By Amos Aar
FORMER Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Sam Ode, on Friday, March 5, 2021 commiserated with his friend and former boss, Senator Gabriel Suswam, over the gruesome murder of his elder brother, Chief (Dr) Terkula Suswam, on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 in his country home, Anyiin, Logo LGA of Benue State.
In a statement signed by his Director of Communications, Mr Ior Ikyereve; Hon. Ode, who also extended condolences to the immediate family of Dr Suswam, the people of Logo and the entire Sankera geopolitical zone of Benue State, described the assassination “as a deadly affront on Benue in the context of Chief Suswam’s impact and contributions to the political economy of Benue State in particular and that of Nigeria generally.”
The statement, entitled, “Nigeria, Benue Lost A Gem,” and made available to National Record, Hon. Sam Ode, who is a frontline 2023 Benue governorship hopeful under the All Progressives Congress (APC), was also quoted to have stated that the late Chief Suswam whom he described as a renowned Benue-born philanthropist, “will be dearly missed for his uncommon courage, sound intellect, innovation and trenchant entrepreneurship; talents which…saw him bloom everywhere he treaded – the academia, business and administration.”
Ode also stated that the fruits of these qualities are the visible productive ventures that Dr Suswam left behind under the aegis of Ashi Tech Conglomerates.
According the former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Suswam’s investments are among the most viable business ventures providing employment for thousands of Benue citizens, thereby putting food on their tables while also boosting the revenue base of the state.
“Chief Dr. Suswam was a friend of the downtrodden in the society, an embodiment of generosity; of hard work, quality service and honesty. He was a statesman and an ambassador of peace. It is thus, a tragic irony that as a messenger of peace, he had to depart this world through the assassin’s bullets,” Hon. Ode said.
He added that “it was clearly in recognition of his values, his achievements and contributions to the well-being of people and communities that the Tiv Area Traditional Council honoured him with the traditional title of ‘Zege Iwanger I Tiv,’ which means; ‘great light of the Tiv People.’
The former Minister therefore prayed God to “console the Suswam Tingir family and the entire people of Sankera, and grant them the emotional strength to overcome this tragic and monumental loss.”
