagine. Again as the anchor and mastermind of the change
mantra in Benue state, you shoulder much responsibility which has far
reaching effects that may either make or break it. So being one who
believes you still have it in you, I will like to remind you of the
following which I believe will further paint your name in gold: 1. Allow
for a level playing ground and allow your constituents to legitimately
decide on who they want. If this is done, it will annihilate and
eradicate appointments based on perceived reasons that the benefactors
are either your relatives or that you do that based on what you stand to
gain in terms of money or your senatorial ambition. How you felt after
being outplayed in the just constituted principal officers of the
Nigerian senate should remind you such feelings also exist in the mind
of the people you have betrayed! 2. If you have done more for your
constituents than has caught the eye, please engage your constituents
once in a while through enlightenment so that where your works cannot be
seen, they can be heard. 3. Transparent scholarship scheme. If this is
done, it will be succour to students who are suffering financially
thereby enabling them to improve on their academics. If only you can
take out time to read the comment section of this letter on social
media, what you will see will tell you that more needs to be done in
this area in other to wipe away the tears that emanated from that
earlier botched scholarship scheme. 4. In your wise wisdom, you could
embark on other women and youth empowerment schemes that will bring
succour to your constituents. 5. Finally, you could consolidate on your
familiarity with the red chambers and the hierarchy of the ruling party
in attracting developmental projects to your constituency. Conclusively
my distinguished senator sir, I must confess I am not much of a good
writer but my desire to write to you made me to overcome the fear of the
negative criticisms that I may receive. Please do remember that this
letter is written to serve as a stich in time and may you see the
positive aspect of the letter and view the constructive criticisms as a
way of improving on your representation and leadership since we all have
an Achille’s heel. A bad seed of groundnut if not properly managed, has
the ability of polluting so many pure seeds. Do have a lovely day Sir.
CHIA, Mne Fidelis Graduate of mechanical engineering resident in Makurdi. chiamnefidelis@gmail.com
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