Unforgettable hero, the Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu

One of the leaders of Benue State, whose legacy still stands tall many years after he left office, and even after death, is the late Rev. Fr Moses Adasu. SUNNY IDACHABA writes that for what he did, he remains an unforgettable hero.

Benue State is blessed with a number of clerics whose vocations not only begin and end at the altar, but in service to humanity through politics and classrooms. One such cleric is the late Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu who died in 2005.

He wasn’t just a priest; he later embraced politics in 1991, after which he was elected governor of the state. Although his administration lasted only two years, evidence of his successes in the state still abounds in the two-year period.

In 1991, following the planned return to democracy under the Babangida regime in what is now known as the abortive Third Republic, Adasu contested the governorship primaries of the then Social Democratic Party (SDP) against other candidates such as the now defunct Eng. Joseph Igbetar in a hotly contested election.

In the ensuing ballot, all the priests and entire clergy of Benue came together for the sake of one of their own under the banner of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In the process, Adasu defeated Igbetar to clinch the ticket.

Incidentally, both men are from the same local government. Then it was time to face the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Prof. Ignatius Ayua, at the polls.

As a priest, Adasu never stopped entertaining people whenever the opportunity arose. For example, during one of those moments before the elections, the priest had gone on an election tour to solicit people’s votes. Since it is typical in the priesthood for people to donate money to clerics for church work after each ministry, in that particular case, he shocked his hosts.

While they expected him to refine his talks with money as is normal with politicians seeking votes in elections, he flatly told them to gas up his car because priests, he said, are satisfied by the people they serve. That day’s event ended on a fun note.

On another campaign tour, he reportedly met his main opponent, Ayua. Both men were heading in opposite directions with their supporters on the same road. Adasu is said to have stopped Ayua and complained that he did not have enough money to refuel his vehicles. After thinking about it, Ayua gave him N10,000 to buy fuel. At the end of the elections Adasu won.

According to excerpts from The Interpreter Newspaper’s “Remembering Governor Adasu” in 2007, political analysts attributed Ayua’s defeat to the choice of her running mate, Dr. Enyantu Ifenne, a former education commissioner, as her running mate against the wishes of her party hierarchy.

Angry at the outcome of the election, Ayua, who felt cheated, contested the results in court, but lost the case. At the end of the day, as a good sportsman, he asked his supporters to rally around the priest, because in his opinion “the priest must have been sent by God”.

No wonder, while explaining why he had abandoned the altar for politics, Adasu said, “Contrary to the belief that politics is a dirty game and would corrupt a priest, I have come to baptize politics and make it pure.”

According to him, “Politics is not a dirty game; it is those who are involved in it for selfish reasons who make it dirty. As a man of God, I have dedicated my life to the service of humanity and have prepared to die to make society a better place for present and future generations.”

For two years, the reverend occupied the post at Government House in Makurdi shortly before the coup led by the late General Sani Abacha sacked him and others in November 1993.

During his time in the saddle, Adasu embarked on some seminal projects that are still active in the state today. Some of the projects include the Benue State University, now renamed Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu University, established in 1992.

Others are the reactivation and strengthening of the College of Education, Oju, the creation of the Tarka Foundation named after Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka; establishment of BENCO Roof Tile, Katsina-Ala Fruit Juice Company, Makurdi Airport, specialized hospitals, among others.

In 2001, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as a member of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), but he resigned from the commission in 2002 to re-enter politics, this time under the banner of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) because George Akume had already won the PDP ticket in the April 2003 gubernatorial election; however, he lost it to Akume.

During one of his outings in Zaki-Biam during the campaign before that election, he blamed the state leaders, blaming the impoverishment of the population and underdevelopment. “The entire population has now become beggars in the presence of abundant resources,” he said.

He argued that the state had degenerated beyond acceptable limits, which is why he decided to join the political race to address the problem. “If Governor George Akume was doing well, you would not have bothered to call me to come to the rescue,” he said.

Writing about this former governor, Tengu Mker, a follower of this priest-turned-politician, said: “One thing I observed was that many of the older Tiv men who obtained early education and public office were better prepared for leadership. They were not perfect, but they were shaped by discipline, service and a sense of responsibility.

“The Rev. Father Adasu embodied this spirit. Even in politics, he saw leadership as service to God and humanity, not as a path to personal wealth. Stories of his 1991 campaign asking supporters to buy fuel and receiving help from his opponent, Professor Ayua, reflect a generation whose politics were tempered by character. Today, materialism often overshadows public service. Adasu’s legacy reminds us that leadership is ultimately about service, integrity and humanity,” he said.

Adasu was born in a community called Mbaamena near Awajir in Shangev-Tiev District of Konshisha Local Government Area of ​​the state. He studied at St. James Junior Seminary, Keffi from 1966 to 1968, attended the Major Seminary of St. Augustine, Jos, affiliated with Propaganda Fide from 1969 to 1972, and graduated with a degree in Theology.

Subsequently, he studied at St. John’s University, in New York City, from 1975 to 1976, earning a Master’s degree, and subsequently at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC, from 1976 to 1978, where he earned another Master’s degree in Religious Education.

He spent most of his time impacting knowledge in the classrooms rather than the pulpit. For example, he was a senior inspector of education in the Benue State Ministry of Education, taught in secondary and teachers’ schools in Jos, Otukpo and Adikpo, as well as schools of education in Akwanga and Katsina-Ala.

He was a member of the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, the Benue State Prerogative of Mercy, the Advisory Council of the Episcopal Commission on Traditional African Religion and the Board of Governors of the College of Education, Katsina-Ala.

He was President of the Presbyteral Council, Dean of the Deanery of Makurdi, Diocese of Makurdi, and Vicar General, Diocese of Makurdi.

While Adasu was teaching at the COE, Katsina-Ala, he left to participate in the Constituent Assembly (CA) with the approval of the Catholic Church in 1988, along with Dr. J. Ortyoyande, Rev. Moses A. Antse, Orbunde Gbim Gbande, Engr. Yakubu Agada and Prof. Iornem.

He returned to the Catholic Church when the AC was disbanded, but the interactions he made provided him with knowledge through which he began to see the greater light in politics. No wonder he was called by his people, the people of Iwarnnyamku Council Ward whose turn it was to produce the LG Chairman for Konshisha to compete for the position but he refused because he had bigger dreams.

Upon his return from the CA, he was assigned pastoral duties as parish priest of Holy Ghost, Makurdi, where he held his political consultations until the ban on partisan politics was lifted by the IBB administration.

The Catholic Church, however, has always disapproved of the involvement of priests in partisan politics. Rt. Rev. AA Usuh, Bishop of Makurdi and companion of Adasu, spoke out vehemently against priests venturing into politics.

Citing canon 287, paragraph 2, the Church stated that «clerics must not play an active part in political parties or in the management of trade unions except in the judgment of the competent ecclesiastical authority; this is necessary for the defense of the rights of the Church or to promote the common good”.

Adasu, however, chose to promote the common good by assembling a campaign team comprising Sebastian Agbinda as director general, Dr Gabriel Moti, Mike Idumah, Barnabas Nyiwo and others, who served in various capacities. This is how he won the ticket to fly the flag of the SDP party together with Eng. Yakubu Ochogila Agada as running mate.

Defeating his opponent by a large margin of 57,634 votes, he became governor-elect and succeeded Lieutenant Colonel Fidelis Attahiru Makka in 1991.

He may have died without realizing much of his cherished dreams of providing the necessary leadership the state needed; however, the little he did set him apart as someone who remains unforgettable.