By Katdapba Yunana Gobum
Hon Sunday Abdu may easily be everyone’s politician. They stay in one camp, for as long as there is a conviction for what is good for the people. They do not constantly move from one camp to another.
We are aware that Nigeria has a long list of political journey men, testing the water here today, and moving to another the next day; when what they want is not available for them.
Whatever name they are given, the point being made is that, most; and they abound in the nation’s political space, hop from one party to another, seeking for the dream office or an appointment to grab.
At that, many often attempt to jump from one party to another as a guarantee to gain access to the Commonwealth’s national till. And the nation bleeds for things not being done rightly.
However, for some, the love for the stomach has driven them to move in droves at the slightest lack in life. But for Hon Sunday Abdu, one thing stands him out: He has stuck to one camp in his political journey, for as many years his associates can remember.
All politicians pass through different phases in their lives. The Hon Abdu has not been an exception; he has had a fair share of travails, for which they may have certainly humbled him to conclude that only God rules in the affairs of men.
It is not in our purview to review such; they say, the end of a matter is better than the beginning of it. He is today what he has become based on what God has destined for him.
Going through the whole gamut of Hon Sunday Abdu’s life’s trajectory, the conclusion will hold off pride in any man and bring such a person on his knees in reverence to the supremacy of God.
A journey back in history reveals his ascendancy into the political office of representing his people in the Plateau House of Assembly. After this service, he veered into other businesses, but maintaining his political party and team.
Having lived in Jenta Miango, Jos for years, has not removed where his ancestry is. He is from Te’egbe, in Miango District of Irigwe chiefdom.
In 1999, he was elected to represent the people of Jos North North. He remembers with nostalgia how he, together with his colleagues, fought for the needs of their communities.
What more, their constituents who voted them were never induced monetarily. But not today, the story has changed. As Hon Sunday Abdu noted about his election, ‘in fact, I won my election without posters, really’.
He has been out of office since 2003. How has life treated him since he left the House? He says, “the way you make your bed, so shall you lie on it”.
Since day one in 1999, he knew that the tenure was time bound, as such, he was prepared on how to survive outside the office.
Therefore, when he did not succeed in his second term bit, ‘it did not affect my psyche or relationship with people. Till date, all the people I worked with on my campaign team are still with me’.
While others have moved, returned and moved, he stayed put in his party, insisting his umbilical cord was wrapped and buried in his party’s ground.
If you remember him for his political career, perhaps what is obvious for which many can still attest to, is his role as Chairman, Irigwe Development Association (IDA).
He held sway during one of the most turbulent periods of the land. In the year 2021, no week passes without an attack taking place in one village and another.
Communities in the land became killing fields, as families continued to mourn the lost of their loved ones unabated. As such, many families in Irigweland, Ncha, Nkiedonghro and many other Plateau communities at that material time were not given any respite.
Nothing could be better appreciated than for a son to be engaged in the struggle for the survival of his people from being decimated and their lands taken and occupied from them.
His days as IDA President; he still remembers with pains and disturbed about how ‘our people were dislodged from their ancestral homes they were used to. Even though our people are so resilient that they did not allow the aggressors to succeed in their bid to dislodge them completely’.
Then enters his current stint in SEMA as its Executive Secretary; saying it ‘is an experience I cannot forget in a hurry. The reasons abound: It accorded me the rear opportunity of meeting the needs of the downtrodden.
‘These are depressed people who have been displaced from various communities in the state by virtue of the murderous attacks on them by some enemies of peace’ in the state.
The tasks at SEMA have been daunting and enormous given the level of displacement in several local government areas. He says that ‘It’s on record that prio to my coming to SEMA, the activities of the organization were not known to the people’.
He added: ‘The people did not feel the effect of that office. But today, I’m glad that the story is different. All the items shared by SEMA, I ensure that they go directly to the people through the local governments and other vulnerable groups etc. And that gives me the joy that surpasses all understanding.’
In just a year, accolades have started to pour in for what have been done already in SEMA. There is room to get more, for now, he has in his award cabinet filled with these: Plateau Street Sweepers’ award, Office of the Vice Chairman of PYC, Institute of Crisis Management Benin, and The Presidency.
Beyond just the awards, it is understandable to feel his pulse on the SEMA and for any other assignment: Rising up for the people in their hour of need can be reassuring as to be our brothers’ keepers, he acknowledges.
Any man that God uses to serve people for a purpose must love him and people. He is not short of that: The people are his main stay in his political journey.
Streetbell Online 