My Letter to You(th) Lets keep politics aside, dear friend. One of my New Year resolutions on Wednesday night was to open more direct channels of communication between you and I, in this year of our lord twenty hundred and fifteen, so as to engage more positively with you, feel your pulse on issues, sample your opinion and listen to constructive criticism from you. I have decided to do this because in this run up to the general elections, information will be key and I intend to leave no room for rumors. So for you to be properly carried along, you need to know what is happening to me, how my campaign team is working and how we are progressing. You need to listen to our message, my message of hope for a truly Greater Benue. From henceforth, I will be writing directly to you in various forms, via letters, mails, memos, notes, messages and various other easy to access fora. I am very busy, especially now as the campaign is gathering steam, but I will try to do this every once in a while because you are very important to me. Yesterday, after the expanded caucus meeting of the PDP at the AIK where I was presented to party faithful, several engagements with key stakeholders after that presentation kept me awake till very late into the night. This morning as early as 9am, I was in Gboko to be a part of the Peace Mass organized by the Catholic laity at the St Johns Cathedral, Gboko. Several notable Benue sons were present, His Excellency Governor Gabriel Suswam was present, the Tor Tiv, HRH Alfred Akawe Torkula was in attendance, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, my fellow contestant in the February Guber poll, Chief Dr Samuel Ortom also put in an appearance. It was a well attended event and I will bring share my experiences at this church service later I left Gboko late afternoon and got home well after 4pm to meet a multitude waiting for me. After a few more meetings with my political associates, I discharged my security details, giving them the rest of the day off and retired after telling my personal aides I didnt want to be disturbed. I went in and decided to talk to you, I decided to write this. I am writing to you, not as a gubernatorial aspirant, but as my simple self, as Terhemen Tarzoor, that young child who grew up around the NUJ/Ankpa Ward area of Makurdi, went to St Gabriels and attended Benue State University- just like many of you. I am writing as your contemporary, as your friend and if I may so, as your brother- as someone who wishes you well. You may call me ex this, ex that, you may call me the PDP standard bearer for the 2015 governorship elections, but at heart I am no different from any of you. Time and chance happeneth to all man, and it just so happens I have had the right breaks in life so far- to have led the assembly and now, by the grace of God, to also lead the state soon. But I have also suffered, I have also cried, I have also felt despondency and frustration like many of you. I was once a member of the state house of assembly- but really, it could have been you or it could be you tomorrow. I once led the assembly, but it could have been anybody else. God has been benevolent in my life. Yes, I worked hard, I prepared myself so I seized the opportunity when it presented itself but really, did I possess any innate ability to legislate? No! Simply put, God has been faithful to me because I am not better than any of you- that is what I want to reiterate. Having said that, I want to add that if it is possible that today, I am aspiring to be Governor of Benue, it only means providence could push you to aspire for Senate or even President by 2019 or 2023. If that opportunity were to present itself tomorrow, would you let incidental happenstances, of no making of yours, stop you? Would you be discouraged by poorly constructed narratives of naysayers? No The funny thing about life is- where the decision makers or powers that be, gather to decide your case, you are hardly ever present. It is your antecedents that determine your fate. Decide my fate on the merit of my vision, the strength of my character, value of my antecedents and the prospects of your future with me at the helm. God controls my destiny, but at the February poll, your vote will go a long way in determining my fate in the elections. Where you will sit, either alone or in company of others to decide that fate, I will not know. What I do know is that majority will make the right decision. For the small minority who hate, or try to derail this project, I only have a few questions. What is it that makes you hate Tarzoor? Is it my reputation or our past interaction that formed your negativity? If I may I ask, have you ever had any personal interface with me? I failed you, personally or as a collective? Have I ever been in a position to help your fortunes and I didnt? I ask because I am not a septuagenarian that you cannot relate with me, if you have issues, I will be very happy to address them, not because you must be a part of my project but because posterity demands that a leader aspiring to serve leaves no apathy in the minds of the led. I believe that our engagement should be issue based and hinged on the superiority of argument. Many have become immune to politicians and their promises due to disappointments of the past. So, this letter is not about making you promises. It is about strengthening your resolve, for those who believe in me and my dream of a Greater Benue. It is about asking you, the non believer, to pause and ask yourself: what has Tarzoor done wrong to deserve the campaign of calumny you so aggressively wage against him? Today, many are standing up to defend me against this baseless negativity from a vocal minority the same way others will stand up to defend them against naysayers at the work place, church or home. Not every kingmaker in council is often happy with the choice of a new king though, but a new king always emerges, nonetheless. I only pray we will all be properly guided in making our choice for the February election without malice, subjectivity, spite and hatred. Like they told us many years ago, we are all leaders of tomorrow, let us all act wisely. The discerning amongst you already know that, that tomorrow has finally come.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 22:49:03 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015