06/10/2026
WHEN MEN TRY TO EDIT WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY WRITTEN: THE CASE OF TIV PROTOCOL WRITERS
There is a curious political school in Nasarawa State, especially among Tiv reverred sons and daughters whose students appear to believe that influence lies in deciding who gets recognised and who gets ignored. Their practical exercise seems to be the repeated omission of Hon. Dr. Felix Saaior Upav from the protocol at events where his official position should ordinarily command recognition as far as political office is concerned. One wonders whether they have mistaken a public gathering for a private meeting of sons and daughters from a nuclear family where attendance and recognition are subject to personal approval.
The first lesson in this curious school was delivered at Imon on 28 August, during the endorsement of Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada. Nicholas Kwaghtse, followed by Hons. Pevkyaa Solomon Tabulo, Peter Ahemba, and Peter Igbacher took their turns on the microphone as Masters of Ceremony, yet Hon. Upav, the Governor's Special Adviser on Education, was left out. It was almost as though the organisers had agreed that the best way to make someone insignificant was to pretend he did not exist.
Curiously, the Governor's representative, Hon. Iyimoga Oyigye, Commissioner for Agriculture, accompanied by four other commissioners, was also not properly recognised, right in the presence of the one they pray to continue with them, if elected Governor come 2027.
So, in the apparent enthusiasm to leave certain names out, even the dignity of other government officials suffered. Perhaps the exclusion committee had become so committed to its assignment of conscious exclusion that it forgot to distinguish between its intended target and the Governor's representatives at a political gathering. Heads went down, not in reverence, but for the shame they so sold.
Thankfully, Hon. Isa Sani KK, the Executive Chairman, Obi Local Government, who was the Chief Host, intervened, bringing some attention to the situation by formally recognising the Governor's appointee. One would have expected that episode to settle the matter. But apparently, some political lessons require more than one demonstration.
At a gathering today, October 6th, 2026, which was tagged a Tiv Courtesy visit to the Governor, Barnabas Zayol, Esq., who was smuggled in, headed by Prof. Kucha, TIDA BoT Chairman and other speakers failed to properly recognise Hon. Upav during their addresses. This time, however, Governor Abdullahi A. Sule was present to witness the proceedings himself. When the Governor spoke, he recognised the Secretary to the State Government, followed by Hon. Upav. And there lies the comedy; the shame, on their part. To crown this all, the Governor in his usual funny chats, thanked the Tiv for allowing Engr. Moses Utondo to take a seat at the high table.
While this school with her humble learners appeared determined to leave Hon. Upav out of the script, the principal who appointed him had no difficulty remembering his name or his office. The Governor's action offered a rather simple lesson to those seemingly preoccupied with exclusion: you may leave a name out of your programme, but you cannot, by that act alone, erase the office or cancel the appointment.
Perhaps the organisers should consider a new strategy. If the objective is to make Hon. Upav invisible, they may need to consult the Governor first. So far, the man whose appointment they appear to overlook has shown no sign of forgetting the person he appointed.
The Governor also raised another question at the gathering: why was attendance so small that the hall could barely be filled, noting that the Tiv population was far what he saw. This added an amusing twist to the affair. Here were people seemingly concerned with who should not be recognised, while the Governor was wondering why more people had not turned up. Yes, they made a long list. A list for what is meant for Tiv, with a funny assertion that those whose names weren't on the list should be barred from entering the hall. One could almost suggest that, while some were busy editing the guest list, they forgot to invite the guests!
But beneath the humour lies a more serious point. If the repeated omissions are deliberate, what exactly is to be gained? What political advantage comes from attempting to diminish the visibility of a serving appointee, the highest, as far as Tiv politics and Governor A.A Sule's administration at the time is concerned? And why expend energy resisting a position that the Governor himself has already conferred?
There is, after all, a limit to what human arrangements can achieve. In the language of faith, when God has destined a person for a purpose, no committee of protocol writers can rewrite the divine script. People may choose not to mention a name, but their silence does not automatically cancel a destiny. That is what Hon. Upav represents - a divine script! They may attempt to close a door, only to discover that the person they are trying to exclude does not depend on their permission to fulfill his purpose.
Should it be that a crop of the organizers have never held a Bible in their hands to profess their allegiance to the government of Nasarawa State and Nigeria at large by way of oath-taking to be so concerned? That is God's design, and they must not fight it.
This is not to suggest that every protocol omission proves a deliberate conspiracy. But when the same person is repeatedly left out, and the Governor himself publicly recognises him, the situation becomes difficult to dismiss without a strong reflection.
The lesson for those involved is straightforward: politics is not made wiser by unnecessary rivalries or by efforts to diminish fellow appointees. If Hon. Upav holds the position by the Governor's appointment, acknowledging him should not be treated as a personal concession. Perhaps the greatest irony is that those attempting to make him less visible may be drawing more attention to the very question they would rather avoid.
The Governor appointed him; the Governor recognised him. What, then, is left for the exclusion enthusiasts to prove? Sometimes, the wisest political move is to stop fighting a battle that has no prize. And if God has written a chapter in someone's story, it is hardly sensible for mortals to gather around a protocol list, armed with pens, hoping to edit Him out of it. It is sacrosanct for this school to note that Hon. Upav is a script written by God, and only God can edit it. Their actions before their principal are also one that they need to take a detour and leverage on the privileges they all enjoy.
Aondofa Ernest Dza
Head, Media and Strategic Communications,
Office of the Special Adviser on Education
