Benue State and the Quest for Development:
Confronting The Curse Of Ethnic Disunity And Intolerance
Samuel Enyi Otsapa
Polemicist, Researcher
Public Affairs Analyst
Makurdi.
Benue State was created in 1976 and since then, the state has faltered to deceive in terms of development. In his magnum opus, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney told of how the need for development; which is defined as a positive movement from one point to another, is inherent and inate in the nature of individuals and societies. From this simple understanding, one can say that in its 44 years as a state, Benue State have no doubts experienced some form of development (and growth) but in the general analysis of the history of the state, especially when one knows that the state is blessed with abundant quantity and rich quality of human and material resources, it would not be misleading to say that the state has failed to develop as it should.
So many factors (corruption, poor governance, poor planning, absence of creativity, unnecessary dependence on federal allocation, etc) is often been pointed out as the bane of the crawling pace of the development of Benue State but to this writer, the most significant curse hindering the development of the state is the absence of unity and tolerance between the different ethnic groups in the state – but particularly between the Tiv and the idoma; the two biggest ethnic groups. After Benue State gained ‘independence’ from the ‘confederate’ union with Plateau and Kogi states, the state now have nine (9) known indigenous ethnic groups: Tiv, Idoma, Igede, Etulo, Akwaya, Nyifon, Akpa, Ufia and Jukun. But as mentioned earlier, the biggest rivalry between the ethnic groups in Benue State is the one between the Tiv and the Idoma while the other smaller ethnic groups are forced and/or cajoled into choosing which of the two ‘warring’ parties they aligns with – because in Benue State, one cannot afford to be nonaligned. Thus, in this rat race between the ethnic groups, it is not surpringing that the Tiv; regarded as the 4th biggest ethnic group in Nigeria after the Big Three of Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo always wins. This is why since the creation of Benue State, no person from the other eight (8) ethnic groups have produced a demcratic governor of the state other than the Tiv. Indeed, and since 1999 when democracy was returned to Nigeria on May 29th, the Tiv have controlled the state’s three arms of government; Governor, Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and Chief Justice of the state, until recently when a soon-to-be-retired Justice Onum was appointed as the state’s Chief Judge by current Governor; Samuel Ortom. With Benue State, the democratic creed of the majority having their way and the minority having their say is strictly adhered to – because as at tody, all three arms of the government are headed by the Tiv and this should not be so especially when we know that democracy preaches checks and balances and in a state like Benue, having heads of the three arms of government come from the same ethnic group would make this difficult to achieve.
It was Aristotle who counselled us about politics being the master science because it controls and coordinates everything – and so we very well know that at the center of the disunity and intolerance between the different ethnic groups in Benue State is the politics of who gets what, when and how – and the accompanying contestations, disagreements and agitations. Suffice it to say that while contestations, disagreements and agitations are typical and permanent with politics, they do not have to be such that the parties would be disunitied and intolerant of each other. Unfortunately, and for Benue State, the matter goes beyond disunity and intolerance to hatred and distain between and among the ethnic groups – but particularly between the Tiv and the Idoma. Truth be told, and since politics controls and coordinates everything, it is commonplace to see this disunity, intolerance, hatred and distain for each other overlap into places such as schools, churches, social gatherings and the playgrounds. This anomaly is now farreaching because today’s generation of Benue sons and daughters have been baptized by their parents into this behavior such that it is now commonplace for a Tiv boy to say he cannot marry an Idoma girl and for an Idoma boy to say he cannot marry a Tiv girl, since their parents (and community) have made it known to them, from when they were little children, that marrying from the ‘other’ ethnic group is a ‘haram’ – a thing that is forbitten and must be avoided at all cost – so love doesnt count.
This writer is of the Idoma ethnic group but he was born and raised in northern Nigeria; specifically in Kaduna, Plateau and Sokoto states – and while growing up in these states, he saw every Tiv man and woman as his brother and sister. In fact during his secondary school days at the Christ Ambassadors College in Kaduna metropolis, his best friend was one Titus Tersoo Igbanah, a Tiv boy – and they became friends the first day they resumed only because they found out they are both from Benue State. However, when this writter gained admission into the state university and came to Benue State for the first time, he was to rudely discover that the Idoma and the Tiv do not often see eye to eye. Although Benue people are very good at pretending about this reality in public (and they have done this for since 1976), the Tiv and the Idoma do not like each other. Hence, the main objective of this writeup is to hit the nail on its ugly head so that henceforth, Benue State would realise its foolishness and begin to make amends by reconciling her ethnic nationalities that they may begin to show true love and tolerance for each other which is key if we truly want to make Benue State a developed state.
From the above narrative, the uninitiated reader who is not at home with the local issues and affairs in Benue State may hurriedly conclude that only interethnic rivalry exists in the state – but no, intraethnic rivalry is as rampant as it is pervasive. Among the Tiv ethnic group, there are many subgroups who do not also see eye to eye. For example: some time ago, this writer met a young Tiv girl who is Ushongo local government area who swore to him that she would never marry any man who is from Konshisha local government area or from Gwer local government area and she went ahead to state her reasons, which would not be recounted here. But to see a young girl of 24 years deep into intraethnic profiling and stereotyping was both surprising and disturbing. Also, there are usually fierce tussles between the different Tiv ancestral blocs over political offices and appointments in the state. Conversely, the Idomas are not left out in this intraethnic rivalry and fierce contestations because in a typical Idoma community (although this practice is not common today as it was in the recent past) indigenes are classified into royals and nonroyals – and this ‘segregation’ most often than not influences the nature and character of the politics of the Idoma people. The Agila people of Ado local government area are a ready example. Although this writer is not certain but he is likely to be correct if he says that this same type of intraethnic rivalry common to the Tiv and the Idoma is also typical with the peoples of Igede, Etulo, Ufia, Akpa, Akwaya, Nyifon and Jukun. As the quest for the development of Benue State intensifies, the time is yesterday for the state to change this narrative, become a united group of people who are honestly tolerant of each other’s ethnic diversity and thence joining hands to help the state develop and take its rightful place among the committee of vibrant states in Nigeria. At this juncture, it is important to note that while interethnic and intraethnic disunity and intolerance is common to most states in Nigeria but that of Benue State is pervasive and farreaching.
What is to be done? Begining at the individual level, each Benue person must realize that God, through man, did not make a mistake when He brought us together but most importantly, none of us was consulted before becoming a Benue son or daughter or before becoming Nyifon, Akwaya, Ufia, Idoma, Etulo, Tiv, Akpa and Jukun. This means that there is no need for you to be overly attached and boastful about being from a particular ethnic group since you did not choose it but you are from there because of your father. This understanding would create in us a spirit of tolerance, respect and love for other people because like them, we now know we belong to our ‘privileged’ ethnic group by chance and not by our ‘sabi-ness’ (intelligence). When the mass of Benue population; individuals, sociocultural organizations and the government, get to this level of consciousness and awareness, we would begin to judge, measure and evaluate one another based on individual strength of character, experience, capacity and ability and not on primitive ethnic profiling, stereotypes and generalizations, which are often skewed, faulty, misleading and anti-development, in the long run.
On the part of the Benue State government, it must begin to practice what it often preaches – because without mincing words, the state government has its fair share of the blame for the disunity, bitterness and intolerance between the ethnic groups in the state. How so? There are many instances where the state government and its officials have overtly and covertly favored one ethnic group over others in terms of appointments, employments, opportunities and admission placements. Granted the Tiv are unarguably the biggest ethnic group in Benue State and so it should, all things being equal, take the highest share in most cases, other ethnic groups ought to be carried along, by the state government. This becomes important when we know that when ethnic profiling and stereotype are enthroned far above individual competence, skill and experience, particularly with state government appointments and jobs, round pegs would be placed in square holes and predictably the deliverables and outcome is often mediocre and this hinders the development of the state, since garbage in means garbage out. Benue State, a stitch in time saves nine.
