The Unspoken Love and Bond between SGF Akume and Governor Alia -By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

For months since the inauguration of Rev. Father Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia as the 6th elected governor of Benue State on May 29, 2023, reports, rumours, innuendos, and conspiracy theories have been circulating regarding the political relationship between the governor and his political mentor and godfather, the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), His Excellency, Senator Dr. George Akume. Quite a few political capital traders and investors have sought to cash in on the perceived irreconcilable political differences between the governor and the SGF. Various narratives abound about the main reason for the undeniable cold relationship between the two recently.

Nonetheless, nobody knows the core of the problem better than the two Benue leaders directly involved. Additionally, I see no benefit to be derived for Benue State and Nigeria if certain actors continue stoking the tension between Governor Alia and SGF Akume. It is indubitable that SGF Akume’s firm support and sponsorship of Gov. Alia resulted in his emerging both as the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the election into the office of Governor of Benue State and as elected governor of the state. It is not uncommon to be sponsored by a human being along your destiny’s trajectory. Even our Lord Jesus Christ needed and had a human sponsor: John the Baptist sponsored or introduced Jesus to the world according to the will of the Almighty Creator of all. The question is why SGF Akume anointed Rev. Father Dr. Alia above other aspirants (including my humble self), many of whom painfully stretched themselves to raise the required fifty million naira as the cost of the nomination and Expression of Interest form?

Shortly before the deadline for the purchase of the nomination forms for aspirants on the platform of APC, a co-aspirant said to me in Tiv language concerning Akume’s dedicated support for Alia, “Ka i gba kaan ye Fada iin nyaregh ga,” meaning, “They just say, Father doesn’t steal money.” It would be correct then to assume that SGF Akume was concerned about the safety or prudent management of the Benue treasury and so chose a Reverend Father, whom he trusted would not allow pilfering from the Benue purse. At that time, we had not read about Fr. Alia’s philosophy of governance, vision for solving the myriad problems of Benue State, or political principles. It must be noted that SGF Akume is a devout Roman Catholic faithful, in fact, a knight, who, by religious restraint, may not be easily disposed to openly denigrating or embarrassing Gov. Alia (a Roman Catholic priest whose fame in Benue State had spread due to his miraculous spiritual healing adventures some years ago) for mere political purposes. More than a year later, objective observers cannot dispute that Gov. Alia has so far faithfully and prudently managed the resources of Benue State and refused to borrow a dime to fund his massive infrastructural, agricultural, educational, health, security, and many other social and economic undertakings. This success story is a vindication of SGF Akume, who, at last, has successfully given the Benue people a productive and visionary governor. At the risk of sounding unappreciative of the stewardship of the last two governors that Akume had “bequeathed” to the Benue people, Gov. Alia has so far comforted the people of Benue State through his smart and efficient governance.

In 2018, while candidates for the 2018 general elections were being determined for various political parties in Nigeria, the incumbent governor of Lagos State at the time, although very prudent and faithful in managing the resources of the state, was rejected by his party, the APC. Even the national political leader of the APC at the time, the current president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, could not save Governor Ambode. Despite the pleas of President Buhari for Ambode, he was rejected. Why? The Lagos APC party leaders concluded that Gov. Ambode was a good socio-economic developer but a bad politician. We are running a democracy, not a theocracy; no sane politician goes into politics without an agenda, which may be branded as “selfish” or “altruistic.” To preserve their time in the corridors of political power to offer the people the service they deserve, an astute politician must find a way to continually earn the trust and confidence of the political gladiators while faithfully serving the people. Sadly, for him, Gov. Ambode lost out, while Gov. Sanwo stepped in his shoes. Has Gov. Sanwo performed worse than Gov. Ambode did? Not at all! Gov. Alia must find a way to remain focused on faithfully serving his beloved Benue people while earning the confidence of Benue political gladiators. He and SGF Akume must earn each other’s confidence. They do not need mediators or peacemakers to “reconcile” them. At last, SGF Akume has found a governor with whom the people of Benue are well pleased. The relationship between Gov. Alia and himself must be delicately managed for the wellbeing of Benue State and Nigeria. I personally know Akume to be very generous and forgiving, and Alia to be very eager to develop Benue State and please the people. This combination must be improved to include mutual humility and wisdom with Benue people at the focus of all politics. Wisdom, or divine wisdom, is first pure, peaceable, gentle, or considerate, easy to appease, full of mercy, kind, without partiality, and unpretentious.

Some years ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar had an extremely poor relationship between them. Minister Nasir El-Rufai (as he was then) refused to openly take sides, even as he wisely said, “When the two of them reconcile, I will not be there.” (paraphrase, mine). Did they reconcile? Yes, they did. My advice to those who have vehemently and openly been casting diatribes, innuendos, and excoriating words at either personality is this: Be a peacemaker, and you will be acting as a child of God. If you ignore this counsel, you may become the disposable tool that both SGF Akume and Gov. Alia will use to settle their little brotherly misunderstanding tomorrow.

The matter of who the APC leader in Benue State is should not cause palaver among the Benue APC family at all. May I know which informed APC member of Benue State respects SGF Akume and yet wishes to reduce his political stature to “Leader of Benue APC”? I remember when the “Zik of Africa” took a backward metamorphosis to become the “Owelle of Onitsha.” Far be it that we reduce our esteemed SFG Akume and leader of the North-Central geopolitical zone to “Benue APC leader”! The divine choice is often questioned by mortals who are dissenting. This is normal, but let reason prevail in the context of the lessons and evidence of history.

Leonard Karshima Shilgba is a professor of mathematics and a founding member of Benue APC.