It is settled that the former Governor of Nassarawa State and senator representing Nassarawa State in the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the indefatigable Senator Umaru Tanko Almakura, has declared his intention to contest for the position of national chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC in its forthcoming national convention scheduled to hold December 2021.
His Excellency, Sen. Tanko Al Makura, the former governor of Nasarawa State and incumbent Senator representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District of Nasarawa State in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is an accomplished statesman, astute grassroots politician, bridge builder, and a proven man of peace.
On the 29th of May 2011, I attended his swearing-in and inauguration as governor of Nasarawa State in my then capacity as the Deputy National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change( CPC). He had won a bitter and utterly acrimonious election, in which the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) had employed all its might, including state apparatuses, the law enforcement agencies, and underhand tactics in its bid to upturn the results in their favor. But his massive followership’s determination, doggedness, and steadfastness gave him victory by a slim margin. Underlining his popularity and the love his people had for him.
The people of Nasarawa State came out in overflowing numbers to witness the inauguration ceremony held in the Lafia Township Stadium. Indeed, the mammoth crowd went ecstatic and agog when Alhaji Al-Makura arrived with the National Leader of the CPC, the then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), in a motorcade.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the former Governor of Cross River State, Dr. Clement David Ebri, as the dignitaries attending the ceremony. Mr. Ebri later told me that he and Alhaji Al-Makura were delegates to the Constituent Assembly convened by General Ibrahim Babangida to discuss the 1989 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I saw another dignitary, a woman from Cross River State.
When I asked her how she came to know Alhaji Al-Makura, she told me that Alhaji Al-Makura and her classmates were in the defunct Advanced Teachers Training College, Uyo, in the then South Eastern State in the 1970s. During that period, the Federal Military Government had encouraged States to embark on exchange programs of students in secondary schools and tertiary institutions to promote national integration. Alhaji Al-Makura was from the then Benue Plateau State and was sent on an exchange program in the South Eastern State.
Little wonder Alhaji Al-Makura is such a broad-minded Nigerian who has friends and associates across the country. He was a two-term Governor of Nassarawa State, a mini Nigeria state because of the diversity of her population, and he managed it very well.
Alhaji Al-Makura was appointed a Member of the defunct CPC Merger Committee in January 2013. The terms of reference of the Committee discussed a merger with the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and any other progressive political party in the country to form a broad-based political party to fight the PDP that was bestriding the political landscape of the country like a colossus. As the Secretary of the Committee, I can attest that Alhaji Al-Makura was Central to the merger of the ACN, CPC, ANPP, and factions of AGPA, New PDP, Andy DPP towards the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Indeed, Alhaji Al-Makura was also central to running and managing the defunct CPC affairs from 2011 to 2013. His contribution was undisputably unquantifiable!
A very humble, coolheaded man who is also an embodiment of integrity and progressivism, and intellectualism. He is a principled politician and has the power of oratory. He does not succumb to the desperate pursuit of wealth. He was already a successful businessman before he went into politics.
Undoubtedly, in these very trying times in our national polity, the APC needs a peacemaker and a proven selfless unifying leader, Alhaji Al-Makura, to manage its affairs and rebuild the party to greater heights as the National Chairman of the Party in the forthcoming transition.
Senator Almakura is a Gwandara, one of the ethnic nationalities that dot Nassarawa State, one of the melting pots of Nigeria in terms of ethnic composition. You find groups in Cross River, Enugu, Edo, Kogi, Benue, Bornu States in Nassarawa State. To manage such a Hodgepodge of ethnicities requires someone who is broad-minded, coolheaded, enlightened, and imbued with exposure.
However, as Governor, Senator Almakura managed Nassarawa State with such talent and skill, bringing to bear the sterling qualities I have mentioned earlier, which somebody who wants to manage a mosaic complexity should have. Senator almakura is imbued with such qualities and would be an asset to the APC as it shuffles to a testy transition programme come 2022. He will be a bridge between northern and southern Nigeria.
I, therefore, endorse Senator Umaru Tanko Almakura.
By Chief Okoi Obono-Obla
