A leader is someone who has the interest of his followers at heart,
\none who strives at all times to ensure that he carries the people
\nalong in his daily duties and governance. No leader who is genuinely
\nelected by the people can or should despise the people because he owes
\nwhat he is to them. And considering the transience of power and life,
\nhe knows that someday he will leave power and go back to the level of
\nthe people. No matter how tasteful power is, he must guard himself
\nfrom becoming power drunk.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Suswam the Executive Governor of Benue State, is someone you
\nwill say emerge due to imposition and rigging of elections in his
\nfavour. A benefit he derived from his erstwhile god father, George
\nAkume. He has been in charge of Benue for the past 7 years and i must
\nconfess that his tenure has not been savoury. Suswam is someone you
\nwill say is power drunk and since the people played little or no role
\nin his emergence as governor, their wishes are no business of his, he
\nsimply doesn’t give a hoot about them and they can go to hell for all
\nhe care!<\/p>\n
It is in this drunken state that he has become hardened and has
\nneglected his primary responsibility to the people of the food basket
\nState. Did i say food basket State? Well, that was then not now.<\/p>\n
One area where this drunkenness comes to the fore, is the way the
\ngovernor has handled issues bordering on the strike by primary school
\nteachers. Suffice it to state that primary schools in Benue State have
\nbeen closed since July 2013 and its dear governor finds nothing wrong
\nwith this. If you visit Benue, you find children of school age hawking
\nfish, orange, mango, and some of them are conductors. The other day i
\nasked young boy who is a conductor, he is not in school, he said his
\nteachers have been on strike and that his parents lack the means of
\nsending him to a private school.<\/p>\n
Governor Gabriel Suswam is himself a product of the LGEA, one
\ntherefore wonder why he has decided to be this harsh with his alma
\nmater. Imagine if the governor during his time had closed down schools
\nfor this long, would he have risen to where he is today? Allowing
\nprimary schools to be shut down for this long shows one thing; Gabriel
\nSuswam does not value and appreciate education!<\/p>\n
The effect of this closure can cannot be quantified. Imagine the
\nnumber of teachers who have been idle for a long time. Most of them
\nhave nothing to do and were primarily dependent on their meagre salary
\nwhich government has graciously held on to. They are humans and they
\nhave responsibilities which they must meet. They must feed, clothe,
\nand do other things. If they are not working and have earned nothing
\nfor eleven months, how would they meet these demands? A lot of them
\nhave died and more are dying. But government is still adamant!<\/p>\n
We dare not forget the dependants of these teachers, who have been
\nforced to adjust to the realities of life. I have met some of them and
\ni tell you its not been easy. Life has been a living hell for a lot of
\nthem. No wonder crime rate has increased. Who takes the blames for
\nthis increase in crime, is it the people who have been pushed into
\ncommitting crime or the person who pushed them?<\/p>\n
The number three citizen of Nigeria is from Benue State. Supposing he
\nwants to feign ignorance of the ongoing strike by teachers on the
\npremise that he has not visited the state for a long time, which is
\nnot possible, atleast he was here on th 29 May 2014 where he praised
\nthe governor and even described him as his son. Why hasn’t he
\ntherefore adviced his son to the the appropriate thing? President
\nGoodluck Jonathan is also a close pal of the governor. Why hasn’t he
\nadviced him? Why haven’t the elders of Benue State adviced him? Or is
\nit that this man does not listen to advice?<\/p>\n
I am making a passionate plea to well meaning Nigerians to intervene
\nin the ongoing crises beween the governor and teachers in Benue State.
\nAll stakeholders should please intervene to save Benue from imminent
\ncollaspe.<\/p>\n
Let me also call on the Nigerian Union of Teachers to also intervene
\nand urge its branch in Benue to let reason prevail let also not
\nforclose the opportunity for dialogue and the hardline stances adopted
\nby it should be reconsidered.<\/p>\n
Frank Ijege
\n@Foijege on twitter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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