Chief Benjamin Bako is the National President of the Apex sociocultural and political organization of the Jukun people, Jukun Development Association of Nigeria, (JDAN). In this interview, Bako said the Jukun people are not satisfied with the performance of the governor Darius Ishaku who is a Jukun son, among other issues.

With recent developments in Taraba state, particularly regarding political parties, it is possible the PDP and the APC will be filing in candidates from southern zone. What is your position on this? Do you think this would affect the chances of the southern zone in producing the next governor of Taraba state?

As an association that represent the Jukun people; that is the apex socio-cultural and political organization of the Jukun people worldwide, our goal has always been to unite the Jukun people and to press for our interest wherever it concerns Jukun people and propagate our ideas and ways of life to the outside world. So, based on the question you asked, we will be very delighted in the sense that the two prominent parties in the country has found our children worthy to fly their flag; that is the APC and the PDP, even though there is still a serious dispute in the APC governorship ticket, but I think that it is the first of its kind in the history of the country and the state, that two prominent frontline political parties will be fielding their candidate from the southern zone. That is a thing of pride for our people, and when you talk of chances, you see, the problem that we have in the country is basically the fact that politicians seem to take pleasure in dividing our people along tribal and religious lines. Especially, when they seem to have failed in one area or the other. I think there is nothing the common man take pleasure much more than to have a very fair progressive and levelheaded, sincere leader that will create an enabling level playing ground for all tribes and religion to participate both in the politics and economic activities of their environment and of their society. There is nothing a common man deserves much more than peace; a peaceful environment to thrive. So, every other thing is secondary. It is when leaders feel that they tend to whip up this issue of religious sentiment, which to me I don’t think it is okay and I think Nigerians are maturing politically and beginning to understand that religious-politics may not help them but what we need is integrity; very good leader that is forthright, that is unbiased, that is not too much in love with money and that can create enabling environment for all, regardless of religion, tribe or gender, and I think I don’t see anything bad in that, and I know Tarabans – they know what is good and they know that our people can deliver and that is why perhaps the tickets of the two prominent parties was actually taken to the southern part of the state.

There has been an agitation prior to the primary election that there is a zoning arrangement in Taraba state between the north, south and central zone and the north and central zone have felt betrayed that with this arrangement that produced governor Ishaku in 2015, that the south conspired against the north and central zone to in quote hijack the ticket of the two major political parties to fly in the next election. What is your take on this? Do you believe in the agitation for zoning in Taraba state?

As a matter of fact, like I told you from the beginning, when you use the word conspire. Politics is about number; it is about negotiation; it is about you know, coming to terms, I mean, coming together and forging a front. The APC is made up of interest groups from the central, from the north and the south. So also, is the PDP. So, I think it will amount to a kind of insult on the intelligence of well-meaning individuals or power brokers in the central and the north. To feel that they have been shortchanged from participating or from emerging as the front runner of the prominent parties. I am not deeply involved in the political day-to-day running of the state, but I know that okay, for example even if we say that there is zoning, the last person occupying that sit was Jolly Nyame, who did what I will say close to third term. If you are conversant with the political happenings in Taraba state, you will understand that Jolly Nyame had almost handed over to Hon. Baido, who is serving member of the house of representatives. He is now contesting for governorship. He was almost the de facto governor at the tail end of Jolly Nyame’s administration. It was when they went to Bauchi for the PDP zonal rally that Obasanjo refused to hand over the flag to Baido, otherwise, why did people not talk about zoning then. Baido then had the overwhelming support from people from the south, from the north and from the central. So, this issue of zoning that people play up is just to distract the common man and for their own personal interest to me. Otherwise, I don’t think the common man is bothered about all that. All they need is a good, fair and just leader that can do justice for all and bring development to the longsuffering people of the state. So from there, Danbaba took over, that is, from the central, then it went to the south. If it is rotation, after that, it should start from the south, after the south’s tenure, it will now come to the north, then to the central. Again, let us not say the zoning starts with the going of Darius. Where is it supposed to start if we are going to start afresh? It starts from where it stopped, then goes up-north. We are not being arrogant. I am not a politician, I am a community leader but I want to appeal to our brothers in the north and in the south that we are not arrogant people So we seek for their support and time will come that it will be their own turn too and they too will seek for our support.

Will you agree with me that governor Ishaku emerged as governor of this state on the platter of zoning?

Well, like I told you very clearly, I am not a politician and I don’t intend to dabble too deep into political issues. So, whether is a zoning between the politicians or there has been an agreement, it is left for them to sought that out. But I think we should be looking forward now, not looking backward Mr. Journalist, because the primaries have been conducted, the tickets are already with our children. What we will do now is to appeal to the people that the primaries have been finished and what we are looking forward to in few months’ time is the election year, I mean the election month. They should come out in mass and support their political party. I have serious confidence in the candidate of the PDP, even though the APC is still disputed, but the PDP is a man of integrity, he is a man of honor. This is a man that single handedly in 2007-2010 when Yaradua came to power, brokered the amnesty program of the Niger-Delta. He went into the creek, it was his own brainchild that gave birth to the Niger-Delta amnesty program which Yaradua, implemented as part of his seven-point agenda. Agbu Kefas, a very outstanding and worthy and trustworthy soldier, even though Agbu refuse that he is not going to be there, he voluntarily retired from the army. Goodluck Jonathan had to force him back and made him the NIMASA Chairman. He was there for several years, even When the Buhari regime came. They took over, they arrested almost everybody there, they searched everywhere they could not find him with any dent. It was in that level of commitment and honesty and how clean he was and the integrity that he commands that they reappointed him into the presidential program on the North east, which is what is now known as North East Development Commission. This is somebody that has proven overtime at the national level that he is a super performer, a man of integrity and a soldier of no mean repute. I think it is on that pedigree that General TY Danjuma picked him that look, because we are having serious crises in Taraba, the issue of bandits, herdsmen attack and all these, we need a soldier to come and marshal out ideas on how to make the whole of Taraba live in peace. It is only when we have peace that our people will go to farm, that there will be prosperity and wealth will spread. You understand? So, somebody with all these important qualities, we want to throw him out because he is from the south, because of politics. I don’t think it is fair. Kefas emerged based on thorough, clean integrity. He is very sound and intelligent officer for that matter. So put all the candidates side by side and show me who has the credentials of Agbu Kefas. This is the person they want to wash away, wish away, and say that because he is from the south they are talking about zoning. I think Tarabans should thank themselves for having Agbu Kefas as the, probably, by the Grace of God the next coming governor of the state, because I know him and I know what he can do, what he has done at the national level and what he would do at the state. People should forget about this zoning issue and focus on the quality of man coming. That is what I will say.

Let us still talk on governance Sir. Governor Darius Ishaku will be rounding off his eight years as governor of Taraba state in few months. What is your assessment on the performance of the governor?

In fact, if you are going to go into history and about the stance, my personal stance and the stance of this association has always been that we are against nepotism and are against tribalism. Despite the fact that, we are a tribal group, a tribal association but we want justice, equity and fairness for all people. When he came to power, we tried our best to make sure that we talk to him, we guided him on certain things to do; how to achieve progress and result just because he is a Jukun man, we would not want him to leave office with a bad name, because Jukuns are extremely proud people with a track record of achievements. Right from history up till now, we are a very superior and a proud tribe, we resent failure; we don’t associate with failure. Judging whether he has done well or not is left for Tarabans, but if you are talking to me personally to pass my own judgement on the administration, all I will say is as an association that represents the Jukun people, I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the people of Taraba, that is north, and central, even though we have Jukun all over the state. There is no local government in Taraba that has no Jukun people. I want to appeal to Tarabans that on behalf of the association, please we apologize about how our son has administered the state in the last seven years. So, they should know that we ourselves as people that produced him are not better off, we are not happy, that is even the more reason we want to correct this impression by making sure that Agbu Kefas win this election, so that all the wrongs that Darius did may be corrected. If you say I should pass a vote of confidence on him, I will score him maybe around forty-five percent.

The governor is contesting for senate in southern Taraba. Would the association support his ambition to represent southern Taraba in the national assembly?

No! Association does not tell people what to do, where to vote and where not to vote. But our own duty is to guide the people to understand the consequences of their political actions. If they think that their son has performed well and he is somebody they are going to trust and push him again to go and play some political role on their behalf at the national level fine but if they think they are not satisfied with him, it is time for him to go and rest – it is all left for them. We are not going to tell the people that look, don’t vote Darius or you should vote him. The people should know and decide. I believe that my people are very sophisticated people, they are very smart people, they are very intelligent people, one of the most educated tribe in Nigeria, so, I think they know what is right and what is wrong. That is all I will say.

Let us come to the issue of security in southern Taraba. The Kuteb nation has been allegedly under attacks by Fulani herdsmen and until recently that peace is now creeping in. what is the position of the association?

The Kuteb as a people, are known as part of the Jukun Kingdom, a larger Jukun family. Fulani menace has not been restricted to Kuteb villages. It has been a national menace that has happened in Enugu state, as far as Delta state, even Lagos state, Oyo state, and all over the nation. It has been a recurrent decimal in this administration particularly, where herdsmen go and kill off villages and burn houses and send villagers away. We have played our role as an association in the background to make sure that peace return to the Kuteb villages so that they can go back to their farms. Sincerely speaking, we have not rested ever since this crisis started. We have followed diplomatic channels; we have left no stone unturned to make sure that peace returns to that environment. I think, going forward from now, that brings us back to the issue of Agbu Kefas candidacy again. That is why we are desperately hoping that as a retired army officer, if he comes to power – there is a new resurgence of insurgency across the nation. Especially in the north. The Fulani that we know before is unlike the Fulani of now, because, I have lived with Fulani people very closely. My mother and father have maintained a very close relationship with Fulani people, because our house in Takum has been on the road where Fulani people normally pass and go into town and when they return, they go into our house, they will bathe, they will sit down and eat and dress themselves before going to town, leaving some of their properties there. Sometimes they even leave some of their children with us; we play together, we don’t know the difference. But the Fulani of now; this Fulani that we know now is completely different from the Fulani that I grew up with. So, I think if we are ready to accommodate Fulani people that are peace loving, the kind of Fulani that we knew before, that carry sticks, that cohabit with the villagers and live in peace. But the kind of Fulani that carries AK-47 and displace villages is what every community needs a strong leader to actually work against. Because, without strong leadership, sincerely speaking, there may come a time that they will send all Jukun people away from their homeland. Not only Kuteb people. Because Kuteb is part and parcel of the Jukun kingdom, so we should not say this thing is affecting Kuteb only. All of us may be affected. The association has been up on this issue and there are many things that we have done that we don’t need to go to the press to announce, but I assure you that peace is gradually returning to Kuteb land and everything will be okay.

Let us come to the issue of political crisis in Takum. A prominent chief in Takum was recently arrested and still in custody for political thuggery. Are you not worried of the rise in political thuggery in Takum and its environment ahead of the next election?

Okay, I don’t have the details of what happened there, but what I want to say is that we appeal to politicians. Please we should play politics with decorum. If your aspiration is about elevating Jukun people and empowering them to grow in wealth and live in peace, I don’t think that there is any need to arm youths – unemployed youths to terrorize each other because of your political ambition. So, I think, without the powerful politicians, the foot soldiers who are the thugs I am referring to, will never occur. So, if all goes well, back to the politicians – the rivalry between them. They should know that they are aspiring to rule over Jukun people. Unless they are aspiring for a different thing other than service. If it is service to the people, I don’t think it should be militarized weaponized against each other to destabilize the peace of society and the community. So, there is need for us to continue to appeal to top politicians who are funding these thugs to make sure they desist from that for a peaceful community and unless there are laws too, which I believe are in existence but is like those laws harm the poor and leaving out the powerful. If you are suspected of arming thugs to destabilize society, you should be disqualified from participating in politics. So, thuggery is not good for any society, though they exist in every community but is not good for any community and Takum is one of such and let me assure you that Jukun Development Association of Nigeria is working very seriously with politicians to make sure that we curb that act. We should encourage prosperity and peaceful co-existence, not thuggery.

Within a short while southern Taraba witnessed the coronation of two prominent chiefs, that is the Gara Donga and Aku Uka, and that has led to the agitation for the Ukwue Takum. There is a proposal, allegedly from the governor that the throne of the Ukwue Takum should be rotated among the three tribes in Takum local government. What is your take on this?

To my own understanding, even though I am not among the committee of elders, that are made to agree on that. What I heard was that the elders of the three prominent clans, that is the Kpanzon, the Kuteb and the Chamba, they met and agreed amongst themselves that we don’t want any crisis in our communities again; we are tired, so we are ready for any kind of peace. There have been series of meetings before the last one, where they agreed that they should rotate the seat of the chief of Takum amongst the three clans of Takum. So, why should anybody dispute or go against something that will bring peace to the community. Takum has suffered greatly because of tribal misunderstanding that is why the association quickly moved and backed that position that yes, if this is what has the backing of the government that this seat should be rotated among Kuteb, Kpanzon and Chamba people. Whoever does not support is an enemy of peace in Takum and most times it amazes me that the people who are the custodian of traditional seat are not even talking as much as people that are outside Takum; people that are not from Takum. I think they should be advised to desist from the fueling crisis in Takum. This is strictly a Takum affair, and it should be left as such. So, any position that will be taken that will grow peace in our community is fine – all we want is peace. We are not saying they must make this a chief or that – all we want is peace. Whatever the elders agree among themselves the association will back it up.