This man you call father, do not have a hand….

Permit me to preface my letter with a greeting in Berom, if only to assure you that it is out of respect and kind consideration and not anything contrary, that I write you this letter.

Poltyanga, sho!

Having said that sir, let me quickly go to the crux of the matter as I know you’re a very busy man who doesn’t dwell on trivialities. Let me at this stage confess that the title of this letter is not at all original but was coined from a passage in Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart.

The difference here is that while in Achebe’s work, the quote is advising a father not to have anything to do with the death of his ‘son,’ in this case, it is more like advising the son not to have anything to do with attempts to kill his ‘father’ politically.

Okonkwo, the tragic hero in Things Fall Apart, was advised by an elder in the community not to have anything to do with the bid to sacrifice a boy, Ikemefuna, who grew up in his house and who had come to know him as father. But in order to show he wasn’t a weakling, Okonkwo not only betrayed the trust and love the boy slave had in him but struck the blow that cut the boy in his prime when the boy ran to him for protection.

Sir, you may not have noticed but fate has placed you in almost the same position as Okonkwo, just that in your case, like I said earlier, the role is reversed from that of the father having a hand in the son’s predicament to that of the son trying to have a hand in the bid to checkmate his father. And it seems you’re about to be used to strike the blow that will cut the political head of the man you had always referred to as ‘Baba’ or father.

If reports that you intend to contest against Senator Jonah David Jang for the Plateau North senatorial seat in the 2019 elections are true, then this missive meets you in good time but if it is the contrary, kindly treat this advice as one coming from a mind too eager to see to your continuous well being.

Senator Sati Gogwim once said there’s no morality in politics, but even if that is correct, I believe our conscience should guide us in whatever we do.

Like or hate him, one thing nobody can take away from Jang is his passion to stand by his people and if that is to be extrapolated further, it could be said that  he was instrumental to the rise of many of his kinsmen in the present dispensation to political limelight. And for that, he had been at the butt of many remarks which tend to reduce him to a tribalist.

But if anybody should have cause to ridicule that stance, it certainly shouldn’t be one of those on whose account Jang in his bid to protect suffered the worst political humiliation.

You will agree with me sir, that it was that preference to protect his own that saw Jang supporting the late Senator GNS Pwajok to succeed him as governor against all grains of advice and plea.

But while members of the other 50 ethnic groups on the Plateau reserve the right to protest and say all manners of things against what was clearly skewed to their disadvantage, it definitely is counter intuitive for any Berom man to try pooh pooh that resolve for it was the policy that empowered many of them and further enhanced their political fortunes.

In his eight years as governor, there were allegations that Jang favoured members of his family and kinsmen over and above others on the Plateau,

The confirmation of the suspicion was the appointment of his son as special adviser, but the one that drew the ire of the people of the state was his insistence to hand over to a fellow tribesman after he had done eight years in Government House; thereby violating the principle of zoning that gave him a chance in 2007.

You may not know it sir, but you are seen as one of the beneficiaries of the Jang ethnic policy at that time.

People remember that you were one of the first to be appointed a commissioner in the Jang cabinet as he inherited you from the previous administration and for eight years, you remained the commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state and survived several cabinet reshuffle that threw out the likes of Nuhu Gagara, Gregory Nyelong, Nankin Bagudu and many others that were so passionate about the Jang administration,

The prevailing sentiment at that time owing to the crisis that erupted in Jos as a result of the Jos North local government elections favoured the retention of die- hard Jang loyalists but that did not save the others. It was few people like you, the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs who was later moved to works, the commissioner for women affairs who was later moved to environment and that of water resources that survived the entire stretch of that administration.

Even die hard loyalists like Solomon Zang and Yiljap Abraham were later shown the way out.

Perhaps it never dawned on you to try to find out why two out of the four persons that survived the Jang administration did so. But some of us who have been watching from the sidelines have not seen any reason beyond his resolve to protect those he considers his.

Sir, the question people are asking now is why all these years that you were under Jang, you never saw anything wrong with his policies and style of administration but quickly realized in just about two years after he stepped down as governor, that there are good reasons to shift from his camp.

Though in your letter you said you were leaving the PDP because of the factionalisation of the party, but we would have thought that having stayed for eight years as a member of a party, two years or even four should not have been too much of a time to sacrifice for you to stay and rebuild the party which gave you a break in life.

Prior to 2014 when the PDP primary was conducted, it was already all over the place that Jang will not accede to the zoning arrangement within the PDP and may want to use his power as governor to impose a new order that would favour his people; that was when the esusu or adashe principle began to gain ground.

This principle derived from the method used in the contributory loan scheme whereby the last person in the group is rewarded with the first slot in the next round.

Many considered this a mischievous idea meant to scuttle the zoning arrangement since it presupposes that an entire senatorial zone comprises only of a local government or an ethnic group. But probably because you were too busy at that time, you did not see anything wrong with it and did not challenge the impropriety of that arrangement.

As Jang is not the pretentious type, it was an open secret that among those he wanted to succeed him were those he had a soft spot for.

The list then circled around three people that included you, his son, Yakubu Jang and GNS Pwajok.

Jang gave the hint at a church programme when he said people should accept whoever God places to succeed him even if that person is a ‘Jang.’

To be sincere, nobody understood what informed Jang’s decision to finally settle on GNS as you are eminently qualified as a lawyer of reckoning with recondite experience in administration to govern Plateau.

But some of us felt it must have been influenced by the same zeal to help those he is pleased with which matches an Arab axiom that says ‘I and my brother against our cousin and I and my cousin against the rest of the world’ because GNS appears to be the closer of the two ‘cousins’ since you are from Kuru but not from Du district.

This shows that if events were to be slightly different, he would have most certainly settled for you and that is the crux of the matter.

If Jang can out of whatever consideration keep you as a member in his kitchen cabinet for eight years and only narrowly skipped you out of an arrangement that would have propped you up as the 2015 governorship candidate of the PDP, then it could be said that the man not only loves you, but that his love for you is beyond ordinary.

I sincerely think that having done all these for you, the best way to pay him for whatever latter day hurt or infraction, will not be to poke your fingers at his ribs as this would set a dangerous precedence in the politics of the Plateau where respect for elders is paramount.

Jang, whether anybody accepts it or not, has helped the Berom nation probably more than anybody alive or dead.

Apart from appointments he gave his people when he was governor and projects he sited in their domain, he saw to the reinstatement of the dignity of the traditional stool of the Gbong Gwom by building a befitting palace for the paramount traditional ruler and insisting on a personality like HRH Jacob Gyang BuBa to occupy the stool.

He fought what he perceived as an attempt to infringe on the right of his people to the extent that he was prepared to lose his seat as governor. He would have been regarded as the father of Plateau if not for the last minute miscalculation that threw away the goodwill he garnered in his eight years which pit him against the rest of the people.

But I think posterity would still be kind to him as he is also human and not above mistakes just as Israel today does not remember Uriah when King David is mentioned.

It is normal in the affairs of men that such people be allowed to have their way whenever the make demands on the society they helped to build.

If Jang wants to return to the Senate, the least you can do if you’re not happy with that is not to help him, but to try to stop him will definitely not win you plaudits.

Apart from that sir, I don’t see how you can mobilize support in Beromland which constitutes at least three out of the six local governments in the zone to defeat Jang.

You know the politics of Beromland better than I do to imagine that anybody who stands election with the former governor in either Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South and parts of Jos North could defeat him.

If on the other hand you are banking on the grievances of the people of Jos East with the former governor, then perhaps it is time to remind you that it was the same Jang that gave one of theirs, Bitrus Kaze, the PDP ticket for the House of Representatives which made him serve for two consecutive terms in the House.

If on the other and you are banking on Hausa votes in Jos North to add to that from Bassa who might be swayed to take a different route, then perhaps you should be reminded that the Hausa people in Jos North have not forgotten that you were part and parcel of the Jang administration that they adjudged to be harsh to them and they knew that as commissioner for justice if you had wished, you would have been able to influence certain things to their favour.

In every way I look at it sir, I see no window for you , that was why I said instead of allowing you to go the way of Okonkwo who received no garlands but spite for the killing of his son, let me advise  you to shun every urge that will pitch you against your father.

For emphasis let met rephrase the quote to clear any doubt, that man you call father, do not have a hand in the attempt to rubbish him politically.

Because, not only will you not receive any garland, but your political career which is just rising might be threatened if it appears you are too much in a hurry.

If those that are urging you to contest are sincere, tell them to give you the deputy governor slot of their party and if they say that position is not vacant, tell them neither is the Plateau North senatorial seat. That way, you will not be set on head on collision with the political father of Beromland as it would be counted as a gain for a Berom man to rise to the position of a deputy governor, just four years after one had left the number one seat.

Otherwise, just retain your seat in the House of Representatives which you can easily win again.  Four years is not too long a time to wait. Even if in 2013 Jang decides to support another, you will be justified to contest against his candidate, but directly confronting your father would amount to committing political suicide. I rest my case.

Just as I started with a greeting in Berom, let me also conclude by saying ‘mafyeng’ and to wish you well in your political journey.

Sincerely,

Andrew Agbese,

Jos.

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Andrew Agbese appeals to Edward Pwajok to stand-down on his senatorial ambition