By Joseph Garba
The defection of Sen. Joel Ikenya to APC comes as no surprise to followers of his flawed brand of politicking since he came to limelight in Taraba’s politics. He is a fitting embodiment of an interloper who sniffs at anything and finds himself only where the roar is loudest and therefore lacks personal political guiding principle.
The political antecedent of Ikenya has been dotted with cases of cross-carpeting and pendulum syndrome, swinging from one interest to the other at all times. He contested on APC platform against former Governor Danbaba Suntai for the governorship seat of Taraba State and was in the same camp with Jolly Nyame then. How then can his defection amount to anything considering that it has been his culture?
His tenure in the House of Representatives and later Senate were all marked by sessions of caricaturist actions as he was reportedly the comic relief who gives cause for laughter when the red chamber gets boring. Expressing himself has been a challenge and public appearances for him have been mute sessions. Taraba has come too far to return to the junk pile to pick for itself a governor, at least not the sorts of Joel Ikenya.
It is obvious that Ikenya’s approach to holding public office is riveted on money distribution that is why he can’t cope with Governor
Ishaku’s style. He wants a situation whereby he will be on DDI’s virtual payroll and be given money frequently but it is clear the two cannot be on the same page on such matters when prudence is the watchword for DDI.
The most amusing part is how quickly people run; yet know not where to hide. We hope he remembers the words of Aisha Alhassan when she told him how he will be treated if he turns out to be a betrayer. Well, the stage is set, we’ll watch out for 2019 to see the drama unfold.
On former Governor Jolly Nyame, often referred to as Baban Taraba, he has not lived up to this revered title with his statements in the recent event of Ikenya’s defection to APC. It is surprising to find that Nyame will encourage Ikenya to defect to APC but looking at his antecedent also, he hosts the interloper gene in him. We recall how he lost election under APC and was the one who encouraged Aisha to contest and yet he lost out.
It is true that he laid a “solid foundation” for Taraba as evidenced in the sports complex, the specialist hospital and some parts of Hammaruwa way. It was irrelevant also saying that  the structures he built were being left to disintegrate because there is no evidence of such.
They are landmarks, but bringing them up in that parlance was rather demeaning and unnecessary.
His opinion about Governor Darius Ishaku not having an open door policy smacks of hypocrisy to those of us who knew the operations in his own administration then. Aside Jika Njobdi, the SSG then and Ahmedn Yusuf, the then Finance Commissioner were the only ones with express  access to the Government House! Nyame certainly lacks justification to say such in public seeing that no one has attained DDI’s record in availing himself to all and sundry as seen in the people and groups that visit and engage him in parleys and dialogue.
We appreciate the fact that he is a card carrying member of PDP but we are yet to recover from the shock that a man of such standing will lead people to Aso Villa to go and visit President Buhari to congratulate him following his victory. Is this not a clear case of licking the bowl inside and then the outside all at the same time?
So many issues are derailing his comportment after losing the chance of Ambassadorial slot for Taraba State but he shouldn’t give himself into cheap politicking looking at the esteemed privilege he has attained being an elder statesman. It will not be surprising if he defects again to another party soon.
Meanwhile in the imagination of short-sighted people, Ikenya’s exit is a minus but it is a plus because the worst that can happen to any voyager is to have people who wish the ship bad sailing by following the tide; Ikenya is a typical example. We however note that Ikenya’s actions are indicative of a drowning man, who in his speedy descend into abyss, holds onto anything within sight to take along with him. Taraba State PDP is not and cannot be a sinking party and as far as it concerns Ikenya’s defection to APC, it is good riddance to a non-productive factor.
We must all hold fast to our strength and convictions, conscious that in 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 controversy”. We are certain that this season of political trial will soon expire.
– Garba, a Public Affairs Analyst wrote in from Jalingo