Gemade’s maturity in politics

SIR: I write to appreciate Senator Barnabas Andyar Gemade for demonstrating maturity in politics by leaving the PDP’s Senatorial ticket of Benue North East for Governor Suswam, and defecting to APC to enable him actualise his plan.

   After the defection, some people called him coward for taking the decision but for me, that defection has demonstrated Gemade’s maturity, gentility and even earns him more respect as an elder state-man.

   I was at NICON Hilton Abuja when the news of Senator Gemade’s defection broke and I heard somebody said “Governor Gabriel Suswam who came into PDP without even knowing how PDP was formed as a party has succeeded in chasing one of the founders of the party out. What a surprise”. After that, I quickly remembered how Senator George Akume, the former Governor of the state (Benue) was equally sent out of the PDP by the same Governor, Suswam. Note that Senator Akume was the one that brought Suswam to power.

  For more than 10 years that I have been monitoring Barnabas Gemade, I must confess that he is a peacemaker and an easy-going-person who takes things simple even when they appear hard. Because, Gemade wanted peace in the Benue PDP Chapter, he decided to avoid having issues with Governor Suswam, who is still owing workers in the state salaries and allowances, yet hoping to use the power of incumbency to win the Benue North East Senatorial seat.

  When Akume was the governor and wanted to contest the senatorial seat in his constituency, he wisely reconciled with workers and the people he was having issues with. But in case of Suswam, he is rather creating problems for himself now that elections are near. If not, tell me how people would vote for you when you are maltreating them by holding their salaries and allowances, slashing salaries and threatening to sack them if they do not comply with your leadership.

   Time to send governor Suswam out is now.

•Awunah Terwase,

Mpape, Abuja.