Nigerian Newsday

By KAJO MARTINS, MAKURDI

Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Benue State during the Aper Aku regime, Dr. James Zasha has decried the dearth of truth in Tiv land and Nigeria at large.

Speaking at the gospel album presentation by Evangelist Ann Mker in Makurdi, Dr. Zasha said the Tiv nation for instance has gone astray in relation to the issue of truth.

"This reality hit me twenty years ago when I was a Commissioner in charge of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Benue State. Troubled by the incessant conflict and violence over land in many parts of Tiv land, I undertook a working tour of the local government areas in Tiv land. I held meetings with traditional rulers, local government officials, community leaders, youths, men and women".

The former Commissioner explained that, at the meetings, he posed two questions: "why are you fighting over land? What can be done to prevent conflict and violence over land?"

According to him, without exception, everywhere he went, in the course of the discussions, someone would stand up and say, "Mimi bee hen Tiv", literally meaning "truth has finished in Tivland".

He stated that mimi bee was an expression representing the agony of a people who cherish and value truth but are lamenting the disappearance of truth in the community.

"This tendency is fast becoming a trend not only in Tiv land but in Nigeria as a whole. We are living in times when truth is being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. And yet a culture that abandons truth faces decay and disgrace", he cautioned.