Former Governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shehu Shema has revealed that he left the state with N14 billion in the treasury, contrary to allegation by his successor, Aminu Bello Masari led administration that he left an empty treasury and mountain of debts.
Ex-Gov Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State Shema who spoke today, Saturday, at the Northwest Zonal rally and reception to receive people who decamped from APC, PDM and APGA to the PDP in the state, said he left a buoyant treasury.
He said that he had left the government to God over the allegations, witch-hunting and humiliation against his personality.
Shema also debunked allegations by the Masari administration that he left the state with debts from loans while challenging them to publish a statement showing where it solicit for loans from foreign and local sources. In his words:
“We left N14.5 billion in the coffers of the state. We challenge them to publish a report that we solicit for loans from foreign and local sources throughout our tenure in office.
“We gave your children free education, paid for their WAEC and NECO fees. We built government house and stadium of world standard and they were challenging and faulting us. Are all these waste?
“Whoever says he is going to continue to witch hunt us, we leave them with God. To fight corruption is necessary in Nigeria but must be fought with clear objective, fairness and equity.
Meanwhile, Shema is currently being challenged over the alleged misappropriation of public funds under his administration at the State High Court.
“Paint my picture truly like me,” Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) told the artist about to paint his portrait, “pimples, warts, and everything as you see me.”
David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, retired brigadier general, former senate president and longest serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, presents avant-garde views or perspectives to writers who indulge in the enterprise of questioning and contextualizing the essence or quintessence of grandees.
In such an enterprise, the subject matter becomes a captive in the fertile imagination of the writer who is at liberty to either build or dismantle primordial prejudices; or deconstruct or even reconstruct the persona of the subject on the writ large platform of conscionable journalistic interrogation.
Perceptions and perspectives assume free reins. That is the tragedy, so to speak, of heroes. They are subjected to the vagaries of characterisations that most times encapsulate both the sublime and the ridiculous; the garish and the outlandish; the profound and the jejune; the profane and the celestial.
Inevitably, Mark, who is now 70 (April 8, 2018), is one of the latest captives of this obligatory ritual which many crave and many others loathe. There is always the existential fear about the double-edged nature of good and bad that media hype breeds. The fear of the occasional collateral damage, yes, of the unintended consequences, is real and grisly.
Yet, it could be salutary, somewhat, to introspective self-assessment of how well one has fared whether rightly or wrongly in the domain of public perception, especially for those in public offices, who must be taken through the critical appraisal index. It is in this context that the essential David Mark cannot escape essential consideration.
Mark, without a doubt, means different things to different people. To some, he remains a gentleman officer even in retirement; to others, he is an astute politician and strategist with rare legerdemain; some more see him as a philanthropist with capacity for cornucopian eleemosynary while some perceive him as a passionate golfer.
These are not all to the variegated perspectives: some see him as a budding religious aficionado of the catholic hue while others see him as traditional for his receptiveness of the traditional title of Okpokpowulu K’Idoma (the leader of war or the bulldozer of Idoma) from his Royal Majesty, Agabaidu Elias Ikoyi Obekpa, the Och’Idoma IV of Idomaland, in 2009 or thereabout in recognition of his numerous contributions to the development of Idoma land.
But my preoccupation herein is to illuminate the philosophical underpinning of the activities, the life and times of a man whose entirety evokes, at once, multiple perspectives by admirers and traducers alike. I could have adapted the one-liner summation of the French philosopher, Rene Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” meaning “I think therefore I am” when he was asked who a man is, to answer the question as to who David Mark is.
Who is David Mark? And what are his essences? I could settle for one of the perspectives supra in a quick riposte and go ahead to adumbrate his essences within the narrow confine of just a perspective. But on the unique occasion of his 70th birthday, I cannot be unfair to him with a one-dimensional or one-liner appreciation.
Therefore, Mark is a fitting summation of all the perspectives and for a man to deserve this kind of approximation makes him a phenomenon. I take the opportunity of his 70thbirthday to celebrate a friend and mentor who chose, at a critical intersection in my coverage of the Senate as THISDAY politics editor in Abuja, to let me into his life by force of appreciation of my intellectual capital.
My reportage of the politicking of the race for the senate presidency in 2007 had been misconstrued as opposition to Mark’s senate presidency and that disposition had preponderated reportorial interactions until 2009 when Mark turned 61. The Deputy Editor of THISDAY on Sunday, Mr. Collins Edomaruse, asked me to do a tribute on him (Mark) about the close of production, which I did under 40 minutes.
I did not even read through the piece for errors. I pressed the send key on my computer. It was after the piece titled: “Pomp, as Mark Turns 61 in the Saddle” was published in The Gavel-to-Gavel page that I read through and felt I had done a pretty good job. I later realised I had done a masterpiece on Mark when the then deputy minority leader, Senator Mohammed Mana from Adamawa state, called to commend me for what he called “a beautiful and brilliant piece”.
I had to go back to read through myself. By Thursday of that week, I got a message through an AIT cameraman that the senate president said he would like to see me. I went to see him in the office in company with his Chief of Staff and Special Adviser Media, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan. Mark said to me that he read through my piece and decided to call to commend me for it.
It was a particularly fulfilling encounter for me. The kind words were like a balm. If I remember vividly, he said: “You are a brilliant writer. You are not like some journalists who mix up their tenses. I read you always in THISDAY and I agree with many of the issues you have interrogated except for one or two which we will discuss later.”
That was how we struck a relationship that has endured so far. When I was redeployed by THISDAY from Senate to assume a new position as State House Bureau Chief, I had the privilege of being hosted to a dinner at the Apo Mansion, the official quarters of the senate president. Since then, he has not broken the line of communication between us.
That, to me, is the essence of the intercourse between greatness and humility. Mark is a great man. He is a humble man, regardless of his visage and poise, contoured by his disciplined military background, which tend to be misconstrued for meanness and arrogance.
Last year, when I jointly wrote a tribute in commemoration of his 69th birthday, some salient issues were woven around his politics and convictions. The motivation that drove the reinforcement of those issues is still as compelling as it was last year. The argument is unassailable that Mark remains one of the most influential politicians around.
Therefore, it would be a good political contemplation to throw his hat in the ring of the 2019 presidency; after all, he is a northerner of the middle belt extraction. But unfortunately, narrow-mindedness of the tyrannical majority tribes is stifling a culture of political liberalism that would have shattered the barrier of minority impotence and limited access to the presidency.
It would be recalled that the Goodluck Jonathan presidency happened through an act of God. But beyond the minority question is the question of competence. Mark’s wealth of experience is not in doubt. His competence is also not in question. He remains a repository of experience that can be tapped in ideal situations to strengthen institutions. The stability of a nation is dependent on and strengthened by the potpourri of the wise counsels by experienced men and women at its beck and call.
As I wish him many happy returns in long life and good health, I sincerely believe that he must engage in obligatory introspection and decide how forcefully defining he intends to bequeath a body of legacies to future generations within the context of the larger national political constructions.
Is it going to be through some intervention in presidential politics or setting up of what I consider to be a much-needed David Mark’s Leadership and Policy Centre with the main thrust of stimulating and promoting constructive conversations aimed at ensuring national stability through peace and development?
The ball is the court of the birthday boy. Play it to your satisfaction, Sir! Congratulations on this milestone. To God is the glory.
A 12 year-old pupil of the Indian Language School in Lagos, Rishe Gnanasekaran, has emerged South West winner of the 15th Annual National Mathematics Competition.
The competition was organized by Nigerian Tulip International Colleges in conjunction with National Mathematics Centre, Abuja for primary five and six pupils of schools nationwide. About 39,000 pupils across the region participated in the competition, while the best 12 pupils, their teachers and schools won prizes.
All the winners would be given scholarships covering tuition and accommodation. The overall winner got a cash prize of N300, 000 while the teacher got N150, 000 and the school got a photocopy machine.
The second prize winner got N200,000, the teacher N100, 000 and the school a desk top computer while the third prize winner went away with N100,000 and the teacher got N75, 000. The prize for the school is a printer.
Winners from the fourth place, up to the 12th and their teachers also got various cash prizes.
The Principal NTIC, Ercan Yilmaz, said that the competition, organized by the college for the past 15 years, was aimed at developing greater capacity and promoting effective teaching and learning of mathematics at the primary levels.
Yilmaz said that there is nothing more important for the future of our countries and our citizens than high quality education for all.
“The Annual National Mathematics Competition (ANMC) has been ongoing for the past 15 years for all states in the country and we here in Lagos are in charge of 9 states namely: Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Delta and Edo States.
“We had 39, 600 pupils from 36 states across Nigeria who participated in this year`s competition and seated among us here are champions.
“As we celebrate the 15th edition winners of 2018 ANMC, various scholarships will be given today to these future changers; schools will be encouraged and so many Math teachers here will go home motivated and elated,” he said.
The Director-General in the Office of Quality Assurance, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Ronke Soyobo, said that the prize giving ceremony was a reward for hard work and a preparation for future challenges and leadership role of young leaders.
Soyobo commended the participants for putting on a spirit of sportsmanship. She urged the winners not to rest on their oars because there are future hurdles to still cross in their academic pursuit and leadership role.
“Put on the jacket of academic sportsmanship, imbibe good moral, as your schools continue to transform, reposition and take you to the Zenith of your chosen career.”
She lauded NTIC for its commitment and dedication to the development of education, growth of its school and concern for the progress of students and the community.
The Nigerian Tulip International College was formerly known as Nigeria Turkish International Colleges, an educational institution operating 16 schools in five states in Nigeria.
NTIC is aimed at producing academically excellent, morally upright and socially responsible citizens for Nigeria and the world.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus has said that Nigeria cannot survive another four years of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Prince Secondus told a crowd of PDP members and supporters in Katsina, capital of Katsina state today, Saturday that Nigerians can no longer endure the suffering brought about by the APC administration.
A statement by the Spokesman of Secondus, Ike Abonyi, quoted his boss as saying that they should be ready to vote out APC and keep hunger out of their lives.
Secondus was quoted as saying that Nigeria unity is seriously under threat because of APC style that has made Nigerians enemoes to themselves.
He told the rally which was organized by the North West zone of the party to formally welcome decamping members to the party that the APC has nothing to offer Nigerians.
“In katsina state, APC has nothing to show outside what late Umaru Yar Adua and Ibrahim Shema did for you.
“PDP is the only party that has the interest of the people at heart, it’s the only party that will guarantee national unity.”
Four PDP state governors, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, Darius Ishaku of Taraba, Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom and Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe were top PDP leaders that graced the occasion.
All members of the National Working Committee NWC of the PDP, the BOT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara and other members of the National Executives Committee NEC attended the rally.
National Chairman of the party later received thousands of decamping members led by a former Senator and gubernatorial aspirant, Senator Mohammed Lado.
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the former Senate President, and Senator representing Zone C Constituency of Benue State, Senator David Alechenu Mark for instituting maturity and stability in the Senate.
“The President commends the maturity, stability and focused legislation that he (David Mark) instituted in the upper chamber during the eight years he served as Senate President, and the dutifulness that culminated in the passing of many bills.”
In a message today, Saturday by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, to the Senator as he marks his 70th birthday, President Buhari believed that the wealth of experience which Senator Mark had gathered over the years will be most useful for the development of the country, especially in sustaining peace across the country.
He rejoiced with the family, friends and political associates of Senator Mark who he described as “the former military officer, who served the country variously as a governor, minister and Senate President.”
He prayed to God to grant the former Senate President longer life, good health and wisdom to continue serving his people and the country.
Recently, one of my friends deleted his account with Facebook and quit the platform. I inquired, what could have informed his decision to quit. He replied: “Facebook sucked my life; I cannot continue to expose myself to the daily outlandish lies, cacophonic hate speeches, fictitious opulence and disturbing images being peddled on the platform. My life is better now,” he added. I concurred with my friend and wished I could do the same because of my personal experience with social media.
Ever since I registered on the platform in late 2007, I have been wondering, how the giant social media platform, Facebook, successfully made its way into my life, which I could not just resist for good. But I discovered that, I’m just one out of millions being trapped in the same terrible predicament.
As a matter of fact, I had made several efforts in the past to quit the platform just to reassure myself of the very attitude of self-restraint which I had earlier known myself with, but, I failed woefully. With my profession fully linked to social media at some point in time, it even made it more difficult for such restraining measure to come into reality.
Few days ago, after the revelation of alleged facebook data scandal by a research firm, Cambridge Analytica, I decided to take the bull by the horns and forcefully turned my back on Facebook. Two weeks after, the result is so wonderful that I wish I would not go back to it again. My decision was so difficult at the beginning that I doubted my ability to avoid the platform without any uncontrollable constraint, such as lack of access to internet among others. Surprisingly, I have been off the facebook for the past two weeks without even missing it. Though, they have been bombarding me with several alluring notifications which I didn’t even care to open. It is a bizarre scenario of a typical social media lover like me – a passive and avid user of the new media.
Interestingly, during the period of my self-imposed restriction on facebook, I noticed several positive changes in me. Without mincing words, I became less depressed, more productive, very efficient and wonderful night rest. Therefore, I became more convinced that Facebook sucks our life by bombarding us with distressful contents. It utilizes psychological theories to hack into our brain to keep us glued to our phone screens.
We pay them by wasting our time clicking, sharing, liking and scrolling – again and again, and again, in the name of connecting us with our friends and families. They make their money by putting photos, personal posts, news stories and ads in our front. Because they can measure how we react, they just know how to get under our skin to collect data about us in order to have algorithms to determine what will catch our eye.
The recent controversy surrounding facebook data scandal attests to this claim. Indeed, Facebook is not only toxic, it has assumed a demonic position that kills our happiness, depletes our well-being, spreads resentments, erodes trust, polarizes our world and creates a pervasive sense of inadequacy in our mind which in turn undermines our faith and suppresses our internal peace. In support of this claim, research findings published late last year revealed that spending time on Facebook can leave people “feeling worse. Facebook negatively affect our well-being.”
Reacting to the findings, Facebook admitted the authenticity of the findings but deceitfully suggesting that “spending more engaging time on the Facebook can serve as an antidote to the danger posed by its platform.” A platform that forces people to act against their wills (we must react) indeed, does not worth using. Dear readers, don’t deactivate or delete your account with Facebook just yet. Try taking a little breather from it and see what happens. After then, you can do the needful. However, the question that may crop up in your mind is: “what is the alternative to Facebook that wouldn’t suck our life but add value to it?”
Indeed, there is an alternative that is far more beneficial to our well being. This alternative is devoid of hate speeches, gory images, outlandish lies and fictitious opulence that can lead you to engage in unrealistic social comparison. Just go to Quora.com and register asap.
You select topics that are of interest and beneficial to you. Thousands, perhaps millions of answers cum solutions provided by experienced and professional individuals to numerous problems are already there waiting for you. If you spend two hours reading quora, I can assure you, your time is not wasted.
Rather, it will add value to your life. It’s unlike Facebook and its likes. The sad tale of my predicament is that, I would soon return to Facebook.
Well, I hope that one day, I would be able to totally quit the platform for good.
President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has stressed the need for Nigeria to diversify it’s economy by addressing fundamental vulnerabilities and expanding none oil sector. Aliko Dangote, who spoke as Special Guest at the 3rd edition of the Kaduna Economic Investment Summit, KADINVEST in Kaduna, said: “given the capricious nature of crude Oil prices, Nigeria must quickly take advantage of the prevailing window of opportunity to diversify its economy.” Represented by Group Executive Director of the Group, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, the Business mogul said the gradual recovery of the economy as seen in past few months is an opportunity for all tiers of government to play critical roles to create the best environment and attract massive inflow of private capital and expertise into the economy. He observed the arguably biggest challenge of Nigeria, job creation, the pervasive consequencies of poverty across the country and youth unemployment etc, and said, if other regions with relatively less problems were working hard to attract investment, the North must work twice as hard because it is far behind, trailing the South in virtually all economic and social development indicators. “A lot clearly needs to be done by Northern states to reduce poverty and create opportunities, especially for the youths to earn decent income.” Dangote Group, in line with Government objectives set in motion, investment programmes aimed at improving the economy through cultivation of 130,000Ha of Sugar cane in Niger, Taraba, Adamawa and Nasarawa states directly and via out growers. Cultivation of about 10,500Ha of tomatoes in Katsina, Niger, Zamfara and Adamawa states and cultivation of 150,000Ha of rice across six northern states while Billions of Naira have also been committed to improving the lot of Nigerians through the Dangote Foundation- the largest charitable foundation in Africa with an endowment of $1.2bn. He lauded the great strides of Kaduna under Governor Nasiru El-rufai which has led to inflows of investments and commitment of investors in commercial, agriculture, light manufacturing and agro processing sectors. “KADINVEST is a clear indication of the value the Kaduna state government places on the private sector as an engine of growth, wealth creation and employment generation”. “Kaduna state has potential to become the regional engine of growth.” President Buhari in his goodwill message to the Summit, said his administration is a witness to the concrete and productive outcomes of KADINVEST since its commencement in 2016. Other developments in the state include the Olam Hatchery and Feedmill project in 2017. Federal Government says it will encourage similar initiatives across the sub-national level for the benefit of Nigerians. Governor el-Rufai said KADINVEST was conceived as platform to attract investments as the most sustainable avenue for job creation and to enhance internal generation and accelerate development of the state.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed contracts for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and financing of 614 kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and Stations.
According to the Corporation’s spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement today, Friday, said that the agreement which is 100 percent contractor-financing model was signed with a consortium of indigenous and Chinese companies.
“Under the terms of the contract, Lot 1, with a total length of 40-inch x 200km stretching from Ajaokuta to Abuja Terminal Gas Station (TGS), was awarded to the OilServe/Oando Consortium.
“Lot 3, which runs from Kaduna TGS to Kano TGS with a total length of 40inch x 221km, was awarded to the Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau Consortium.
“It is envisaged that contract agreement for Lot 3 which covers 40inch x 193km, stretching from Abuja to Kaduna, will be executed in the weeks ahead.”
Ndu Ughamadu said that the AKK Project, a section of the Trans-Nigerian Gas Pipeline under the Gas Infrastructure Blueprint, is designed to enable industrialization of the Eastern and Northern parts of Nigeria.
He said that the project will enable connectivity between the East, West, and North, which are currently not in existence.
The spokesman said that that the AKK section had suffered setbacks due to scarce resources, hence, the adoption of the contractor-financing model.
“The two other pipelines, the OB3 and ELPs 2 in the Gas Master Plan Blueprint, are currently at various stages of completion and financed directly by the Federal Government.”
The process of the award of the contract for the AKK Project began in July 2013 with advertisements for tenders published by the NNPC in major national newspapers.
After a technical and commercial evaluation process, the Federal Executive Council, at its 46th meeting on Dec. 13, 2017, approved the contract valued at over $2.8 billion.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has threatened that the state will drag President Mohammadu Buhari to court if he refuses to seek for a second term in 2019.
The governor, who spoke to news men in Abuja, said: “when he came to Kano, I told him that any time he decides not to contest we will take him to court. Kano state government will take him to court any time he decides not to contest. So we are waiting for him.”
He said that already all the governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have asked the President to continue, adding: “I am happy that it is not the president that said he wants to continue; it is the people that are saying continue but Mr. President has not made up his mind yet.”
Ganduje recalled a situation where presidents spent billions of Naira for the purpose of securing third term, even though it is the constitution, saying that it should not be a news for President Buhari to seek for constitutional second term.
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, has said that he is one of the first Nigerians to suggest amnesty for repentant members of the Boko Haram insurgents but that he was called names then.
“I think I was one of the first people to raise the issue of amnesty about five years ago, I know how much we were vilified,” he said.
Bishop Kukah, who spoke as a guest on Channels Television’s Hard Copy in Abuja, the nation’s capital, said: “but I was pretty convinced about what I was saying that for me if you mention the word amnesty, Nigerians think it simply means shaking hands and telling everybody to go home.”
He commended President Buhari’s decision to offer amnesty to members of the outlawed group, which was announced on March 23 this year, stressing that amnesty, is the way to go as nor has ended with victory being declared.
“If Boko Haram has been perceived to be as so weakened as it is, we would not be talking about negotiation. So clearly, those with superior information and superior knowledge – which is what government is all about – know something that the rest of us don’t.”
President Buhari had said that while further efforts were ongoing to secure the release of every citizen abducted by the insurgents, government is ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the group who showed strong commitment in that regard.
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A 12 year-old pupil of the Indian Language School in Lagos, Rishe Gnanasekaran, has emerged South West winner of the 15th Annual National Mathematics Competition.
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the former Senate President, and Senator representing Zone C Constituency of Benue State, Senator David Alechenu Mark for instituting maturity and stability in the Senate.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed contracts for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and financing of 614 kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and Stations.
The Essential David Mark At 70, By Sufuyan Ojeifo
“Paint my picture truly like me,” Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) told the artist about to paint his portrait, “pimples, warts, and everything as you see me.”
David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, retired brigadier general, former senate president and longest serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, presents avant-garde views or perspectives to writers who indulge in the enterprise of questioning and contextualizing the essence or quintessence of grandees.
In such an enterprise, the subject matter becomes a captive in the fertile imagination of the writer who is at liberty to either build or dismantle primordial prejudices; or deconstruct or even reconstruct the persona of the subject on the writ large platform of conscionable journalistic interrogation.
Perceptions and perspectives assume free reins. That is the tragedy, so to speak, of heroes. They are subjected to the vagaries of characterisations that most times encapsulate both the sublime and the ridiculous; the garish and the outlandish; the profound and the jejune; the profane and the celestial.
Inevitably, Mark, who is now 70 (April 8, 2018), is one of the latest captives of this obligatory ritual which many crave and many others loathe. There is always the existential fear about the double-edged nature of good and bad that media hype breeds. The fear of the occasional collateral damage, yes, of the unintended consequences, is real and grisly.
Yet, it could be salutary, somewhat, to introspective self-assessment of how well one has fared whether rightly or wrongly in the domain of public perception, especially for those in public offices, who must be taken through the critical appraisal index. It is in this context that the essential David Mark cannot escape essential consideration.
Mark, without a doubt, means different things to different people. To some, he remains a gentleman officer even in retirement; to others, he is an astute politician and strategist with rare legerdemain; some more see him as a philanthropist with capacity for cornucopian eleemosynary while some perceive him as a passionate golfer.
These are not all to the variegated perspectives: some see him as a budding religious aficionado of the catholic hue while others see him as traditional for his receptiveness of the traditional title of Okpokpowulu K’Idoma (the leader of war or the bulldozer of Idoma) from his Royal Majesty, Agabaidu Elias Ikoyi Obekpa, the Och’Idoma IV of Idomaland, in 2009 or thereabout in recognition of his numerous contributions to the development of Idoma land.
But my preoccupation herein is to illuminate the philosophical underpinning of the activities, the life and times of a man whose entirety evokes, at once, multiple perspectives by admirers and traducers alike. I could have adapted the one-liner summation of the French philosopher, Rene Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” meaning “I think therefore I am” when he was asked who a man is, to answer the question as to who David Mark is.
Who is David Mark? And what are his essences? I could settle for one of the perspectives supra in a quick riposte and go ahead to adumbrate his essences within the narrow confine of just a perspective. But on the unique occasion of his 70th birthday, I cannot be unfair to him with a one-dimensional or one-liner appreciation.
Therefore, Mark is a fitting summation of all the perspectives and for a man to deserve this kind of approximation makes him a phenomenon. I take the opportunity of his 70thbirthday to celebrate a friend and mentor who chose, at a critical intersection in my coverage of the Senate as THISDAY politics editor in Abuja, to let me into his life by force of appreciation of my intellectual capital.
My reportage of the politicking of the race for the senate presidency in 2007 had been misconstrued as opposition to Mark’s senate presidency and that disposition had preponderated reportorial interactions until 2009 when Mark turned 61. The Deputy Editor of THISDAY on Sunday, Mr. Collins Edomaruse, asked me to do a tribute on him (Mark) about the close of production, which I did under 40 minutes.
I did not even read through the piece for errors. I pressed the send key on my computer. It was after the piece titled: “Pomp, as Mark Turns 61 in the Saddle” was published in The Gavel-to-Gavel page that I read through and felt I had done a pretty good job. I later realised I had done a masterpiece on Mark when the then deputy minority leader, Senator Mohammed Mana from Adamawa state, called to commend me for what he called “a beautiful and brilliant piece”.
I had to go back to read through myself. By Thursday of that week, I got a message through an AIT cameraman that the senate president said he would like to see me. I went to see him in the office in company with his Chief of Staff and Special Adviser Media, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan. Mark said to me that he read through my piece and decided to call to commend me for it.
It was a particularly fulfilling encounter for me. The kind words were like a balm. If I remember vividly, he said: “You are a brilliant writer. You are not like some journalists who mix up their tenses. I read you always in THISDAY and I agree with many of the issues you have interrogated except for one or two which we will discuss later.”
That was how we struck a relationship that has endured so far. When I was redeployed by THISDAY from Senate to assume a new position as State House Bureau Chief, I had the privilege of being hosted to a dinner at the Apo Mansion, the official quarters of the senate president. Since then, he has not broken the line of communication between us.
That, to me, is the essence of the intercourse between greatness and humility. Mark is a great man. He is a humble man, regardless of his visage and poise, contoured by his disciplined military background, which tend to be misconstrued for meanness and arrogance.
Last year, when I jointly wrote a tribute in commemoration of his 69th birthday, some salient issues were woven around his politics and convictions. The motivation that drove the reinforcement of those issues is still as compelling as it was last year. The argument is unassailable that Mark remains one of the most influential politicians around.
Therefore, it would be a good political contemplation to throw his hat in the ring of the 2019 presidency; after all, he is a northerner of the middle belt extraction. But
It would be recalled that the Goodluck Jonathan presidency happened through an act of God. But beyond the minority question is the question of competence. Mark’s wealth of experience is not in doubt. His competence is also not in question. He remains a repository of experience that can be tapped in ideal situations to strengthen institutions. The stability of a nation is dependent on and strengthened by the potpourri of the wise counsels by experienced men and women at its beck and call.
As I wish him many happy returns in long life and good health, I sincerely believe that he must engage in obligatory introspection and decide how forcefully defining he intends to bequeath a body of legacies to future generations within the context of the larger national political constructions.
Is it going to be through some intervention in presidential politics or setting up of what I consider to be a much-needed David Mark’s Leadership and Policy Centre with the main thrust of stimulating and promoting constructive conversations aimed at ensuring national stability through peace and development?
The ball is the court of the birthday boy. Play it to your satisfaction, Sir! Congratulations on this milestone. To God is the glory.