At a time when the dream of most Nigerian youths is to find themselves in Europe, U.S or even China, a young Plateau man is forfeiting all the luxuries of the greener pasture he enjoys in Germany in order to come and serve his home State, or so he wants us to believe.

In the last few months, Daniel Kutchin has been announcing his intention to vie for the most coveted political seat in Plateau State. So far, he is the only candidate, to the best of my knowledge, who has publicly announced his aspiration to become the Governor of Plateau State. However, I am certain that by the eleventh hour, we may lose count of gubernatorial candidates in Plateau State, in anycase, Kutchin has made his hay on time.

Since the commencement of the Fourth Republic, and fourteen years on, Plateau has never had a governor who has measured up to eighty percent (80%) approval from the electorates at the end of his tenure, although, unarguably, Jang proves to be better than Joshua Dariye, while not denying the fact that Dariye still has more charisma (I can’t figure out what transcendental means he uses to achieve this). Late J. D. Gomwalk, Governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State, flaunts an unbeatable record of infrastructural development, passionate leadership and foresight which have yet to be surpassed. In this democratic era, Plateau State remains in dire need of a political deus ex machina come 2015, and the only person at sight now is Dr. Daniel Kutchin.
Candidly, I have never heard of the name Daniel Kutchin until this year, 2013, and with regard to his ambition, I checked his profile and was awed by his intellectual prowess; to summarize most shallowly, Dr. Kutchin is a Ph.D holder in nuclear physics, an IT expert and a CISCO Certified internetwork expert. He has spent over 25 years comfortably in Germany. He has served under a Presidential Committee on Nuclear Energy aside from the many roles and positions he held among Nigerian people in Diaspora. Politically, Kutchin is coming back to Plateau State as a saint. He has not stepped upon anyone’s toes and he is without foes yet. It is not the same case for our home-based politicians who are nursing the same aspiration; If they declare their intentions this early, it will be followed by tons of propaganda and blackmail that will crush them in a week, perhaps that is the main reason why they would all prefer to launch out at the same time. In this regard, Kutchin has a tabula rasa to his advantage but Plateau people must be cautious lest they experience a replay of James Ibori or Dimeji Bankole if they subscribe to the unfounded notion that all things from abroad (including humans) are of higher quality.

At a time when the dream of most Nigerian youths is to find themselves in Europe, U.S or even China, a young Plateau man is forfeiting all the luxuries of the greener pasture he enjoys in Germany in order to come and serve his home State, or so he wants us to believe.

In the last few months, Daniel Kutchin has been announcing his intention to vie for the most coveted political seat in Plateau State. So far, he is the only candidate, to the best of my knowledge, who has publicly announced his aspiration to become the Governor of Plateau State. However, I am certain that by the eleventh hour, we may lose count of gubernatorial candidates in Plateau State, in anycase, Kutchin has made his hay on time.

Since the commencement of the Fourth Republic, and fourteen years on, Plateau has never had a governor who has measured up to eighty percent (80%) approval from the electorates at the end of his tenure, although, unarguably, Jang proves to be better than Joshua Dariye, while not denying the fact that Dariye still has more charisma (I can’t figure out what transcendental means he uses to achieve this). Late J. D. Gomwalk, Governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State, flaunts an unbeatable record of infrastructural development, passionate leadership and foresight which have yet to be surpassed. In this democratic era, Plateau State remains in dire need of a political deus ex machina come 2015, and the only person at sight now is Dr. Daniel Kutchin. Candidly, I have never heard of the name Daniel Kutchin until this year, 2013, and with regard to his ambition, I checked his profile and was awed by his intellectual prowess; to summarize most shallowly, Dr. Kutchin is a Ph.D holder in nuclear physics, an IT expert and a CISCO Certified internetwork expert. He has spent over 25 years comfortably in Germany. He has served under a Presidential Committee on Nuclear Energy aside from the many roles and positions he held among Nigerian people in Diaspora. Politically, Kutchin is coming back to Plateau State as a saint. He has not stepped upon anyone’s toes and he is without foes yet. It is not the same case for our home-based politicians who are nursing the same aspiration; If they declare their intentions this early, it will be followed by tons of propaganda and blackmail that will crush them in a week, perhaps that is the main reason why they would all prefer to launch out at the same time. In this regard, Kutchin has a tabula rasa to his advantage but Plateau people must be cautious lest they experience a replay of James Ibori or Dimeji Bankole if they subscribe to the unfounded notion that all things from abroad (including humans) are of higher quality.

Last week, Dr. Kutchin was interviewed by ViewPoint Nigeria, an online newspaper agency, and though talk is cheap, but if words of politicians are anything to go by, Dr. Kutchin offers a broad ray of hope for Plateau people. Already, Governor Jonah Jang has created an extra large pair of boots for his successor but in Dr. Kutchin’s words, “Jang will not continue to remain a shadow over me”. He said so in response to the question ‘do you think you will be able to match what Jang has achieved? Kutchin agreed that Jang has done well but pledged to place more emphasis on Infrastructural development, agriculture, health and education sectors. For anyone that has experienced Plateau Thoroughly, the names Derek Joy, Karl Kumm and J.D Gomwalk are as common as table salt. These people are the ones Kutchin looks up to and often pictures himself in their shoes. If Kutchin truly looks up to them, then we can be certain that he is heading for the stars.

If elections were conducted on social media, I would safely prognosticate, even from now, that Dr. Kutchin will be the Governor of Plateau State, however, less that thirty percent (30%) of Plateau people are on the social media and of the same percentage, less than a quarter of them concern themselves with politics on social media. There is every need for him to reach every nook and cranny of the state before 2015. People want to be heard, felt and touched even without money. Kutchin has declared that he is a bona fide PDP member, without being told we can assume that he would be contesting under the Peoples’ Democratic Party, a party in which not many people are optimistic it can deliver in 2015. Aside that, there are other grass root politicians in the same party that could rob him of his ambition and give the highest bidder, as the case always is.

Only time will tell who the cap really fits and who the people want to wear the cap – if they are actually allowed to decide – but Dr. Daniel Kutchin is, in my opinion, a worthy candidate given his record of achievements. People have strained their ears to hear names of prospective successors to Jonah David Jang but the name that keeps popping up is Daniel Kutchin, so I ask – Is Daniel Kutchin the much anticipated messiah?

By Bizum Yadok

Bizum is a political analyst and social affairs commentator based in Jos, he can be reached at [email protected]

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Plateau 2015: Could Daniel Kutchin be the anticipated messiah? – by Bizum Yadok