As Ortom Beats a Retreat

Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, obviously allowed the atrocities being committed by foreign herdsmen in his state to control his emotion last Sunday when he declared that he would not support a Fulani man to become the President of Nigeria.  Ejiofor Alike reports that following the backlash that greeted his comments, the Benue State governor has since beaten a retreat and offered an apology

Since foreign herdsmen launched a relentless war against the people of Benue State in 2016, Governor Samuel Ortom has been fighting the battle of his life, which has almost pitted him against the Fulani in Nigeria.

His decision to organise open mass burials for the victims of herdsmen killings in the early life of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was said to have provoked the ire of key officials of the administration, who had allegedly favoured secret burials. The Benue State governor accused the Buhari-led administration of giving tacit approval for the killings in his state to force the indigenous people to surrender their lands to the foreign invaders.

It was not surprising that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could not accommodate the governor and those he described as the enemies of his state.

When Ortom defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in July 2018, he explained that he abandoned the ruling party in search of a platform that would accommodate his policies, especially the anti-open grazing law, which caused the friction between him and the Buhari-led administration.

“We had to abandon that platform in search of one that offers more accommodation and support for our policies, especially the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017,” he reportedly said.

He alleged that highly placed officials in the APC-led federal government made various attempts to frustrate an imperative legislation.

“Such frustrating efforts by highly placed members of the federal government necessitated my exit from the party to one that will not compromise our stance on a matter so key to the Benue people.

“This is the platform on which we seek the renewal of our mandate. No one will bend us as far as the Ranching Law is concerned because we draw consent and sustained support from the Benue people,” he was quoted as saying.

Since he won his reelection on the platform of the PDP in 2019, he has continued to voice out his opposition against the killings in his state. He blamed Fulani herdsmen from the Republic of Niger, Chad, Senegal and other neighbouring countries for the mayhem in the state. He incurred the wrath of prominent Fulani leaders in Nigeria with his comments against the Fulani.

For instance, during a recent political parley organised by the leading northern groups at Arewa House in Kaduna State, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar had reportedly stated that: “I had a big quarrel with Governor Ortom on his accusation of Fulani people. I am a Fulani man; why should you categorise all Fulani; we have to improve ways and manner we look after our livestock. I am angry with Samuel Ortom for profiling Fulani as bandits and terrorists.”

But Ortom insisted that he did not profile the Fulani who are bonafide citizens of Nigeria, noting that he had always blamed the Fulani from other countries, who had vowed to take over Nigeria to become their own country.

He, however, broke his words last week when he vowed that he would not support any Fulani to be the President of Nigeria apparently due to the atrocities being committed by the herdsmen in his state.

In an emotional outburst, the Benue State governor who was angry over the alleged subtle support by Atiku to the herdsmen, said; “to hell with Atiku”.

He vowed that he would not support Atiku’s presidential bid to continue the killing of Benue people.

He said: “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him. They should go and tell him. You want me to be slave for a Fulani. It’s better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue.

“My people are being killed and you want me to be quiet.

“My tenure ends in May and you can do whatever you want if you think you have the powers. I have written my will. When I gave it to my wife, she cried all night. If I die at 62, many of my mates have gone long time ago and if I die today, I’m a fulfilled person but let it be recorded that I died resisting the invasion and killing of my people.

“I will never support a Fulani man to become president. If there is another person who is ready to work with me and ensure the security of my people, I will work with him,” Ortom reportedly explained.

However, the Benue State governor has since beaten a retreat following the backlash that greeted his comments.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), which has never made sincere efforts to stop the killings, was the first to fault Ortom.

NEF, in a statement signed by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the governor’s comments were totally unbecoming of a leader.

The Forum said, “We, like other Nigerians, watched the video in which Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom speaks in a manner and language totally unbecoming of a leader, at a time when standards of responsibility and decorum should be at their highest levels.

“He was apparently addressing citizens on recent killing of villagers which he attributes to Fulani herders.

“Even while making allowances for the established patterns of rhetorics and practice of Governor Ortom on inter-communal relations, this latest outburst should be condemned in a most emphatic manner,” NEF explained.

It however acknowledged that those it described as rogue Fulani elements are the killers, bandits and kidnappers in the North.

 “Governor Ortom should live up to his oath and his commitment to his mandate to live as a responsible leader of his people,” NEF explained.

But contrary to the position of NEF, Ortom has always, even at the risk of his own life, provided a responsible leadership for his people by defending them against the foreign invaders who want to seize their ancestral lands.

NEF was simply angry that Ortom attributed the killings in Benue State to Fulani herders.

However, an apparently overwhelmed Ortom has apologised for what many perceived as “anti-Fulani comments.”

Speaking when the G-5 governors visited Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, last Wednesday at the Ramat House, Bauchi, Ortom said he was sorry for all who felt offended by his comments.

Ortom, who was asked by journalists if he still stood by his comments, said: “That was not what I meant when I was captured saying that. But all the same, I know that it would amount to logical fallacy if people had taken it the way I did.

“But I want to say to those who were offended by my remarks; I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry about it,” Ortom reportedly explained.

It is however uncertain if Ortom’s apology will reverse his position on Atiku.