Forgotten So Soon? Very Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu
By David Jam Tor
Public Affairs Analyst
The story of Nigeria like any other nation include that of immigrants. The Tiv people who occupy the Benue valley in the middle-belt of Nigeria migrated from somewhere believed to be Southern of Central Africa. Since they are seen to be of Bantu origin, what is of paramount interest to us at the moment is, given that it took long, difficult and trying times to get where we are today; the burden, pains, and stress of those who brought us to this stand must not be forgotten and which informs a reason to take a look at this religious, philosophical, educational, political and administrative legend whose name is gradually leaving the minds of Benue people and Nigeria at large. Unlike the Balrabe Musa of Kaduna, Abubakar Rimi; Kano, Christian Chukwuma Onuh of old Anambra, Obong Akpan Isemin; Akwa Ibom and his contemporaries i.e. Abubakar Audu of Kogi State which informs his madness of contesting unceasingly.
The Very Revd. Prof. Moses, Orshio Adasu was one of the six (6) second set of Roman Catholic Priests ordained by Makurdi Catholic Diocese in Gboko on 10th December, 1971 alongside the then Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, the late Most Revd. Dr. Athanasius Atule Usu, Late Dominic Yuhe, Late Simon Ivever, Stephen Beba, and Benjamin Adzor. Though a clergy, Adasu desired to live his life for the people and that he saw through his vision which took him to places outside the religious circle. He worked at the Headquarters, Benue State Ministry of Education, Makurdi as Senior Inspector of Education and taught in various secondary and Teachers Colleges in Jos, Adikpo and Otukpo, he lectured at Colleges of Education, Akwanga and Katsina-Ala respectively. He also served in the Benue State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board; Benue State Committee on Prerogative of Mercy. Advisory Committee/Council, Episcopal Commission on African Tradition, Religion and Board of Governors, College of Education, Katsina-Ala. Revd. Prof. Adasu played a vital role in formation of the 1989 constitution for the nation as he was elected into the 1988 Constituent Assembly; another was his membership of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). He died as an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious and Philosophy with his administration of one year, ten months established.
In the religious sphere and the Catholic Church in particular, Revd. Prof. Adasu held many key positions, such as: Dean of Makurdi Deneary, Chairman Presbyterian Council and Vicar-General, Makurdi Diocese.
Because of his great wealth of vision and foresight, the Very Revd. Fr. Prof. Adasu, who lived his life to serve the people, which informed his view of taking to priesthood felt he will serve God better and wider through the people, this endeared him to join partisan politics in 1991, though against the tide of church dogma and breach of provisions of the Canon Law 287, paragraph two (2), but the finger of God still pointed at him. Against all odds, he was elected the second Civilian Governor of Benue State on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and sworn into power on 2nd January, 1992. His supposed four-year tenure was however short-lived by the coup that saw Gen. Sani Abacha to the seat of Government on 17th December, 1993. A tenure which gave the Revd. Adasu just a one year and ten months in office as Executive Governor, and believe me or not, no Governor so far, has beaten that track record that Adasu made while in office.
Exploration of areas that past leaders have never touched, is strong criteria for assessing good leadership, for which more than a billion credits, we should always rain on Rev. Fr. Adasu. He was the first Governor ever to call for an assembly of eminent Benue sons and daughters at home and in Diaspora for a discussion on some key projects of his administration which included: Provision of the much needed 330KV power supply by The Federal Government launching and construction of a J.S. Tarka Foundation and Establishing Benue State University. He is not to blame for failure of the Federal Government to hook Benue State to the National grid, since he obtained approval for the project; while 66 percent of work at the J.S. Tarka Foundation was reached before he left office and is today completed as seen. The grand of all projects to his credits, Benue State University took off amidst a rain of obstacles and stiff resistance. History has it that, the Benue State University establishment suffered a lot of setbacks in a bid to have it approved. But Adasu’s unrelenting and tireless efforts had him bent over for his back to be used as stable on which the University’s Certificate of Operation was signed by the then Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.
Since Adasu believed that vision entails looking at your personal values and life purpose, he had an innate sense that his life is part of a larger purpose, which is tied to the nation or any social department he led. Thus, clear vision was exhibited in his time as Governor, vision led him to fight for the Federal Medical Centre which was established in Benue and Makurdi in particular, with its permanent site under construction at Apir before he left office untimely. His administration saw two Benue sons as Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and Sen. Ameh Ebute; with Chief (Engr.) Barnabas Gemade as the Secretary for Works and Housing at the central Government. The College of Education, Oju was originally established by the first Civilian Governor, Mr. Aper Aku; and later closed up by the military regime of Brigadier Atom Kpera, another Benue son, for no just cause! What a shame! But was re-opened by the Adasu administration. Several strides of his dream to industrialize the state were made, the Benco Roofing Tiles Company at Abinsi was completed and production test was being carried out, while equipment for the Fruitcom, Juice Factory at Katsina-Ala were procured and delivered to the site, to mention but a few.
Despite the immeasurable contributions of the Very Revd. Prof. Adasu, a simple down to earth Governor, humorous confident and selfless personality, who had an acerbic and caustic tongue, a courageous and outspoken man who always stood tall and firm on every matter affecting the state as well as friends and contemporaries near or far and the nation at large, not even a sign post stands to point or reveal a street or shop named after this legend. But come to think of it, ask these questions within you, were there no scholars or contempories of Adasu? Or was he that bad that no one would stand to promulgate his lofty and philosophical ideas/strategies? Was his political era dim as the name appears to be today? Although it seems a trend to successors of our leaders here that the past be forgotten; but note that the here and now can only be taken care of when the past is considered.
At least there is a stadium named after Aper Aku and at the moment a housing estate in North Bank bears his name; J.S. Tarka, the Late Adasu had a foundation in his name though the aim for which it was set is defeated, for it is now a venue for wedding receptions, birthdays and other related occasions. Also, the J.S. Tarka Institute for Political and Management Studies has never been used for the purpose for which it was meant, it is partly occupied by Mzough U Tiv (MUT) as her National Secretariat, other Pentecostal Churches use it for their fellowships, the Community of Tiv Students (CTS) use it as a venue for her Annual National Convention which is always characterized by in-fighting, and a host of other electoral offences and mal-practices; but there is none named after Adasu.
Before concluding, I wish to be properly understood that for many leaders, personal and organizational visions are one and same, in this way, effective leaders build lasting institutions that change the world. These type of leaders are pioneers, for they are people who venture into the unexplored territory or areas, which was the position of Rev. Fr. Adasu, whose memories are slowly leaving the minds of our emerging self-inclined, unfocused, visionless and egocentric leaders, whose job in two tenures for consecutively eight years is highly characterized by broken promises and accompanied by untold hardships. A people who were once victors have become the vanquished and victims. In all, the meta-problem is founded on lack of visionary leadership in our human institutions.
Be informed that, I am discussing with you from position of authority. We are leaders in our own right and consequently, we should read the signs of our own time. Though leadership is a much more difficult thing these days than what it was and even as it gets tougher to be a leader, it becomes more necessary for only strong leadership to enable a society to survive, let alone prosper in such trying times.
The era of this great Very Revd. Prof. Adasu, looked glamorous, the contention and departure points are that we should rise to clamour for this legend to be remembered by the government of Benue State, Tiv Nation, the people for whom Father Adasu stood and worked by setting an adorable (a monumental edifice) or better still rename the Benue State University after him since there are fears that this great name will soon go into extinction and washed off from the minds of the people, for he is an unforgettable model for Benue leaders, people and the nation at large. The past, should not just be studied for its own sake, no, but with the purpose of improving the hic et Nunc. And like I mentioned earlier, only when the here and now is taken care of tomorrow is guaranteed impso facto. This calls for need to improve or build on the experiences of leaders past or gone, for there cannot be the present without the past. Therefore, I call on all to join me as an apostle of the Very Revd. Prof. Moses Orshio Adasu in this call for his name to live again and be remembered.
