Why is the Idoma nation underdeveloped?
Gen. Onoja made some comments regarding creation of Apa State, youth unemployment and election rigging in the Idoma nation. He attributed all these to leaders, including himself, but was more particular to lawmakers of Idoma extraction. Gen. Onoja’s point on what the law makers should do suggests that the military tactician needs some tutoring on […]
Gen. Onoja made some comments regarding creation of Apa State, youth unemployment and election rigging in the Idoma nation. He attributed all these to leaders, including himself, but was more particular to lawmakers of Idoma extraction. Gen. Onoja’s point on what the law makers should do suggests that the military tactician needs some tutoring on democracy with specialization on Separation of Powers.
Onoja is so preoccupied with his ambition to contest for Senatorial seat in Benue State that he forgot the fact that he is also a stakeholder in the PDP which is the government in power at the centre. He can equally influence projects and appointments to the zone. Where he maintains that he is not in position to do that, the proper practice of diplomacy has it that he should align with those whom God has granted such powers now. I do not know but it will be of interest to we the Idoma youths if Onoja in his next article tells us if he had met with Idoma lawmakers especially Senator David Mark on how to move the Idoma nation forward or not. Needless to ask, what has Onoja done to the zone since he assumed duties as Chairman of the National Sports Institute?
If those at the helm of affairs today “failed” to create Apa State as Gen. Onoja’s article suggests, it is worth pondering. But as students of history, we are not unaware that state creation in Nigeria comes with ease under military regimes and that in fact, no state had been created under a civilian government.
Someone needs to know that state creation was started in 1967 by the regime of Gen. Yakubu Gowon. The Babangida administration created two states in 1987 and nine states in 1991 while Abacha created six states: If you ask me, the best time to have an Apa state would have been during the rein of Gen. Abacha when the Idoma nation had one of its own as Principal Secretary to the Head of State, in the name of Lawrence Onoja.
While the interview granted NewsWatch Magazine might have spoilt the show for Apa state as claimed by Gen. Onoja, I think that the collective good of Nigeria is supreme. Mark told us the kind of leadership to expect from Gen. Abacha in that famous interview. He was vindicated because Abacha proved every word of Mark’s right.
Lecture notes for Gen. Onoja: The legislature’s primary duty is making laws, oversight functions and all that but never execution of projects, that is the work of the executive. Gen. Onoja seems to be confusing the roles played by the two arms of government and making nonsense of what French political philosopher; Baron Montesquieu did on separation of powers.
More than ever, we now believe the words of Abraham Lincoln who wrote: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, you can fool all the people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time”. Some of us were fooled that a David Mark in the Senate spells doom for the Idoma nation and were the likes of Onoja and not David Mark were given the opportunity, the story will be that of success. Time has revealed all this. Mark was eventually elected President of the Senate; he has been able to bond the Senate under one leadership for almost three years. We have some federal appointments now, (although I cannot mention names here).
2011 general elections is not a theater that artist would use pages of newspapers to deceive us, we must shine our eyes. I am not canvassing that all I said about David Mark should be taken hook line and sinker but that it should be weighed considering that the facts are there for you to check. This is the time for us to choose between consciousness power and unconsciousness power.
Abochi wrote from Onyagede Street, Otukpo and can be reached at [email protected]