By Sunny Green Itodo
When our Lord Jesus Christ was set to begin his earthly ministry, one of the first steps he took was the selection of his disciples.
Like our Lord Jesus Christ, His servant and priest, Revd. Fr. Dr Hyacinth Alia, the Benue State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has passed the first test of leadership with his fantastic choice of a capable and dependable Deputy in the person of Dr Sam Ode.
The choice of the Bridge Builder by the wise Father has allayed fears that Alia’s choice of running mate may mar his chances of winning the gubernatorial election, and ignited the hope of the Benue people.
When the former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs was being unveiled as the All Progressives Congress, APC, Deputy Governorship Candidate in Makurdi, the state capital, on Friday (14th October, 2022), one song reverberates throughout the state with loud decibels, “Alia got is right in Sam Ode!”
Anyone who has been following development in the state in the last seven years will know why Benue people are agog for Alia/Ode mandate: the PDP administration has turned Benue State to “hell on earth”; no payment of salaries/pensions, no social, economic or infrastructural development, loans running into billions of nairas taken with nothing to show for, and so on.
It is also an open secret that the outgoing Governor wants to impose his protégé on the Benue people to cover up for the maladministration of his regime.
But unfortunately for them, Benue people have rejected that pharaonic arrangement, and opted for the Alia mandate, despite barrages of blackmail and propaganda by the shameless PDP administration in the state.
Permit me to allude to the biblical first king of Israel, Saul, who was consumed by hubris, envy and jealousy. Unable to accept the reality that God has rejected him and that David was the new anointed King, Saul waged wars against David out of envy and jealousy. But in the end, he took his own life.
This will be the fate of the propagandous PDP in Benue State. They will be the authors of their undoings.
Away from the thieving termites (apologies to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu). Benue people can not thank Revd. Fr. Dr Hyacinth Alia and the leadership of the APC in the state enough, for the apt choice of Dr Sam Ode. Hon. Dr Samuel Utaji Ode, BL, mni, epitomises the unity of Benue State; his father, late Colonel Christopher Ikwue Ode is from Zone C (Otukpo LGA), his mother late Helen Mzamber is from Zone A (Ushongo LGA), and his maternal grandmother, late Mama Catherine Nginan Tarka is from Zone B, and the elder sister of the renowned nationalist and champion of minority rights in Nigeria, Senator JS Tarka.
Besides this, Dr Sam Ode is well academically accomplished and boasts an impeccable wealth of experience as a renowned politician, lawyer and administrator. His administrative experience will come in handy in the new government.
His antecedents show that he has had a profound cumulative impact on the people of Benue State regardless of tribe.
He has long distinguished himself as one of the most detribalized Benue politicians.
The Alia/Ode ticket is the biggest combo after the Holy Trinity, as social media-savvy people will say.
Benue! Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
[Itodo, a Public Affairs Analyst and Newspaper Columnist wrote from Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State]
