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PLATEAU STATE: EVEN THIS DARKNESS SHALL PASS AWAY

Published

3 years ago

December 11, 2022

Ochuwa Ibrahim

PLATEAU STATE: EVEN THIS DARKNESS SHALL PASS AWAY

BY CHRIS GYANG

Nothing poignantly symbolizes the decrepit and gloomy face of governance in Plateau State such as the thick darkness that envelopes the Plateau State Government House at Little Rayfield every night.

Driving past that seat of government from the well-lit, ritzy and upscale Rayfield at sunset, you will never imagine that just a few metres to your left is the fence of what used to be one of the most magnificent government houses in the entire country. Close associates say that Governor Lalong harbours a deep aversion for the government house, built by his predecessor, because its sheer magnificence is a constant, niggling, reminder of his own disastrous outing as governor.

At daytime, the atmosphere of despondency is thicker, more palpable. The dilapidation and unkemptness that afflict both the fence and huge buildings within tell an even worse story; the sad tale of a governor who long ago let go of governance for fanciful frivolities that inflate his parched ego. Citizens here fittingly refer to him as ‘The Absentee Governor’.

The very structures within this expansive estate that were once the pride of Plateau people now desperately beg for a fresh coat of paint; yearn for their once lush lawns to be trimmed and watered; and pray for the overgrown grass and assorted weeds to be mown, perhaps for the first time in only God knows how many years.

Sadly, it is this sense of listlessness and abandonment that pervade both the people and atmosphere of Plateau State under His Excellency, Governor Simon Bako Lalong. And, yes, never fail to add to his string of aliases the fact that he also occupies the exalted position of the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and is likewise the Director-General of the All Progressives Party’s Presidential Campaign Council – which tickles him exceedingly, more than anything else these days.

It is this latest assignment, which he misconstrues as a reward for his exceptional leadership qualities, that he uses as yet another alibi to escape responsibility from the serious work of governance. His exaggerated sense of personal worth is now at its peak. But in his excitement, he failed to ask himself why the man who made him Director-General of his campaign team never thought him fit and worthy to be his running-mate, which, it must be admitted, Mr. Lalong straineously hankered after.

For a man who can settle for any position as far it gives him a semblance of public visibility, anything goes, warts and all. And knowing that his strength does not lie in taking and resolutely maintaining principled stands on fundamental issues, Tinubu and his kitchen cabinet fully understood that, at the least prompting, Governor Lalong would easily abandon his original quest and succumb to taking up the lesser, more temporary, position of Campaign DG.

At least, in his own reckoning, that would allow him share in the limelight that would shine on the APC’s high and mighty, as long as the campaigns last.

Other serious governors are making last minute efforts to consolidate on their achievements by commissioning projects and tidying up policies and programmes to strengthen and make them solid, robust and enduring. But Governor Lalong is squandering sleepless nights and precious resources hopping around the country on an exercise that is as self-serving as it is futile.

His efforts are akin to the gimmicks of a failed salesman struggling to market an essentially flawed product. Unfortunately, the best he can get for Tinubu in Plateau State cannot be more than what he was able to eke out for Buhari in the 2019 presidential ballot – a spectacularly humiliating result.

Moreover, the albatross of the Muslim-Muslim ticket that malignantly hangs on Mr. Lalong’s neck will be very difficult to cast off. This will, among other heavy moral baggage, make his job of selling the Tinubu/Shettima ticket very awkward to his immediate Christian constituency, both in Plateau State and elsewhere in the country. His task is further compounded by the fact that he is a Knight of the Catholic Faith.

What little time Mr. Lalong scrapes out to run the affairs of the state is devoted to empty state ceremonies still aimed at boosting his ego and picking up the pieces of the APC in the state which he single-handedly destroyed by turning it into a personal estate for his own pleasure. Today, many men and women who stood behind him in most of his inglorious seven years in office have been forced to either abandon him or join other political parties.

Even members in Jos North, who formed the fulcrum of the strength of the APC in the state, have rebelled against Mr. Lalong. His high-handedness and nepotism in handling both party and state affairs have been their chief motivations. Political analysts say that, as things stand, there is no way the APC can make any meaningful impact in the 2023 general elections.

Also, pundits further suggest that it is perhaps the highly fractious governorship primaries of the APC that finally nailed the coffin of the APC in Plateau State. The governor was seen to have deliberately skewed the process to favour his preferred aspirant which did not go down well with a majority of the contestants who took the matter to court.

Unfortunately, the outcome did not favour the aggrieved aspirants. But they have vowed to pursue the case up to the Supreme Court. However, many see this as a strategy to distract the APC from concentrating on the electioneering campaigns as more than 95 per cent of them are set to pitch their tents with the political party that has shown the greatest potential of defeating the APC in the forthcoming polls.

In the midst of all these, the people of Plateau State continue to suffer. As we write, civil servants are set to commence a five-day Sit-At-Home warning strike from midnight of Sunday, December 11, to Friday, December 16, 2022. They want to push home their demands for the payment of their five months’ salaries.

In fact, they had planned to start this industrial action before the flag-off of the APC presidential campaign in Jos on November 15. But, in order to stave off the embarrassment that would have caused Governor Lalong, being the arrowhead of the Tinubu campaign organisation, the workers were hoodwinked into calling it off when some workers started receiving salary alerts. But that was discontinued immediately after that political fiesta.

It later emerged that only a handful of workers had actually been paid a month or two’s outstanding salaries. Barely one month after, the workers have not heard any more from the state government regarding that matter.

With the governor perpetually absent and the levers of governance abandoned, it is only natural to expect these kinds of upheavals in the system arising from citizens’ frustrations with their wretched conditions. Abject conditions underscored by poverty for which Plateau State is now officially recognised as occupying the fifth position in the entire country.

Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in November, revealed that 133 million Nigerians (63 per cent of the population) are multi-dimensionally poor due to lack of access to health care, education, proper living standards, employment and security.

PUNCH newspaper (November 18, 2022) reported: “The NBS further showed [that] Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa and Plateau are the top poorest states in 2022.

“Sokoto leads the poorest with 90.5 per cent of the people in the state poor. It is followed by Bayelsa with 88.5 per cent people, Gombe with 86.2 per cent, Jigawa with 84.3 per cent and Plateau with 84 per cent.”

Certainly, the Lalong administration should not be surprised at this bleak chunk of reality. To expect anything to the contrary would be to engage in the highest form of self-delusion. This is only the natural outcome of the government’s total lack of any concrete and practical economic blueprint aimed at harnessing and channelling the huge natural and human potentials of the state.

Like all else about the Lalong administration, its economic policies have been largely driven by a haphazard, trial-by-error, approach which is at best pedestrian and completely reliant on the old way receiving monthly handouts from the Federation Account. Most of which is deployed towards oiling huge and extensive political wheels and buying personal favours and loyalties of cheap political strumpets.

This is but a slice of the tragedy in which Plateau State is currently wallowing, emblematic of the darkness hanging over the Little Rayfield Government House. But come May, 29, 2023, its flamboyance, verve and splendour shall be restored, along with the natural vibrancy and pride of citizens. Citizens who are confident that, through their concerted and selfless efforts, they shall restore honour to their despoiled destiny so that even this darkness shall pass away.

(GYANG is the Chairman of the N.G.O, Journalists Coalition for Citizens’ Rights Initiative – JCCRI. Emails: info@jccri-online.org; chrisgyang01@gmail.com)

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Three chadian nationals feared dead as canoe capsizes in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno

Published

4 hours ago

December 8, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Three chadian nationals feared dead as canoe capsizes in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno

By: Zagazola Makama

Tragedy struck on Sunday evening in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno State, when a canoe carrying eight passengers capsized while crossing the river bordering Nigeria’s Gamboru town and Fotokol in Cameroon, leaving three persons feared dead.

Zagazola Makama gathered that the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. when the canoe, operated by one Mamman Nur Abbagana of Kasuwan Katako, Gamboru, overturned midstream with all passengers thrown into the water.

Security sources confirmed that all eight passengers were Chadian nationals travelling from Jos, Plateau State, en route to N’Djamena, Chad Republic.

Five passengers, whose identities were yet to be confirmed at press time, were rescued alive.

However, a woman identified as Alphosine Makebu Beboroum, 34, and her two daughters Centich Mamajibe, 3, and Mamajilem Bebaroum, 10 months, all Chadian nationals, drowned and had not yet been recovered as of Monday morning. The search and rescue mission is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, Police authorities also confirmed the arrest of the canoe paddler for violating the Borno State Government’s directive mandating the use of life jackets by all canoe and boat operators.

The command said preliminary investigations were ongoing.

Three chadian nationals feared dead as canoe capsizes in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno

News

How Nigeria’s rapid military intervention in Benin reshaped West Africa’s anti-coup momentum

Published

4 hours ago

December 8, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

How Nigeria’s rapid military intervention in Benin reshaped West Africa’s anti-coup momentum

By: Zagazola Makama

The failed coup attempt in Benin Republic is far more than an isolated disturbance in West Africa. It is a political earthquake whose tremors are being felt all the way from Cotonou to Bamako, Niamey and Ouagadougou.

For the military juntas entrenched in the Sahel, Sunday’s events were a nightmare scenario a decisive blow to their hope of expanding the “putschist club” across the region.

President Patrice Talon’s firm, composed address to the nation late Sunday night delivered the final stamp of legitimacy. But what many are now acknowledging is this: Nigeria’s swift and disciplined intervention was the game-changer.

In the early hours of the crisis, as coup plotters seized the National TV station and attempted to entrench themselves, the Government of the Republic of Benin activated its mutual defence channels with Abuja. Within minutes, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, acting under the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, activated a rapid-response military operation.

The Nigerian Air Force fighter jets were ordered into Beninese airspace to dominate the skies, neutralise hostile positions, and support loyalist forces. Simultaneously, Nigerian ground forces mobilised and crossed into Benin under Benin-led coordination, providing reinforcement to secure key installations and restore constitutional order.

This single act of regional leadership changed the trajectory of the coup, shattered the momentum of the plotters, and halted what could have become a prolonged national crisis.
ECOWAS was already mobilising, but Nigeria’s decisive action set the tone and provided the operational backbone that ended the coup within hours. It was a clear demonstration that Abuja remains the stabilising anchor of West Africa politically, diplomatically, and militarily.

As Talon spoke last night, the fear in junta capitals was visible. Social media networks aligned with the juntas scrambled to spin the failure: “It’s not over yet!” “Talon is bluffing!” “Stay vigilant!”

But beneath the bravado was panic. Their long-held dream to expand military rule into coastal West Africa had collapsed and Nigeria’s intervention made that collapse irreversible.The night became a theatre of desperation, with fake democrats, pseudo-intellectuals and Pan-African opportunists trying to salvage their ideological embarrassment. They resorted to tired diversionary tactics, attacking ECOWAS, questioning its motives, and searching for excuses.

But the truth was undeniable: The coup failed because the region, led by Nigeria, refused to allow another country to fall. But expected, some Nigerians, often those who do not follow security operations, took to social media asking: “Why didn’t Nigeria use this same energy against terrorists and bandits?”

An absurd question. It is as if these people have never seen the daily reports of: Dozens of terrorists neutralised across Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Borno, mass destruction of ISWAP and Boko Haram enclaves, bandit kingpins eliminated, thousands of kidnapped victims rescued, large quantities of weapons recovered, aerial bombardments carried out week after week

Nigeria has been fighting terrorists with unmatched intensity, To compare the two operations, one a cross-border rapid-intervention mission lasting hours, and the other a domestic counterterrorism war spanning over 15 years is intellectually dishonest. What happened in Benin was not “energy Nigeria never shows.” It was a different type of mission a rapid, high-precision, multinational constitutional defence operation and Nigeria executed it flawlessly.

The larger significance of the failed coup is now evident. It has: exposed the weakness of the Sahel juntas, halted their push to expand military authoritarianism southwards, sent a message that ECOWAS has finally adapted and will no longer tolerate illegal takeovers and reaffirmed Nigeria’s decisive role in shaping regional security outcomes.

The supporters of the juntas are terrified and they should be. Because Sunday marked the beginning of a new countdown. The ideological project of the Sahel military regimes is weakening, and their attempt to export instability has backfired spectacularly. The next months will be critical. The Sahelian juntas, already struggling with insecurity, economic collapse, and public frustration, now face an emboldened regional order.

Nigeria’s leadership, demonstrated so clearly in Benin, has restored confidence that democratic stability in West Africa can and will be defended.

The failed coup in Benin did not only preserve a nation’s democracy. It reset the balance of power in the region. And Nigeria stood at the centre of that pivotal moment.

The clock is ticking for the putschist regimes.
History has resumed its rightful course.

Zagazola Makama is a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad Region

How Nigeria’s rapid military intervention in Benin reshaped West Africa’s anti-coup momentum

News

“Road Home is Open”: Zulum Brings Hope to 12 000 Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon

Published

14 hours ago

December 8, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

“Road Home is Open”: Zulum Brings Hope to 12 000 Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to restoring the dignity of victims of insurgency, including Nigerian refugees in the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

Governor Zulum gave this assurance while addressing refugees at the Minawao camp in Cameroon’s Far North region, as part of government efforts to repatriate those who remain. Over 12, 000 Nigerian refugees from Kirawa, Ngoshe, Ashigashiya and surrounding communities in Gwoza Local Government Area have been living in the camp for more than a decade.

The governor’s visit provided a significant relief and renewed optimism as he interacted with the refugees. For many, his presence signalled that the long road home was finally opening, describing the moment as their “first real assurance”.

Governor Zulum informed the refugees that adequate security arrangements have been put in place in their home communities, following years of expanded military operations and civilian security initiatives across Gwoza and other parts of Borno.

“The welfare of refugees, internally displaced persons, and returnees remains a priority for us,” Zulum said, noting that rebuilding the lives of insurgency survivors is a core pillar of his administration’s humanitarian and development agenda.

The governor also announced cash support for shelter rehabilitation for those willing to return, a measure designed to help returnees begin reconstructing their homes. In addition, he pledged to drill boreholes for the refugees.

“Borno State in partnership with the federal government will provide a cash assistance of N500 000 to each refugee that is willing to return home, while women households will be given N100,000 each,” Zulum announced.

The governor of the Far North Region, Cameroon, Mijinyawa Bakari, praised Governor Zulum’s unwavering commitment, describing his continued support for displaced Nigerians in Cameroon as exemplary and deeply humanitarian.

“Borno State Governor has consistently demonstrated genuine concern and responsibility for his people, even beyond Nigeria’s borders,” Bakari stated.

He acknowledged the sustained humanitarian assistance, particularly the governor’s long-standing interventions in the Minawao Refugee Camp.

“Zulum’s physical presence and hands-on support has not only provided relief to the refugees but has also strengthened cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroon in addressing displacement and regional stability,” he added.

During his visit, Governor Zulum also toured farmlands allocated to the refugees by the Cameroonian government, which have become their primary source of livelihood.

While assessing the fields, he commended the refugees’ resilience and the host authorities’ generosity. He assured farmers that his administration would support their agricultural activities by providing irrigation kits and water sources to boost productivity.

“Empowering refugees to maintain their livelihoods is central to restoring dignity and ensuring a smooth transition back into their communities,” Zulum stressed.

The governor was accompanied by the senator representing Borno South, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume; the member of the House of Assembly representing Gwoza, Hon. Abdullahi Buba Abatcha; commissioners, the Chairman of Gwoza Local Government, and other officials.

“Road Home is Open”: Zulum Brings Hope to 12 000 Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon