Dickson Tarkighir at 55: A study in doggedness

Many of his kinsmen and friends had a good laugh the day he was inaugurated into the eighth assembly of the House of Representatives in June 2015. Most probably unsure how to pronounce his surname, the Clerk of the “green chambers” as the lower deck of the national parliament is described, opted for a spontaneous improvisation. Rather than set his tongue against his teeth, the clerk after correctly pronouncing his first names settled for a simpler Takiri!

By some coincidence, Tivlumun Nyitse my brother from our university days and cousin to Takiri and I watched the live telecast of that ceremony together. We had a very sumptuous laugh and called to congratulate him later that day. We reaffirmed he would have to don his new “baptismal necklace” for times to come and could hear his guffaw in the background. He took it in good spirits and has never made a fuss about it.

Dickson Dominic Tarkighir, on that occasion, was inaugurated as a member representing the Makurdi/Guma federal constituency of Benue state. I have been privileged over time to have met and developed relationships with sections of the Benue state middle class and political elite. I had encountered the amiable George Akume, (incumbent secretary to the government of the federation), and the departed Ogirri Ajene, his deputy, when they both governed the state between 1999 and 2007. Governors, (and their deputies when assigned), regularly had engagements in the State House where I functioned under the Olusegun Obasanjo/Atiku Abubakar government. As “groundsmen” in Aso Villa, there was always the possibility of meeting dignitaries at that level. They were equally delighted to have you as a “strategic ally”. I’m also a friend of the affable Gabriel Torwua Suswam who succeeded Akume as governor in 2007 and Samuel Ioraer Ortom who took over from Suswam in 2015.

Four friends have also impacted my integration into Benue state where I’ve developed a broad network of friendships and acquaintances. Nyitse, my classmate since my first day at the University of Ilorin who is presently an associate professor of journalism, has been most catalytic in this regard. He served as permanent secretary in the Benue state civil service for about 10 years and commands quite some respect in the Benue system. Through Tony Olofu, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG) with whom I went through the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) in Imo state between 1985 and 1986, I’ve also made friends from that sociocultural space. Shiaondo Aarga, an alumnus of the University of Ilorin like Nyitse and I who is also a retired permanent secretary in Benue state, has also aided my acculturation. Shima Ayati was my colleague in the Obasanjo/Atiku government and we remain best of friends today.

I met Dickson Tarkighir through Tivlumun Nyitse when Nyitse was Permanent Secretary, the Government House Administration, (PS-GHA) in the Suswam administration, almost two decades ago. Tarkighir was managing director of Triggar and Gibbons Ltd, an advertising and logistics support service company which was foraging for business opportunities in Benue state. I was a regular face in Benue State during those years because I had a consultancy liaison with the government. Tarkighir’s outfit may rightly be described as the precursor of electronic billboards in Benue State. Tarkighir had successfully experimented with the concept in Kaduna and found new grounds in his home state. Nyitse’s office was the engine room of the Suswam administration which processed the governor’s instructions and conveyances to the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The personable, outgoing Tarkighir was a regular caller in Government House, Makurdi, ensuring alignment between the vision of the government and the electronic copies that were displayed for public consumption.

A multitasking entrepreneur, Tarkighir had previously set up Dasnett Mobile Services Ltd, with the coming to be of GSM services to Nigeria over 20 years ago. He impacted the entertainment space of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, by establishing a classy, integrated nightclub and services outfit. Located at the very heart of Makurdi, he christened it District 4 Lounge. Its ancillaries included a functional restaurant and a bakery. He developed it into perhaps the most sought-after hangout in the city, a preferred destination for high-octane visitors to the state, previously pampered ostensibly, by mouthwatering options in bigger cities. Tarkighir is a notably hands-on executive whose presence and subtle guidance of his staff reminds him of the doting style of Ken Calebs-Olumhense, the iconic proprietor of Niteshift in those good old days in Lagos.

Governor Gabriel Suswam took special note of Tarkighir’s exertions and innovative strides and engaged him as Senior Special Assistant, (SSA) on Industries, in 2009. He was reappointed in 2011 following Suswam’s reelection. Tarkighir resigned his appointment in 2014 to contest for a seat in the federal parliament. He dared unfamiliar grounds in his quest for the House of Representatives office when he defected from the better-established Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), to the fledgling All Progressives Congress (APC). He triumphed at the polls as part of the countrywide tsunami which displaced the PDP from the centre of national politics at the 2015 general elections. It seemed well advised therefore that he took the gamble of defecting to and running on the platform of the APC.

Despite being a first-timer in the congress, Tarkighir was proactive. First, he was keen on learning the ropes. He was listed to serve in nearly a dozen committees of the parliament which was good for requisite exposure. He was in the appropriation; defence; petroleum (downstream); population; navy; health services; Niger Delta affairs; inter-parliamentary; integration in Africa and the ECOWAS parliament committees in the House. With the hindsight of creeping unemployment in the country, he advised that the 25,000 ghost workers discovered by the federal government at the time, be replaced with genuine job seekers. He imposed upon himself the responsibility of unearthing vacancies in MDAs and assisting his primary constituents wherever he could. He soon donned the alias of “Mr Employment” amongst his constituents as an attestation to his efforts.

Tarkighir sponsored several bills and motions. Agonised by the ravaging Fulani incursions into his state for example, he sought the creation of a cattle ranching department in the federal ministry of agriculture. He also sponsored bills on healthcare; internet security; need for special attention for hydroelectric power producing areas, among others. His motions encompassed those requesting support for his flood-devastated constituency; the need for the rehabilitation of the Makurdi-Gboko federal highway and the imperative for the declaration of a state of emergency on deadly attacks by herdsmen across the country. Tarkighir prosecuted a plethora of projects in his constituency for the betterment of the lives of his people.

Solar-powered street lights; electric transformers; boreholes; sewing machines; cassava processing equipment; submersible pumps; bicycles; tricycles and laptops were some of the life-improving accessories he availed his constituents. Medical outreaches were organised for mass enlightenment, even as skills acquisition programmes were also prosecuted. Tarkighir equally facilitated the completion of the Akaakuma dam, and the construction of residential quarters for the divisional police officer in Gbajimba within his constituency, and a primary school in Ngban in the Guma local government area. Tarkighir didn’t win reelection in 2019. He refocused on his core entrepreneurship concerns always never forgetting the adage about charity beginning at home. He rehabilitated and expanded his District 4 model through which he rescued a few more youths from the hungry streets. “I’ve been there, Oga Tunde,” he tells me about his experiences growing up, his mien suddenly sobering. “It’s not easy out there.” Dickson Tarkighir won the Makurdi/Guma federal constituency seat at the 2023 polls and has since returned to the 10th Assembly of the House of Representatives.

He was born April 12, 1969, in Makurdi and attended St. Thomas Primary School, Ibume between 1976 and 1981. He proceeded to Nongov Community Secondary School in Tse-Kyo, in Guma LGA. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo state in 2003. He thereafter consolidated his thirst for knowledge in this specialty by earning a Masters also in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in 2008. An indomitable quester for new vistas, he previously cut his career dentition with Mojo Electronics, Umuahia, Abia State, between 1988 and 1991. He also worked in the Kaduna station of the now-defunct Okada Airlines from 1992 to 1995. These were cross-country toughening experiences which have profited his worldview.

Tarkighir chairs the House of Representatives Committee on “Constituency Outreach,” created early in the life of the Fourth Republic in 2003. Among other responsibilities, the committee exercises supervisory oversight on the implementation of zonal intervention projects, (ZIP) by members, and addresses the interests of congressmen. In the ranking of House committees in the order of importance, Tarkighir’s brief is adjudged a “Grade A” outfit. He is reportedly the first parliamentarian from the north-central geopolitical zone to chair his present brief. Tarkighir speaks impeccable Hausa which privileges him in our still largely parochial ethno-politics. He is happily married and blessed with children.

Olusunle, PhD, is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA).