Plateau: Deconstructing the Pwajok essence

Since he clinched the ticket in the Plateau State gubernatorial primaries of the People’s Democratic Party, all hell has been let loose by those who prefer to sentimentalize issues rather than face the stark realities on ground. There has been a deliberate attempt by some political anarchists to create mountains out of molehills, claiming that the PDP governorship flag bearer was imposed on the party by the out-going governor, Jonah Jang. All sorts of political insinuations and permutations are being bandied about by a group of people who have refused to toe the path of peace and understanding. Their grand design is to whip up ethnic sentiments on the Plateau in order to create unnecessary fear and distrust among the peace-loving people of the state. But no amount of antagonism can becloud the noble horizons of political perspicacity.

As a friend of the state, one is an interested party in its progress and development. Or how do I pay back all the love and milk of human kindness that I sucked from the tin city state and from my secondary school History teacher who animated the fantastical humanity of my youth with indelible lessons on the temporal landscapes of my mind?            

Governor Jang’s support for Gyang Nyam Pwajok has nothing to do with the trivial issues of ethnic and filial attachments as propagated by those who find the prevailing political circumstances in the sate a pill too bitter to swallow. In his wisdom, the outgoing governor must have done a meticulous analysis of the Plateau Project and the calibre of persons who should be saddled with the responsibility of leading the state to its promised land.

Prior to his advent into politics and governance, GNS Pwajok was a humble teacher whose odyssey from Zang Secondary School Bukuru to the University of Jos remains an inspiring model for aspiring youths. Governor Jang must have noticed something outstanding about the former teacher before appointing him the then director-general of Research and Planning in the Governor’s Office, a position he later vacated to become chief of staff to the governor. Governor Jang is aware that Plateau needs so much care and strategic attention in order to reclaim its pride of place as the home of peace and tourism, a reputation that had hung in the balance following the spate of unfortunate events that had become its unfair lot. Pwajok would sustain the Redemption agenda and would not frolic around with the resources of the state through foreign flights of fancy and cosmetic carousal with women of easy virtue. Governor Jang is also aware that GNS Pwajok would not slaughter the ideals of good governance on the abysmal altars of power drunkenness, statutory alcoholism and official stupefaction.

Pwajok’s vision for Plateau State is novel in many ramifications. It is not commonplace to find leaders who would carry all and sundry along in the task of governance. His campaign slogan says it all. The ‘Greater Together’ concept echoes an all-inclusive arrangement that aims to demystify the idea of government which has for long been branded as the exclusive reserve of the high and mighty, who would in turn distance themselves from the masses while feeding fat on the resources of the state.

GNS Pwajok has consistently maintained that his emergence as the PDP flag bearer is an act of God and believes the task of repositioning the state for greater development is one that involves all, irrespective of age, tribe or religion. He has remained upbeat about the potentials of the state and how his government would galvanize these potentials for development, bearing in mind the need to creatively assuage all frayed nerves on the Plateau. For a state that is still recovering from the wounds of ethno-sectarian crises, Pwajok has said that there is a need to constructively work on the loopholes that catalyze such crises with a progressive view towards forestalling future recurrences in order to ensure absolute peace for development.

Way back in 2011, Pwajok had led a delegation of government officials to Capitol Hill, Washington DC, where he made an instructive presentation on the Jos crisis of 2010 with the theme ‘Jos-Plateau Conflict: Africa’s New Sudan Crisis?’ He has never hidden his passion and desire for progressive change and development as reflected in the articulacy and freshness of his developmental ideas. His deep understanding that Plateau State must not build its hope on the monthly federal allocations but rather think out of the box to incrementally harness all its revenue potentials to maximal advantage separates him from the ‘madding crowd’ of political narcissism who, in their ‘ignoble strife’, would be happy spending federal money and calling it national cake.

With the price of oil dwindling in the international market and giving birth to financial protectionism, only prudent and innovative leaders will be able to achieve much. GNS Pwajok holds the ace! Here is an intellectually sound candidate and completely detribalized Nigerian who envisions a largely patriotic democracy nourished by economic vibrancy and socio-political functionality which are ingredients of the democratic culture that every African yearns to experience in the dawn of the 21st century. The scarcity of such illustrious vision has been the major cause of the strangulating manacles on the neck of Africa’s democracy.

The good people of Plateau State should seize this rare opportunity of a sound mind craving to move into Government House, Jos, to spread the umbrella of a workable vision which will positively influence every person in the state. And the time to do that is NOW!

PATRICK IWELUNMOR