GABRIEL TIVLUMUN NYITSE: A TRIUMPH OVER THE ELEMENTS Mike Utsaha, Esq.
Mike Utsaha, Esq.
Monday November 22, 2021, history will be made! On that day, my beloved brother and friend of many years, Dr. Gabriel Tivlumun Nyitse a.k.a GTN, will subscribe to the Oath of Office of Chief of Staff to the Governor of Benue State.
It is the very first time in the contemporary political history of Benue state that Or Ichongu i shin, Orhyarev, ke enie u Guma, Or Utyondu, Or Mbadwem, will occupy this office.
This is not only a defining moment for my brother GTN, it is equally a significant development with equally very significant implications for our people and for our politics in tar u Ichongu i shin.
There is a sense in which GTN will be inducted into the Ihyarev Hall of Fame for which we are gradually becoming known for. He will join such elders like
His Royal Majesty Late Alfred Akawe Torkula, first Or Ihyarev to be Tor Tiv,
Late Padopads Awunah, first Or Ihyarev to be President General Mdzough u Tiv,
Late Chief JKN Waku, first Or Ihyarev to be a distinguished Senator of the federal republic,
Justice APB Utsaha, first Or Ihyarev to be High Court Judge, President Customary Court of Appeal and Member National Judicial Council,
Prof. E. I. Kucha first Or Ihyarev to be Vice-Chancellor of a University,
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, Cmf first Or Ihyarev to be Catholic Bishop,
Rt. Hon. Stephen Tsav, first Or Ihyarev to be Speaker of Parliament,
Citizen Richard Ibn Asema, first Or Ihyarev to be a federal commissioner,
Barr. Emmanuel Jime, first Or Ihyarev to head a federal agency,
Engr. Felix Atume, first Or Ihyarev to be Registrar Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria COREN and
AIG Don Awunah, first Or Ihyarev to attain the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Congratulations my beloved brother!
I have the faintest recollection how and when exactly I first met Gabriel Tivlumun Nyitse, but I do recall that as an authentic Or Mbadwem that he is, he used to be part of regular meetings of the then vibrant Utyondu Development Association (UDA) which, my father the then Barrister Bokon Utsaha led, and had the task of usually hosting in our family house in Wadata, Makurdi. I guess that is how we first met.
Tivlumun and I would later meet in Jos where I was a law student. As a fresh graduate of the University of Ilorin, Tivlumun had secured the employment of the defunct Concord Newspapers as her correspondent in Jos.
Tivlumun was the darling of all of us, guys and girls, yes, you read me right, but that’s a story for another day. With his signature charming good looks, generosity, open mindedness, ease of access and with a cosmopolitan world view, you couldn’t help but be arrested by the aura of this iconic figure. Aa
This is the period when the entire Tivland could boast of only a handful of correspondents of media houses with a national spread.
Tivlumun would later join the public service of Benue State as Chief Press Secretary to the Military Administrator of Benue State a position from which he briefly served as Sole Administrator of the Gwer-West Local Government Area.
Much later he served as Permanent Secretary Government House Administration a position he relinquished in 2015 in order to seek office as Governor of Benue State. He is currently a Lecturer in the prestigious Bingham University, Auta Balefi, Abuja.
I have heard and read some very dubious narrative about how it is a bit demeaning for someone with such an intimidating profile to descend from an imaginary high horse, and near Olympian biodata, to accept the position under contemplation.
In my humble view this opinion is as puerile as it is pedestrian. It is a misguided conception and belies crass ignorance of the operation of a democratic system of governance.
In a constitutional democracy like ours, executive offices like Local Government Chairman, Governor and President are very powerful indeed, especially here in Nigeria.
Now, one of the pillars of strength of these executive offices is the position of Chief of Staff, and if anyone is in doubt then recall how the Late Mallam Abba Kyari peddled power and influence when he held sway as Chief of Staff to President Buhari. Indeed, he was considered the de facto President of Nigeria.
Looked at from a slightly different point of view, the position of these nay sayers and bad belle people would be valid or tenable if Nyitse had been elected Governor and then, after serving s such, will now seek to occupy the office of Chief of Staff.
But this is not the situation here. Rather, what we have is a situation where an experienced, well exposed, versatile and astute administrator is being brought in, ostensibly to inject new blood into an administration that is in its twilight period and, by so doing, hopefully shore up performance indices and ultimately return an above average scorecard.
This is the background against which the appointment of Nyitse ought to be understood and appreciated.
The meteoric rise of Nyitse, from relative obscurity to stardom, is nothing short of a man’s triumph over the elements, including the complete loss of a country home worth millions of Naira. In his personal and family life too he has demonstrated patience, resilience and complete trust in God the father of all mankind. Nyitse has paid his dues and deserves the fruits of his many years of labour.
It remains for me, once again, to congratulate my beloved brother Nyitse and wish him all the very best in this new assignment. It is my hope and expectation that his office will not only be a rallying point for all appointees of the Governor devoid of the fragmentation, backstabbing and all the other divisive tendencies that constitute a barrier to delivery on electoral promises.
I expect that Nyitse will rise above parochial interests and considerations and raise sky high the performance benchmark for appointees of the governor and create a formidable platform for accountability on the part of these public officers that come under his direct control.
Certainly, this is no time for politics, it is the time for governance of the most impeccable kind.
