The ever-lingering Benue-Plateau crisis (3), by Eric Teniola

From last week continues the narrative on the Benue-Plateau crisis and the influence of Chief Joseph Tarka in the politics of the then Middle Belt

I was introduced to him by Alhaji Uba Ahmed sometimes in 1977, after which our friendship grew and lasted till, he died in a London hospital on March 30, 1980. Friendship between Journalists and Politicians is inevitable.

 I was at the hospital with Senator Uba Ahmed when he died and we accompanied his corpse back to Nigeria in a Nigerian Air Force Hercules plane, courtesy of President Shehu Shagari. I was also at his funeral service in his hometown. Between 1977 till his death, his general complaint was about the plight of his Tiv people. He kept referring to the Tiv Riots and how his people were massacred during the military campaigns that followed it.

Chief Tarka was a persuasive talker not used to exaggeration. At his Ikoyi residence, near the present Ikoyi marriage registry, his house was always full of people. To ensure privacy, he would take me upstairs, where he would narrate tragic stories of the Tiv Riots. He explained to me then that the Tivs were not the aggressors; “How can we be on our land”, he pointed out several times. At the age of twenty-four, he had become a leader, and he died at the age of 48.

The mystery about his political life was that in 1978, he aligned with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), a party composed largely of those he fought against in the last 20 years of his life. One would have expected that he would align with the Unity Party of Nigeria led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who opened the door of opportunities to many tribes’ nationalities in the present Middle Belt. Or that he would align with the Nigerian People’s Party of Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, Chief Paul Wantaregh Unongo, George Baba Hoomkwap, Garba Matta, John Wash Pam, Abubakar Ibrahim, Muhammadu Musa and others.

In the 1979 Benue East Senatorial election, after joining the NPN, he scored 122,622, as against Mr. J.V. Vembeh of the NPP, who scored 15,180 and J.V. Yaji of the UPN who had 5,747. His son, Simeon was also elected on the platform of NPN, Gboko Constituency into the Federal House of Representatives. With his influence, all the NPN candidates in Benue State, including Chief Andrew Abogede, Mr. Suemo Chia, Chief Ameh Ebute and Colonel Adah Ahmadu Ali, all won their senatorial elections.

When he joined the NPN, he was denied the presidential nomination of the party in 1978, the Senate presidency in 1979 and the Senate leadership also in 1979. He was only rewarded with the chairmanship of Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation, before being flown to London in 1980 for a medical checkup, during which he died.

Unlike now, that an average member of the National Assembly is an instant millionaire because of easy access to public funds, deals, constituency projects and budgets padding, the members of the National Assembly between 1979 and 1983 only lived on salaries and travel allowances. 

When Chief Tarka was appointed the Chairman of the finance committee, he did not understand his schedule. Only Senator Uba Ahmed persuaded him from resigning from that committee. 

At the Senate, although an NPN Senator, he was more at home in company of notable UPN, NPP and GNPP senators, including Senators Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya, Mahmud Waziri, Patrick Emeka Echeruo, Kayode Ogunleye, Idrissa Kadi, Buka Sanda, Joseph Ansa, Kunle Oyero, Jonathan Olawole Akinremi Odebiyi, Cornelius Adebayo, Stephen Adebanji Akintoye and, of course, his friend, Senator Jaja Anucha Wachukwu (Aba). He enjoyed his Senate days until his health deteriorated and had to leave for London with his friend, Senator Uba Ahmed (Bauchi North East).

On December 8 1996, General Sanni Abacha created Tarka Local Government out of Gboko Local Government in honour of the memory of Chief Joseph Tarka. Today, the council is one of the 23 local governments in Benue State, and is situated north of Gboko Local Government Area, in the North-East wing of Benue State. The local council shares boundaries with Guma, Gwer, Buruku and Gboko Local Governments. 

To be concluded 

•Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, wrote from Lagos.

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