An encounter with Governor Suswam @ 50

Tall, vibrant and handsome, the eloquence in his speech combined with the sharpness in his analysis is among the several attributes that make him come across among his admirers as a jolly good fellow. Indeed, it was a delight encountering Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State as he shared his life experiences at the golden […]

Tall, vibrant and handsome, the eloquence in his speech combined with the sharpness in his analysis is among the several attributes that make him come across among his admirers as a jolly good fellow. Indeed, it was a delight encountering Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State as he shared his life experiences at the golden age of 50.

Even as the preparations to mark his 50th birthday anniversary were underway, controversy started trailing in like the several controversies that had trodden his path through life. On Thursday last week, a group known as PDP-Benue Supporters Club had written an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, dissuading him from visiting Benue State in solidarity with Suswan on the auspicious occasion of his birthday. In the letter, the authors unleashed a catalogue of reasons why Jonathan should not visit Benue State to felicitate with Suswam. Some of the issues they raised bother on teachers strike/slice in workers’ salaries in Benue; flood disaster relief fund; sale of Benue State shares in Dangote Cement Plc, ward congresses of the PDP as well as lack of infrastructural development in the State.
In a swift reaction, Dr Cletus Akwaya, Governor Suswam’s media consultant replied with a rejoinder detailing reasons why the president must visit Benue State on the occasion of his principal’s birthday.
Only on the eve of the controversial birthday celebration, the governor himself survived death by the whiskers when his convoy was involved in a ghastly road accident that also involved his deputy, Stephen Lawani. The incident was a reminder of other similar encounters he had in the past. For instance, during the farmers/herders crisis in the state earlier in the year, Suswan escaped death when his convoy ran into an ambush by suspected herders that opened fire on him.
 It was in the light of these and several other experiences that made the encounter with Suswam by some journalists at his residence at Maitama in Abuja last week prove revealing and interesting.
Waxing philosophical, Suswam began by saying: “In everything I give thanks and glory to God because Psalm 118: 23-25 says “This is the day the Lord has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.” I give glory to God because within a short space of 50, I have been able to be who I am today.  It is only the grace of God that gave me the opportunity and privilege of being in the National Assembly for eight years and being governor for almost eight years before turning 50.”

Humble beginning: For Gabriel Suswam, attaining the golden age of 50 was a journey that had a humble beginning. Born in a polygamous family, his father was a traditional ruler. Interestingly, he was born during the Tiv riots called the Atem Tyo in 1964; hence the meaning of his native name, Torwua.  “My father had more than 15 wives.
You know in a polygamous family, if your mother does not struggle, you end up in the village. I was lucky my mother was a struggling woman. I grew up basically with her picking up the bills. We were six but two have died and I am third in line of the boys. So, I was born in a humble background”, Suswam said.
There were a lot of difficulties growing up, but Suswam said his mother was able to struggle to overcome some of those hiccups and gave them education, and all of them became university graduates. He recalled: “While I was in form two in 1978, my father passed on and the entire responsibility of raising six children was on my mother’s shoulders, but she was very industrious and was able to move us from the village to Makurdi and was able to train us. Fundamentally, I grew up with my grandmother, but still under the same circumstances.”
Through her mother, Suswam said he imbibed the virtue of discipline, courage and commitment without necessarily being aggressive. “My mother was a much disciplined woman and that has helped me in life because you will never see me being aggressive or shouting or making noise. I am disciplined about things that I want to do. I also know that I am a very courageous person. I got that from my mother; I fear only God but I respect people. Once I set my eyes on something, I am always focused”, he said.

His foray into politics: Although he is now fully drenched in the waters of politics, Suswam said politics was not his first calling.
He said: “I did not like politics. My immediate elder brother was the one that was into politics. But growing up, we went to NKST Primary School, Zaki-Biam and NKST Mission School was where a measure of discipline was exercised. I wanted to become an economist because right from secondary school, I was very good in some subjects like History which I got A1 in my WAEC; Literature I had A2; Economics I had A3 .I was focused on being an economist but when I went to SBS, the stories about wigs and lawyers became a big attraction. So, after SBS, I came out with 10 points and I decided that I was going to be a lawyer.”
The drive to read Law prompted Suswam to apply to the University of Lagos even though he hadn’t been to Lagos before. “The university was the first thing that took me to Lagos in 1986. I was given admission.
After graduation and qualifying as a lawyer, I started practice with some senior colleague’s chambers and later joined Harris Ogbole. We were just struggling young lawyers. But we decided that we were moving to Abuja and it was while in Abuja that I started going home and I had some friends with disposition to politics. Suddenly, General Abacha died. I was home when he died and the young men began to meet and I was meeting with them. When they formed the PDP, in the Youth Wing where we were meeting, I found myself going to my local government constantly.”
Interestingly, Suswam does not give credit to any prominent Tiv kinsman as his political role model; not even the revered Joseph Sarwuan Tarka of the UMBC political fame.  Who then was his political model? Suswam said: “While I was a student of politics in SBS, people like Aminu Kano and Waziri Ibrahim attracted me a lot. They were characters that I used to listen to, and what Dr Olusola Saraki was doing in Kwara interested me a lot. So, I looked up to them as people worth emulating.”

‘No godfather’: Although Senator George Akume influenced Suswam’s emergence as governor of Benue State in 2007, they soon parted ways politically; a development Suswan said was the outcome of his bid to assert his independence. Commenting on his relationship with Akume, Suswam said: “Akume is my elder brother, he is my boss and we worked together very closely and among other people, he participated actively in making sure that I become governor. We parted ways politically because there were certain tendencies that did not agree with my philosophy and so we parted ways. We are not enemies, but politically we parted ways and we still relate. I believe that there is room for us to relate as we move on.”

Face-off with Gemade: As he prepares to vacate his seat at the Government House, Makurdi next year, Goverrnor Suswam is planning to seek election into the Senate to represent Benue North East zone where former PDP national chairman, Barnabas Gemade is currently holding sway. His ambition to unseat Gemade has pitched the two of them in a fierce political battle ahead of 2015. What then is his relationship with Gemade? Suswam said: “Senator Gemade is an elder that I respect very much. When we started this politics and said it was a Youth Wing he was the leader of the elders and eventually he became the national chairman of this party. So I respect him. When I became governor and he said that he wanted to be a senator, I supported him with my whole heart.
Commenting on the face-off between them Suswam said: “For Senator Gemade, what I would have expected from him as an elder statesman was to call all of us and sit down and say’look, we have an understanding in our senatorial district. These four years are not enough; for me what can we do?’ Instead he went straight attacking me and assassinating my character and all kinds of things, and I felt that for an elder that is not right and that is not fair. The people said that I should go to the Senate. The elders, unanimously, with no exception, said that I should go; they bought my form with their meager resources.”
Perhaps the greatest challenge he encountered as governor of Benue State was the crisis between farmers and herdsmen that led to the killing of many and the destruction to property running into millions of Naira. Most observers say Suswam’s future is uncertain as the battle to unseat Gemade is left to be seen.
Should he secure the PDP ticket he will also have to slug it out with candidates from the opposition parties? If he loses out he would either fall back on political appointments such as minister, ambassador or go into private business. But Suswan, in a recent interview,  said only God can stop him from his senatorial ambition.