Struggling with Igbos over Leadership in Gboko main Market is shameful and politics taking too far
By
Rev. Fr. Michael Melladu
Rev. Fr. Michael Melladu
On 6th of December 2017, activities were shut down in Gboko Main Market
by Igbo traders in a bid to resist an attempt by some Tiv youths
engineered by unscrupulous politicians to take over the leadership of
the market through the back door. I stand with the paramount ruler of
the Tiv nation, the Tor Tiv, to condemn this act as barbaric,
uncivilized and altogether undemocratic.
Nigeria as we all know
is a multinational country with numerous ethnic groups, each known and
respected for what they can do best. If Nigeria were to be a meal, then
this remains the spices that make it delicious. This same respect for
different nationalities according to their areas of specialty is the
glue that binds all the tribes in the Nigeria unromantic marriage.
Consequently, this mutual respect is sacred and must not be sacrifice on
the altar of any personal or political interest.
It is an
indisputable fact that the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria are born traders,
unrepented business men/women and entrepreneurs of international
recognition. You don’t need to love them before you accept this fact and
its validity does not need any verification and is not subject to
anybody’s approval. In the same way the most tribalistic person in this
country would avoid buying soya even from his sibling but patronize an
Hausa person, that is how strong the recognition of Igbos as business
men is in this country and beyond.
On the other hand, a typical
Tiv man is naturally forged with extra ordinary strength for tough and
hard works. This strength is mainly channeled towards farming by almost
all Tiv people of all classes and qualification. As a result of this,
Benue state without mechanized Agriculture still remains the highest
producer of food in the whole country. Farming for a Tiv man is not just
a profession but a way of life and that explains why even our elite who
are billionaires still own and visit their farms periodically.
While an Igbo man would consider going to the farm as stressful and
harassing, a Tiv man would see sitting down in a shop from morning till
evening as boring and a sign of laziness. Which of them is right? None
of them is right, neither are they wrong, but that is the peculiarity of
the two tribes. This then gives you an explanation as to why in the
ancestral home of the Tiv nation, Gboko, the Igbos still own over 90 %
of shops and businesses. Symbiotically, while the Tiv rely on the Igbos
for their shopping, the Igbos depend solely on their host for food
supplies. What a collaborative relationship?
Armed with the above
knowledge, I was sadden and so did every responsible person in Benue
when we got up on 6th of December to be greeted with the sad news that
some misguided Tiv youths wanted to take over the leadership of Gboko
main Market from the Igbos by coercing them to succumb over a matter
that is already a subject of litigation. When the Igbos attempted to
resist this unwarranted and unpopular coup, these youths which some
people may prefer to call hoodlums shut down the entire market by
barricading traders from entering their shops. This had the potentiality
of bringing about total breakdown of law and order except for the
timely intervention of the Tor Tiv and security agencies.
Every
detribalize Nigerian would go with me that making a Tiv person the
market leader in Gboko main market is like making an Igbo or Hausa man
the chairman of Farmers Association in Benue state or a Yoruba man the
chairman of Cattle Breeders Association. This by all stretch of
imagination is unrealistic; it is unthinkable and altogether ridiculous
and impracticable. Allowing a Tiv man to occupy the position of deputy
chairman in that market I am sure was done by the Igbos as a way of
compensating their host community; this is enough and aught to be
appreciated.
How did we get to this?
I simply describe
it as politics taking too far. We have a breed of politicians who wish
to control literally everything in the state. They determine who becomes
the chairman of Loaders Association, the chairman of Motto Park
Workers, the chairman of Okada Riders, the chairman of Wheelbarrow
Pushers, the chairman of Butchers Association etc. Whenever they fail to
install a candidate of their own choice then no one in that sector will
know peace until they have their way. This market coup if you ask me
was certainly planned by some Abuja-base Politicians, monitored by their
local leagues and only executed by their gullible foot soldiers.
Once again, as usual, I end by advising the Benue youths in the following words:
A good leader/representative would help you to form farming
co-operatives to enable you access soft loans from banks so as to make
your lives more productive and not sending you to go and take over an
organisation you have nothing to do with.
A good
leader/representative would struggle to get your names enlisted in the
military or Para-military for recruitment and not using you to unleash
mayhem on those going about their legitimate businesses.
A good
leader/representative would establish large and small scale industries
and get you employed and not sending you on missions that are suicidal.
A good leader/representative would set up skills acquisition centres to
make you entrepreneurs, leading to self sufficiency and not making you
political thugs.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER ON
Benue people ask yourselves these questions and try to provide answers:
Why are foreigners owners of all the dis-stoned milling machines in
all our Rice Mills? Does it mean our Billionaire politicians cannot set
up any of these? Why are oranges getting rotten in our orchards
especially now? Why are our old feeble mothers still throwing way their
tomatoes gotten from their untold labour? Why are other tribes coming to
collect our soya beans and other crops at take-away prices to make
millions out of them while we remain impoverished? No one to set up
small scale industries or attract investors so that we can make value
out our sufferings?
Our leaders will certainly not do any of
these things mentioned above because their plan is to perpetually make
you willing and pliable violent tools in their hands until you meet your
untimely and miserable death. Their plan is to unleash poverty on the
land and thereby politically enslave the Benue people for eternity. Let
us break these chains; we are too rich to be poor.
Finally, I
hereby call on all Igbos who are in Gboko for legitimate businesses to
relax themselves as there is no cause for alarm just as they have been
assured by the Tor Tiv and security agencies.
Ndi Igbo Kwenu!
Zuonu!
Rienu!
Kwezuonu oooooooooooo!
Zuonu!
Rienu!
Kwezuonu oooooooooooo!
I remain the desert voice,
Fr. Michael Melladu
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