OMATSEYE: OUT OF TOUCH YET ARROGANT IN IGNORANCE

By Tahav Agerzua

The educated, knowledgeable and civilized are usually courteous. They display civility and respect the dignity and views of others. When such find themselves in the media community, they acknowledge the sanctity of the right of reply and treat dissenters with decorum. Their language of discourse is simple and straightforward as they seek to reach as wide an audince as possible.

The ignorant and haughty seek to claim the nobility of above class but the exhibition of ignorance and display of annoying haughtiness couched in sophistry exposes them as sheep in wolves clothing.

Such is the case of Sam Omatseye, Editorial Board Chairman and columnist with The Nation newspaper who claims to be the bastion of intellect, political sagacity and modern civilization. That's the veneer he spreads on the surface. Scratch it and ignorance and empty haughtiness prop out.

When readers took him up on his claims in one of his writeups , "The Voice of Chi" he ended up describing them as imbeciles who have no capacity to understand language and issues.

That unfortunate reaction was published on the back page of The Nation on Monday, 8th April, 2019 with the title "The Autumn of Ortom."

Let's scratch a paragraph of the write up "The Voice of Chi," which was published at the same space a week ago before we conclude with the most recent.

"But Benue and Plateau States are neighbours. In some places, their borders meet without joint. Not long ago, they were one state known as Benue Plateau, and they played politics as one unit."

The fact on ground this day is that Benue and Plateau States are not neighbors. They do not share a single border. What was known as Benue Plateau State in those days has been divided into Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue States through states creation exercises. At the moment, Nasarawa is sandwitched betwèen Benue and Plateau. It's apparent that the arrogant Sam Omatseye does not know this hence his assertion in the write up.

His condescending statement that "I hear they make pounded yam by day and and make love at night" as the only activities of Benue people inspite of their numerous contributions to nation building is another display of confidence in ignorance on the basis of hearsay.

Before we dismiss the entire piece as a product of inherent disdain for a group of people arising from baseless claims to none existent superiority of any kind for the pecunia, let us take a look at another paragraph.

"Now the people will face the demons: no salaries, bad roads, poor healthcare with perhaps the fewest number of doctors in the country."

For the information of Mr Omatseye, salaries for all categories of Benue workers have been consistent since January, 2018 up to date while arrears owed in 2017 are being cleared. One call to the correspondent of the newspaper in the state could have given the columnist the correct information.

As for bad roads in the state most of the prominent ones are Federal roads. The Ortom administration recalled contractors to site on 11 road projects and has completed many including the Oshigbudu-Obagaji and Zaki-Biam-Gbeji roads.

Healthcare delivery in Benue State has received a major boost under Governor Ortom who has met accreditation requirements of major health institutions hitherto with challenges in this area including the College of Health Sciences at the Benue State University, Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Makurdi, as well as College of Health Technology, Agasha.

The result has been the graduation of six sets of over 200 medical doctors most of who stagnated for over a decade, as well as the resumption of programs at the reconstructed institutions. This is in addition to the construction of 42 new Primary Health Centres, most with water supply, as well as purchase of new ambulances and drugs across the state with the creation a Primary Health Care Board.

Perhaps Mr Omatseye's greatest display of ignorance is his characterization of the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 as a warmongering and hate weapon which targets a particular ethnic group.

One wishes that he could lay aside his position as the newly recruited mouthpiece of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and other militant Fulani groups and do a little research of the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Benue State in particular, across the nation and the African continent in general. These herdsmen have been rated the fourth most deadly on the world terrorism index.

Before the enactment of Ranching Law through due process by the State House of Assembly the state suffered more than 50 concerted attacks from 2013 to 2017 with destruction of thousands of lives and property valued at over N400 billion over the years.

The law makes provision for the protection of both the farmer and the herdsmen with stiff penalties against cattle rustling.  Yet several Fulani groups including Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and the Fulani Nationality Movement have stated clearly that their agenda remains conquest and occupation.

Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore addressed a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday 30th May 2017 stating that the crises in Benue was a struggle for the natural resources of the Benue Valley and that they would mobilize their kith and kin across the world to take over the valley. The Fulani Nationality Movement met in Kano on 13th January 2018 and issued a communique stating that "we have mobilized all Fulani across West Africa to raise money and arms to prosecute the oncoming war. We call on all Fulanis to prepare for this Holy war. There is no going back. All over the world Nigeria is the only country given to Fulani by God."

They vowed in the statement that "we notice the recalcitrant culture of the Tiv people as demonstrated even during the 1804 Jihad when they obstructed our ordained conquest of Nigeria," stressing that the current attacks were a continuation of the Jihad.

That the Ranching Law which is an international best practice obtainable in civilized societies across the world would receive resentment rather than approval and support from the Federal Government indicates that the real issue is beyond grazing.

Most Benue people know that the ultimate agenda is conquest and occupation and they openly voted for their survival in 2019. If one looks at the elections won by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state - all three Senators, six out of 11 House of Reps with the All Progressives Congress, APC winning only one, and 23 out of 30 House of Assembly members, it is clear that the matter is beyond Governor Ortom and his harping on the attacks.

At a time 18 out of the 23 local government areas in Benue State were under seige.
For Benue people the Fulani herdsmen attacks are not just a mere campaign rhetoric but an ever present reality with thousands of victims as well as hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in camps and several other locations across the state.

It is therefore, a complete fallacy for Mr Omatseye to assume that the attacks have abated. There is usually a lull at one time or another. But even at the moment there are sporadic attacks and killings mostly in Agatu, Guma, Logo and Kwande.

The ultimate plan of the attackers is to take over the land.
It could be recalled that at one time Plateau State Governor, Simom Lalong stated that he had warned his Benue State counterpart against enacting the Ranching Law which according to him sparked attacks. The next day several communities in Plateau State suffered devastating series of attacks.
Indigenes of that state have cried out that Fulani herdsmen have taken over several Plateau communities and renamed them.  

Mr Sam Omatseye must be out of touch with the reality on ground and yet must have surprising arrogance  in ignorance to conclude that he prefers someone who surrenders his people for conquest and occupation to someone who stands up for them.  

The Benue electorate voted to reelect Governor Ortom because he stood up for them and performed to their satisfaction given his challenges.

Mr Omatseye's description of those who have a different opinion on the matter as imbeciles is most unfortunate.

"Or else Benue State, with potential, will be the autumn of Ortom, where all the blossoms and leaves of opportunity and prosperity will die off, and what will be left will be stark tree of hunger and suffering. Those who support him  are entitled to their imbecility. After all, democracy is not always for the wise," Mr Omatseye stated.

Mr Omatsaye, by this conclusion, sums up his slave mentality and total disdain for the suffering people of Benue whose only crime is that they stood firm behind their governor in the face of bullish tactics to subjugate them.

Mr Agerzua is Special Adviser to the Benue State Governor on Media and ICT.