It is nearly four years now since former Taraba State governor Danbaba Suntai, a pharmacist, survived an air crash in the suburb of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, in which he was the pilot. Many may have forgotten about the crash and the political crisis Taraba State slipped into. But four years after, a book on the ailing governor has renewed the story and exposed those who stood to his defence and those who betrayed him after the air mishap he and his three security aides unbelievably survived.
No one had written any memoir on him throughout the eight years he held sway as the helmsman in Taraba State until he left Government House unceremoniously. The book on him, entitled: Suntai: Betrayers, Loyalists and the Media War, by an editor and columnist, Emmanuel Bello, who was his media chief and Commissioner for Information, is not his biography, but an account of the struggle for power shift, particularly the intrigues which plunged Taraba State into political and constitutional crisis.
Coming out two months after the former governor’s birthday, the book will be presented to the public on the author’s birthday September 15. Taraba’s new governor, Darius Ishaku will be the distinguished guest of honour at the book launch while the senator representing Southern Taraba, Emmanuel Bwacha will chair the occasion. Bwacha was a major character in the drama that heralded the dawn after Suntai crashed on October 25, 2012.
The period from October 25, 2012 to November 21, 2015 was characterised by intrigues, scheming and backstabbing as Suntai’s deputy Garba Umar wanted to become the substantive governor by removing his principal and benefactor on health grounds, and succeeding him in last year’s general election.
Abubakar Sani Danladi who was Suntai’s running mate in 2007 and 2011 elections was on October 4, 2012 impeached by the State House of Assembly, allegedly at the prompting of Suntai, which paved the way for Umar to come on board. In the end, Taraba State returned to stability when Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, among six other judges of the Supreme Court sacked Umar and Danladi was reinstated as Suntai’s deputy on November 21 last year. Danladi, now a senator, returned as acting governor and worked in partnership with the Suntai camp in the remaining six months of the Suntai administration. He also supported and aided power shift to the south of the state which was the major cause of the political crisis.
The crisis had taken many fronts, but Bello’s 130-page book in 11 interesting chapters, including “Bad News, Good News”, “The Return”, and “A House Divided,” duels more on the media warfare of the crisis.
For instance, Garba Umar’s supporters mounted a strong propaganda in the media against Suntai, to give a sort of credibility that he was a vegetable and brain-damaged. They even said Suntai could not talk and that his wife Hajiya Hauwa appreciated this predicament. The Suntai group however, continued to report that the injured governor was not really bad. They pointed out that Suntai made a broadcast to the state, inspected some projects and could walk unaided. They flayed a video propaganda in which Suntai admitted he was not strong to resume work, describing the video as “fake, scandalous, and mischievous”.
What motivated Bello to write on the Taraba crisis? “I have been asked all sorts of questions concerning the saga by reporters and the general public alike, so I thought I should write a little book to correct some misconceptions and also to reawaken some debates. Maybe we could understand more why the two camps took the positions they took and why they behaved the way they did. The book is also a narrative of the humble role I played during the crisis.
“Ultimately, I want to shed a little light on the events of that period. The book covers the period after the plane crash that saw Governor Suntai and three of his aides surviving. The political manoeuvres which followed are its central theme.”
With a foreword written by the Chairman, Thisday editorial board, Olusegun Adeniyi, the book says the Taraba saga bears some similarities with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua situation especially the role the nation’s media played in the ensuing dramas.
In his lucid account of what really happened, Bello said the Suntai narrative is one of those weird stories of how humans supernaturally escape the fangs of death. However, politics and the attendant media war, he said, “marred the side of survival as many dramas ensued afterwards.” He said the issues that involved the media motivated him to write the book, which he has said is not intended to indict anybody.
“My book is not an attempt to indict or exonerate anyone. Everyone acted out of their place which decidedly is the protection of interests at best. One man’s betrayer is another man’s loyalist.”
The author noted that many years after, some of the “misrepresentations” he confronted back then are still very much around. “I believe this work would come in handy to those who were not privy to some of the issues that cropped up at that time.
“Even now people still ask me questions they asked nearly four years ago. This book should be able to serve as an answer sheet to some of these thorny questions.
“I believe other more qualified persons can weigh in, and hopefully someday, write a much more robust story of the period under review, taking into account the politics. What I have done is to take a small part of the Suntai story and expound on the subject of media warfare at the time.”
Nevertheless, Bello believes his book, an interesting piece of the political comedy drama in Taraba, will certainly spawn new controversies and debates.
“I have no doubt that this book would generate some controversies as some of the wounds are still fresh. But lest we forget, I thought we should be able to quickly remind ourselves of events of one of the most trying periods in Taraba state annals. After all, history is nothing but a guide for the present and a road map to the future.”
The book is a must read for those who could not understand what really happened. Looking back in retrospect at what befell Suntai, Bello said in the book; “Nigerians, particularly Taraba people, must thank God for sparing the lives of the former governor and all his aides who were involved in that crash. Today, all the four men are still living. They remain a shining testimony to the resilience of a people and the assurance of divine mercy and intervention in the affairs of mortal. The book is a tribute to all of them who survived the plane crash.”
