Ortom's Press War,An Infantile Squabble.

By Becky Igyuse

When John the Baptist landed in the wilderness, his voice thundered in the desert; 'repent ye for the judgement of God is at hand'. Yes, John the Baptist wanted people to repent, reconcile with God in readiness for the messiah. This was an offering of a very simple bargain. The people were to repent while God was to forgive and provides salvation through Christ. Repentance, as it were, is a prerequisite for forgiveness, the icing been restitution. Restitution seals forgiveness as an irrevocable deal. It heals the wound, the scar and makes it look as if nothing ever happened.


Governor Ortom is an avowed Christian and he has said for the umpteenth time that the probing of the past government  is predicated upon the desire of the people of the state to find out what happened to their commonwealth rather than his own personal agenda. His position since the issues of probing the past government came up has been that, the former governor should repent and do restitution. From this stand point, one understands that Gov. Ortom has already concluded that the former governor has dipped hands in the pot and needs to confess, repent and return the meaty chunks like an errant child. And like God, if the former governor were to repent and do restitution, assuming he accepts guilt, then a deal will be sealed as if nothing ever happened in that pot.

In a recent interview however, the governor made a parody of this parallel when he volte-faced by saying that even if the former governor repents and makes restitution through a plea bargain,the law must run its course. This seemingly sold Governor Ortom off as either standing logic on the head or pursuing an age long vendetta. Otherwise, what does repentance/restitution stands for in the Christian parlance. As a professing Christian, the governor ought to know that taking a step towards genuine repentance and restitution translate to buying freedom from God. Nobody ever worships God for nothing; it's either one is trying to negotiate against thunderbolts, gigantic eternal fire or for a desire to acquiesce with an illusive promise of seven virgins somewhere. Even God himself has said that He has not called mankind to serve him in vain. If somebody were to repent and still go to hell, will anybody ever repent? Won't someone rather walk with his bags and baggage of sins into hell?

More worrisome is the fact that this issue of probes, accusations and counter accusations has now occupied the front burner of the current administration, over shadowing almost everything. Granted that people want to know what happened to their commonwealth, should that over shadow the campaign promises of this administration? Is this a justification to abandon governance and start trading words with the previous government on a daily basis? The Nigerian economy is in such a bad condition that window-dressing it with bailouts and stuff can never be a solution. One really needs to put one's head in his kitchen to cook up something akin to a magical wand. Against this background, it is ignoble to be seen what is currently churning out of the media from Benue state daily in this clash of the Titans.

Four years may look long for one to  govern but may not be too long for the Nigerian  judiciary to adjudicate on one single case. If this administration continues on a single lane of funds recovery, four years may come and go and we will still be talking of funds recovery and or of what damage the previous government has done to the financial status of the state. It makes no sense automatically for Gov. Ortom's media machinery to be deployed solely to engage or tackle smear campaign purportedly coming from the previous government. Whereas it amounts to beating a child and telling him not to cry, it adds nothing to governance. Taking over governance from a different political platform is enough for his media machine to have build in a shock absolver to absolve all sorts of opposition media rantings without a corresponding response and still looks good.

Although one media assistance to a former president once propounded a theory that a media lie not denied automatically becomes a fact which can be quoted or used by students for their project work, this theory has yet gained widely acceptance. In any case, if only one raging party in the squabble decides to keep quiet, within a short period, the accusations and counter accusations will die, leaving the panels to do their work as has been allowed by the law courts. It is not even the job of the sitting government to propagate proceedings of the panel as it is been done now on the social media.

The question that begs examination is; in all these noises, whose work is been distracted now. Is it that of the previous government or that of today's? The previous government has nothing to loose even if it decides to shout twenty four hours/seven. Of course, been out of governance, it has no other work to be held accountable for than to defend itself. On the other hand, if the current administration can take stocks of what lies ahead, it has no luxury of time to engage in the battle of words when it has yet delivered conclusively on one single campaign promise. Governance is not only about sainthood. It's about coming real on promises, hopes and aspirations of the people. Even if the current administration can account for every kobo it has spent so far, recover all the perceived stolen funds, it still does not translate to a visible fulfillment of a campaign promise. We've seen that with Abacha's loot. It is pertinent for Gov. Ortom to note that pursuing the previous administration was never one of his campaign promises in the first place even as he was part of that government and may have seen the rot before election.

If Benue state must move forward any further, this noise must stop from all the angles. It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. It is an infantile distraction. After all, it is not only Benue state government that has financial issues with the past government. Within this short period, Governor Wike's probe panels have already sat and concluded on the probes of Governor Amaechi without a bang. Why must ours be so different? What is the big deal in all these?

Written By Mrs Becky Mseater Igyuse

Proprietress/CEO Becky Igyuse College 

Makurdi Benue State.