Equity, Representation and the Idoma Question

Idoma people in Benue State increasingly see themselves as outsiders in a state they regard as a shared political project, columnist Paul Ede Agbo writes. The concern reaches beyond one appointment or development project. It reflects a cumulative perception that infrastructure, education, public offices and security attention favour Tiv-speaking areas.

The disappointment is particularly sharp under Governor Hyacinth Alia. Many Idoma people had expected his shared Catholic identity with them to produce a government guided by justice, compassion and fairness rather than ethnic politics. The column says the administration’s perceived conduct has instead created doubts about equal treatment.

Appointments to public committees have intensified those concerns. Agbo argues that such decisions do more than distribute positions. They signal whose competence is recognised and who is treated as belonging. When appointments repeatedly appear to favour one part of the state, he says, confidence in government neutrality weakens.

The same issue appears in education. Idoma students are described as facing serious disadvantages in admission to Medicine, Law and Engineering at Benue State-owned institutions. The column contrasts this with their stronger representation in those fields at federal institutions before the state universities were established.

Agbo does not present the allegation as settled fact. He calls for disaggregated admission data, published selection rules and independent scrutiny. If the process follows merit and clearly stated equity rules, the evidence should reassure the public. If it shows systematic exclusion, he argues, the state should take corrective action.