By Felix Durumbah
A deep insight – perhaps, unknown to many -into the personality of former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, who was confirmed dead on Thursday, January 23, has emerged.
He passed on after a protracted illness.
Borno politician, Abdullah Dan’Azumi Golkos, who worked closely with the Langtang, Plateau State-born General, has disclosed exclusive details of aspects of his working relationship with the retired General,who,at a time, was said to be the most senior General in the Nigerian Army.
Golkos also revealed how now-President Bola Tinubu’s Action Congress (AC) and Useni-led Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) tried to forge an alliance, disclosing details of why the bid failed.
In a post titled ‘Adieu General Useni’, exclusively forwarded to peopleandpolitics.net, Golkos,who was National Secretary of the now defunct DPP, described the late General as,among others, patient (for a former military top brass), compassionate, generous, painstaking, and thorough.
For instance, he wrote, the Sultan of Sokoto,Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, had allegedly congratulated Gen. Useni when all indications showed that he was leading in the Plateau South senatorial election race in 2011, only for a different result to be announced.
His post read,in full:
“The death of General Jeremiah Timbut Useni after a protracted illness in a Hospital in Paris did not come to me as a surprise or shock. For humans like all creatures have a terminal stage with varying causes. And when a being attains a certain age, it is more expected of him than the younger ones.
“I first heard of Gen. Useni in 1984 when he was appointed as the Military Governor of the defunct Bendel State during the shortlived Buhari/Idiagbon administration. He later on became the Minister for Transport and Aviation under the Babangida administration. His last political outing was as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“My first contact with Gen. Useni was when I became the Acting National Secretary of the defunct Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in 2010, of which he was the National Chairman.
“By the virtue of his position, I served under him directly which necessitated constant consultations.
“But the impression I will always have, was of the first time I was taken to be introduced to him as the new National Secretary after the resignation of Dr Adebo. I will forever remember the generosity he extended to me on that occasion.
“As the National Secretary, I came to work closely with him. But in all my associations with him as the Secretary, Gen. Useni treated me more like a son than a Party Secretary: admonishing and correcting me if I made a mistake, of which I had made many, overlooking my excesses, tolerating my exuberance and cautioning me if there was a course for it. And being human, I sometimes ‘f..ked up’ as the Americans will say.
“And always in a display of that military etiquette and tradition of being an “Officer and a Gentleman”, a formal apology will bury the issue forever, never to be mentioned again.
“My association with him made me a frequent visitor to Langtang, his home town. In short, the last time I was there was on one of his birthdays. As fate will have it, that occasion also turned out to be my last meeting with Prof. Bala Takaya, a progressive of blessed memory.
“Unknown to people, my first assignment as the DPP National Secretary was to write a formal letter to INEC expressing the wish of the Party (DPP) to merge with then Tinubu-led AC. Within 48 hrs, circumstances mandated that I wrote to withdrew that letter while the negotiations continue informally.
“The DPP then was represented by Yusuf Ali, one-time Chairman of the ANPP;Gen. Magashi; Tony Ezeagwu, the DPP Chairman of Delta State; Sen. Lawal Shuaibu; Mai Laya from Gombe and Ibrahim Garba from Katsina.
“As the National Secretary , I was always there as an observer, while the AC was represented by now President Tinubu, Gov. Osoba, Gov. Niyi Adebayo, Gov. Chris Ngige, one Gwadabe and a onetime Dep. Gov of Oyo state whom I cannot fully recollect.
“By then the ANPP was nowhere in the picture. It was that negotiation that gave birth to the ACN with the letter “N” added to the AC to make it “ACN” and the black stripe in the AC flag being replaced with blue as a concession to the DPP.
“Curiously, one of the figures who facilitated the merger was Gov. Bafarawa. In an irony of fate, it’s surprising today that some of the people who were pioneers and witnesses to the process of the merger are either gone or have little or nothing to do with the APC. They ( do I say “we”) have been buried by history.
“The Party could not secure the mandate of the NEC/ Working Committee and it was factionalised and the Bafarawa-led faction joined the AC to become the ACN, while the Gen. Useni-led faction remained the DPP.
“Throughout my tenure as the National Secretary until his exit from the Party (DPP) to join the PDP, he was consistent in paying his dues. At a stage, he was literally running the Party especially after the exit of Gov. Bafarawa. He was picking up the bills for staff salaries and partially the rent of the Party’s Secretariat in association with Great Ogboru, Gbenga Olawepo, Dingyadi and the late Bala Takaya.
“I was in Langtang in 2011 when Gen. Useni contested for the Senate on the platform of the DPP. By the time we bade each other good night and I left his house for Tim Tali Hotel (where) I was lodged, he was leading and even the Sultan had extended his congratulations.
“By daybreak, the story had changed, not only was he trailing the PDP candidate Victor Lar, but he (Lar) won. The information was confirmed to us by Gen. Temlong (rtd) who was his (Useni’s) returning officer, when we went to Shendam where the collation centre was.
“It was then that I knew the meaning of the dubious term “anyi PDP”. Gen. Useni had lost the elections.
“He was later to.realise his ambition of a Senator when he joined the PDP in 2015.
“With death of Gen.Useni, Nigeria has lost a Patriot, an Officer and a Gentleman while I lost a mentor.
“Adieu Gen.
“May Your Soul Rest in Perfect Peace.
“Amen.”