2019 MUTA POST CONVENTION NOTES

Background:

Days before this event (#premuta) I wrote a post raising observations about the seeming lack of planning and public information about the convention to be held in Maryland.

Among many things I observed was the failure to update the MUTA’s website and the omission of the venue for the convention in press releases by the state government, they large delegation from the state attending which I suspected would be larger than attendance by residents, followed by the popular opinion, that they unnecessary expense of an entourage would be better applied on other issues.

Lastly, was my annoyance that members visiting from Benue had more information about the event than I, a resident, and my negative perception that it was deliberate to keep it exclusive, but I was determined to attend.

Convention Reality:

I did attend and While many of my observations were indeed true, I was shocked at how my perceptions were in stark contrast to the reality on ground and the realization that a lot of negative perception about how things are done and achieved in Nigeria go mostly unreported and that occasional stone throwers like me do not benefit from involvement in the process to understand before doing so.

As it turns out, many of my suspicions even though true were not entirely within the control of the planners and as I began to engage and go through the various informational sessions, I became awed at the depth of organization and planning to even pull of this event, the location which I also felt was located in a far flung corner of Maryland was actually quite close and strategic.

It turned out to be a three-day interesting event filled by a range of interesting activities.

On the first day, the Governor, the leader of the delegation, delivered the keynote address followed by several welcoming speeches by the president of Mzough yo Tiv in America and members of the Exco.

The Convention was not to benefit from presence of the Governor beyond the first day as he had to journey to attend the Idoma annual convention being held in New York.

My initial reaction to the news was a sense of frustration and anger but then it dawned on me in discussions that his nonattendance would have been perceived as “hating Idoma” and being a non-inclusive Governor, so with much regret the Governor left with his team leaving the TOR TIV.

On the second day the exco held a meeting about the affairs of the organization and they various issues and challenges and important issues that needed to be voted upon in a very frank manner and as is typical of such occasions various members including myself had strong opinions.

This was followed by various workshops, including and educational and informational sessions by Tiv philanthropists discussing a range of activities.

Members were also treated to a speech by the militant, vocal and energetic Professor Hagher of mzough yo tiv worldwide who delivered a memorable speech about the challenges of The Tiv nation.

Planning and Organization:

Programs are always the first things to finish at such events, but through a copy revealed the extent of planning involved besides the beauty of the colorfully embossed program.

Embassy staff at the airport received the Governor, Ortom, and the Nigerian Ambassador attended the first day of MUTA events, even though the event was not listed on the Embassy’s website.

Behind the scenes even though the meeting room was not full, a range of activities were taking place in the background and when we broke for lunch, on top of the free breakfast prepared by the hotel, We were shepherded to another room were the local community members had prepared a feast for attendees.

Later in the evening, they event moved to another location for the grand dinner reception hosting the TOR Tiv and all they visitors and they resident community with their families and I was amazed at the turnout, with young children spilling everywhere eating and playing and dancing followed by a question and answer session after the feast.

The next day was a worship event attended by the TOR TIV followed by a lecture and more information about the foundation created by the TOR TIV or the Benue state government for the tiv people.

Throughout these sessions I engaged the diaspora elite in attendance and discovered many drove hundreds of Miles across vast states to attend, besides that they were responsible for their hotel room fees, many had attended previous conventions held at different locations in the United States yet others where campaigning to host the convention at their locations at considerable expense, Patriots every last one of them.

Summary:

I was humbled by the experience and reminded that I was an armchair critic with no business discussing the event since I had not been a member privy to MUTA’s communications and several details emerged to inform or change my impressions of the poor publicity due to planning challenges.

It was obvious to me that you can only know what is happening and how the country is run through engagement, in this case, even just arranging for hotels rooms, securing locations, picking up people at the airport, settling event bills, the reception committee and the cooking, purchasing drinks etc. required not just passion, but commitment and even though this event could have benefitted from better planning MUTA America still pulled off a great event free of rancor.

In furtherance of that point is that even though we enjoy lambasting the government services, we really do not know the challenges and the fact that we must be thankful for even the poor level of services and infrastructure we receive because without zealot efforts we would not even have access to them.

Criticism and other issues:

Prior to the conference, (#premuta) a lot of criticism focused on the States supposed large delegation and the perception that it was a waste of public resources with public officials wining and dining and junketing, but I discovered many attendees paid for the attendance from their pockets and even the Governor had little time for anything else except gracing meetings and no sooner than he arrived the venue, he had to go leave for the Idoma conference, a hectic schedule with its own attendant headaches.

For those where traveling is a dream for others it’s a bore and America is so broad and so busy you have to make a conscious effort to make out time to even engage in shopping as locations are far flung and not in one place, in fact it is a bore and many would enjoy themselves better at home.

The other counter argument is that Tiv events be held in Benue and that the diaspora community attends which reveals a fundamental lack of awareness of the conditions and challenges facing the diaspora community. Many are just hard-working citizens holding down regular jobs and very few can attend events in Nigeria with the exorbitant cost of travel and all the other challenges.

It is critical that the Governor or the State government actively support the activities of Diaspora communities, even if it is just by attendance as this would keep open a vital publicity and communication link that increases the level of commitment by diasporans who are engaged in all manner of projects for the motherland, and it reminds them of their roots and fosters a culture of unity and for the children a deep sense of their roots.

The Dream of a TIV day and a future MUTA:

With the downturn of the Nigerian community it is expected that many more TIV, the fifth or 6th largest tribe in Nigeria would see more of its citizens flee to greener pastures overseas and when they are sufficient in number and can self-organize events the Benue Government must as a matter of public policy either send a delegation or representative to not only attend but financially contribute to such meetings whenever and wherever they are, it is critically important and a necessary responsiveness to the changing dynamics of the Tiv nation.

Lastly, while it is generally assumed that it is the government’s responsibility to and organize a TIV day in Benue, particularly Gboko, to be attended by diasporans and celebrated by everybody, it is also up to the residents to organize such events through individual efforts and to plan such an enjoyable occasion based on individual contributions to the point where it is even political suicide for any politician not to be seen not gracing a KSS type event.

If a KSS type event occurs with regularity and with publicity notoriety every year at the same time without fail, diaspora MUTA members will painfully plan, take their hard-earned vacation time, and attend.

On a personal note, I ran into several relatives and family friends that I had not seen in some cases over 25-40 years ago and without the convention, I would not have met them and that for me is a great benefit and opportunity like it was for many others to remain in touch.

Msugh ne chi

Terhemba Osuji

The Ikenga Tor Tiv

Representing Mbayion