Nigerian Concord Newspaper
When lies are allowed to fly without being refuted, they may be taken as the truth by members of the public. That is the basis of my reply to the hogwash of a writeup penned on Facebook by one Chin Iorember.
The contribution of Chief Samuel Ortom to the Tiv nation is visibly to the blind and audible to the deaf.
In all the offices Chief Ortom has held sway, he has empowered a whole lot of Tiv people. Go to Standard Organization of Nigeria, SON, and you will find Tiv and Benue indigenes employed by Chief Ortom. Still as Minister, many Benue indigenes, particularly those of Tiv extraction were employed in ministries, department and agencies of the federal government. Before Ortom became governor, he was the biggest employer of labour in Benue State, aside the government(federal, state and local government) and Dangote Cement PLC.
Before he became governor, Chief Ortom was reputed for spending hundreds of millions of naira to treat victims of snake bite in the state at Bishop Murray Hospital, Makurdi, most of whom were Tiv people.
Can a man who have done all these be referred to as one who hate his people?
In the same hogwash by Achin, he mischievously accused Chief Ortom of using state funds to remove Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as PDP national chairman.
Interestingly, Mr Achin failed to acknowledge that same Ortom made Ayu national chairman when many prominent Benue sons were against this move.
Do you know that Suswam told Ortom that he will cry if he Ortom make Ayu the national chairman? Didn’t it come to pass when Ayu betrayed the arrangements they had prior and during the 2023 PDP presidential primaries?
I wish to bring to your notice that the PDP power brokers had hitherto agreed that the national chairman shouldn’t come from a PDP controlled state. Yet, Ortom defiled this and made Ayu national chairman but what did Ortom get in return, betrayal from a man he made national chairman through the efforts of the G-5 governor’s.
For the records Ortom wasn’t the one who removed Ayu it was those he betrayed. Again as a member of the PDP Ayu was supposed to pay his dues which Ayu failed to do and he was removed by his ward executives.
Ortom has no single hand in the removal of Ayu, he was removed because he failed to pay his dues and his anti-parties activities. Do you know that on the day of the last general election Ayu gave his followers instruction to vote against Ortom and other PDP candidates at the state level and switched-off his phone while elections were going on?
Ayu detailed his loyalist and supporters to vote for the Labour party Senatorial candidate Hon. Gbillah and against the PDP House of Representatives candidate for Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency. He did same in the governorship election.
On the Suswam national Chairmanship, if Suswam is in the contest, Chief Samuel Ortom is not aware of it at this point. Ortom is too big to do what we call “mba dzedan se” in Tiv or “follow follow” in pidgin. Ortom has nothing against Suswam if he is into any contest he should come and tell Ortom, the leader of his party in the state. Do you expect Ortom to act on rumours of Suswam’s ambition? Has the PDP in the North Central called a meeting on the national chairman and Chief Ortom was opposed to the choice of Benue producing the national chairman?
Let me refresh your memory. Chief Ortom was the Secretary of PDP in 2006, they conducted the Primaries that returned Suswam as Gubernatorial Candidate for the 2007 governorship election.
I remember that Suswam came first with simple majority vote but fell short of the 2/3 required majority required for an outright win.
Mike Onoja was second and a run-off between the two was the most legal thing to do. However, the then govenor, now current Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume miraculously added the votes of Ralph Igbago to Suswam’s and he was declared the winner.
That history should not be left out when we talk of Suswam’s ascendency to power.
Therefore, it will not be correct to present a historical rendition that suggests Suswam has not benefitted from Ortom political relevance. Infact, it’s safe to insist that Ortom was more instrumental in creating Suswam by the instrumentality of the GSM George Akume, but this same Suswam boosted prior to the 2015 general elections that he doesn’t know who will be the governor but he knows it won’t be Ortom.
Blaming Ortom for Suswam woes is the height of injustice to say the least.
The return of Ortom to PDP in 2018 gave Suswam and the PDP victory at the polls. Saying Ortom caused PDP lost in 2023 is laughable, if i may ask who caused the party defeat in 2015? In 2015 the PDP was in power both at the federal and state level yet the PDP in Benue state under Suswam lost woefully.
That has remained the worst defeat for the PDP in Benue State. In the case of Zone B we had only Terseer Adzuu as member of the Benue state house of assembly but today we have assembly members on the PDP platform in Gwer west and Agasha state constituencies respectively.
Saying Ortom brought Utaan to distract the ambition of Suswam is an insult on the person of Utaan. Utaan is an adult and old enough to take a decision about his ambition and aspiration. Again, I ask, is Utaan not old enough to be the national chairman? Let me remind you that even your biology child once he comes of age has the right to make decisions that affect him or her. So don’t drag Ortom into what he knows nothing about.
You also talked about the purported help Suswam rendered to Ortom during the 2019 general elections, but you forgot to see that it was rather Ortom who made it possible for Suswam to be elected to the Senate. Ortom has never told you or anyone that Suswam has offended him so don’t try to plant a seed of discord between them.
You are at liberty to insult Ortom as much as you can during his 8 years tenure, but the generality of Benue people are now appreciating Ortom each day that passes by. How can you call a man who sacrificed all the juicy previlages that come from working hand in hand with the president for the sake of his people?
Ortom sacrificed everything including his life to defend the Tiv nation from the maurading herders but those of you who are blinded politically have not been able to appreciate this. Go outsude the state and see how Ortom is celebrated as a national hero.
Accusing Ortom of working against Akume Senatorial ambition is one of the greatest sins you have committed in this your hogwash of a writeup.
Akume parted ways with Ortom towards the elections and Ortom party fielded Senator Orker Jev as it’s candidate. Were you expecting Ortom to work against his party interest when his parties candidate had no issues with him?
Ortom is not Senator Iyorchia Ayu who had a Senatorial candiate in Ortom but asked his supporters to work and vote for Hon. Gbillah of the Labour party.
Conclusively, Ortom has rather helped the Tiv nation positively by supporting Suswam, Ayu, Akume and whole lot of others in one way or the other as enumerated above.
Therefore, calling him names today only show how we fight our own once he or she is rising to stardom.
When Ortom made sure Suswam got the votes to defeat Onoja, when he fought against all odds to make Ayu PDP national chairman, you and your likes never for once came out to appreciate his contributions to the Tiv nation.
Channel your frustration to others, for Ortom is on the part to building the Tiv nation as he has been doing hirtheto.
Tell your sponsors to go back and find where the got it wrong.
Nyamkyume is not just a guy name, a soor ga I Sawa, Ortom hir or ga.
Hon. Prince Aondona Isaka Ornguga writes from Nyiev Makurdi Local Government Area.