Uja Emmanuel in Makurdi takes a look at the current battle for power shift in Benue State and reports that the Tiv are yet to agree with their Idoma brothers on this issue
The battle for power shift to Benue South Senatorial Zone, otherwise known as zone c, held sway by Senate President David Mark has begun in earnest.
For 35 years since Benue was created out of Benue-Plateau State, the people of Benue South Senatorial zone, especially Idoma, have been crying of marginalisation from their Tiv brothers.
Tiv and Idoma are the two major tribes in the state, with Igede coming third.
They are three senatorial districts in the state. The Tivs, who are in the clear majority, both in landmass and population, dominates two senatorial districts ( A and B) and 14 local government councils , while their Idoma brothers are in minority with just nine local government councils , even out of this numbers , they share it with Igede people. Another ethnic group occupied two of the local government (Oju and Obi) , leaving David Mark’s kinsmen with only seven local government councils .
From the aforementioned, the Tiv people are the dominant ethnic group in Benue State and have effectively used their numerical strength to occupy the governorship position at every election year.
But, ahead of 2015 general election, the Idoma people in Benue South wants power to shift away from zone A and B to C. They insist the best time is now and have therefore begun the campaign.
Recently, at stakeholders meeting , which took place in Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South Senatorial District, in Double K Hotel, all those who spoke resolved to persuade their Tiv brothers to cede power to Benue South.
From Minister of Interior, Abba Morro, who represented the Senate President, David Mark, to national and state lawmakers , among them , party elders, youths, women, opinion leaders and political office holders, they unanimously agreed that power must shift to Benue South come 2015.
Idoma elders also used the meeting to prune down the number of governorship aspirants from Benue South Senatorial District to just three in order to boost the chances of the Idoma people to clinch the governorship position next year.
The three governorship aspirants selected by Idoma elders are deputy governor, Chief Steven Lawani, former Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre ( FMC) Makurdi , DR. Mathias Oyigeya and Barrister Paul Harris Ogbole of Economic and Financial Crime Commission ( EFCC), Abuja.
They remaining governorship aspirants were ask to step down and queue behind the lucky three.
Hon Austine Awodi, a former member of the Benue State House of Assembly, representing Adoka/Ogbole told The Nation that come 2015, power should shift to Benue South for justice and fair play.
Awodi said even though , the Tiv people are in the clear majority , God did not make a mistake of creating them in one state and called on all political parties in the state to zone the governorship position to Benue South so that in 2015, they would produce the governor for the first time.
Awodi, who threw his weight behind David Mark’s reelection bid expressed confidence that an Idoma man as governor would have no choice than to perform credibly in office.
But the question today is whether Tiv people are actually prepared to cede power to their Idoma brothers?
The relationship between Tiv and Idoma is like cat and mouse game. While the Tivs felt that Mark has cornered all the federal appointments for his kinsmen, Idoma on their part cry of marginalisation at the state level.
A group known as Tiv Federal Quota( TFQ), led by Chief Har Joseph, told The Nation there is no way power would shift to Zone C, because Idoma people have shown that they are effective minority by cornering all the federal appointments.
Har noted that in recent recruitments into the Army, Immigration, Navy, Police, Civil Defence, Road Safety and other federal agencies, Idoma names come top, even in Tiv speaking local government areas, so it would be suicidal to allow such a group to take power in the state.
“They have shown that if they occupied Government House, Makurdi, there would be nothing left for the Tiv people, so we are not prepared to let the governorship position of Benue go to Idoma. Just like he added that politics is a game of numbers.
Already , some Tiv people have allegedly zoned the governorship position to MINDA, a group among the Tivs’ spread in four local government areas of Gwer, Gwer west, Makurdi and Guma LGAs.
So, it seems that the Tivs are not yet prepared for power shift, but for the Idomas, the battle for power shift has already begun. This means that only time will tell where the pendulum would swing at the end of the political battle.
