After Senator David Mark’s unanticipated loss in the 2018 Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), presidential primaries, and consequent forcefully retirement from politics after 20 years in the Senate, BIYI ADEGOROYE, looks at what is next for the one-time Communications Minister
When the 9th National Assembly will be inaugurated early June, one lawmaker who will be conspicuously missing is the immediate past President of the Senate, Senator David Bonaventure Mark. After losing the presidential ticket on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the October 2018 party primaries, it became very clear that he is not returning but itching towards retirement.
Indeed, the outcome of the last elections has put an end to the political career of a man who had lived his entire life in the public service, benefiting greatly from the Nigerian state. By June this year, Mark would have served a total of 20 years in the Senate- one of the very few of such- having been voted to represent Benue South Senatorial district first in 1999.
During the period, he served in various capacities, until he was elected President of the Senate in 2007, a position he held for eight years, and he often refers to the passage into law of the Anti-gay Bill, otherwise called Same Sex Marriage Law against all pressures from the Western world as one of his achievements.
But that was only after he returned from self-exile in 1998. Before then, Mark, a retired Brigadier-General was appointed in 1984, (then a Lt-Colonel) the Military Governor of Niger State. And in 1988, the Minister of Communications when Nigeria introduced mobile and digital telephone system in the country, but he drew the ire of not a few when he said telephone was not for the poor.
Mark is one of the few Generals who transmuted from the crispy “khaki” uniform to the “Agbada” and contested election for the Senate six times and won all, some even at the Court of Appeal. Though he returned to the Senate in 2015, Mark, whose party, the PDP lost the majority, became a back-bencher, seen but hardly heard in the Red Chambers throughout the four years. He took a feeble shot at the presidency when in the buildup to the PDP presidential primaries held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State on October 6 and 7, 2018, he attempted to get the party’s mandate. He toured a few states, but in the end, secured a mere 35 votes.
Place in history
Though Mark’s followers believe that his antecedents over the years both in the military and political engagements unarguably place him in a solid position in the country, not many Nigerians will agree with that. Rather, they believe that as someone with great experience in the Executive and Legislative arms of government, he should have achieved more for the nation.
Mark is noted for the empowerment of his people and a few appointments and projects attracted to the state. At least 15,700 students in tertiary and elementary schools in Benue State and beyond are said to have benefitted from his Scholarship Foundation totaling about N500million since 2007.
In the buildup to the PDP presidential primaries, he showed his adroit support for democracy by not only stating that electing former defectors from the party for presidency would amount to rewarding disloyalty, but also declared the purported impeachment of Benue Governor, Sam Ortom, by a minority was a nullity.
A number of his people, however, believe he should have influenced things in their favour during the 2001Zaki Ibiam massacre where operatives of the Nigerian Army almost wiped out whole villages in Logo and Zaki Biam Local Government Areas in a reprisal over 19 soldiers that reportedly went missing.
He is, however, referred to as a stabilizing factor, a bridge builder who kept the National Assembly together for eight years, especially during the pall of disunity that fell on the country in the dark day of President Umar Yar’Adua’s ill-health by preparing grounds for the consequent invocation of the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ which paved the way for Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence as President.
He was a loyal party man who stood by the PDP through thick and thin especially in its most trying moments after its defeat in 2015, and the various court actions instituted by former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sherrif believing that the PDP would overcome. As he said: “I stood firm and committed myself to rebuilding and rebranding the party which, to the glory of God, is once more a very beautiful bride admired by all.’
He once quoted, in an interview, the words of Martin Luther King Jnr, “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and adversity,” to attest to his loyalty.
In the wake of the relentless massacre of the Benue people by herdsmen, which led to the death of scores of the people and displacement of thousands, especially in the killing of two Catholic priests and worshipers at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpor-Mbalom, Gwer East Local Government Areas, he bore the grief like many Nigerians.
Reacting to the gruesome murder of two priests and over 13 worshipers at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Mark said the relentless killings of citizens without limit called for question the manner of security operation in the state.
Perhaps the icing on the cake of his political career is his sustenance of his leadership of the PDP in the state, where he guided the party to victory in the governorship, National and State Assemblies elections this year. The PDP not only won the governorship election, but also the three seats in the Senate with former Governor Gabriel Suswan, defeating Senator Barnabas Gemade, ex-Interior Minister, Abbah Moro replacing Mark and Hon. Emmanuel Orker Jev taking the last seat.
The party also clinched five of the six seats in the House of Representatives and won 23 seats in the State House of Assembly, while APC got six and ADC one. This has returned the PDP to full control in the state, even as the party faces security challenges and the need to reverse the comatose economic fortunes of the state, referred to as the Food Basket of the Nation.
What next?
As he retires from active politics, observers have said Mark should start by taking active role in the leadership of the party in the state, and mentor upcoming politicians. It is also said that he envisions stronger democratic institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, security agencies and independent media in order to sustain democratic culture in Nigeria.
To him, such democratic institutions are imperative for a sustainable democracy because “we need strong institutions and not strong individu als. This is to avoid a situation where the institutions operate according to the whims and caprices of powerful individuals.”
He believes that Nigeria is endowed with huge potentials to be a great nation in the world, if human and material resources properly, even as he craved for a peaceful and united Nigeria where human rights and rule of law are sacrosanct.
In his retirement from active politics, he is likely to plunge himself into sports, grow his investment in the media and most importantly build budding politicians. Speaking at the ceremonial tee-off of the 6th Pa Aikwuta Mark Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Otukpo Golf and Country Club in Benue State recently, Mark said: “I have an irresistible passion for sports development because I know it is a tool for our unity and ultimate development.
“I encourage sports in all ramifications not just because I play the game of golf. Indeed, every body should encourage sports. You know any time Nigeria is participating or competing in any sporting events, we are all united.”
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