By Peter Duru

MAKURDI — The immediate past Governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume has accused Northern political leaders of failing in their responsibilities to address the infighting and power struggling amongst leading political heavy weights from the zone.

He also lamented the nonchalance of the leaders of the zone to the wrangling between most incumbent governors of the zone and their predecessors which he said had left the area worse off politically.

He regretted that though the North could boast of array of notable leaders who could hold their heads up anywhere in the world, but infighting among its leaders had continued to deny the area its rightful place in the scheme of things in the country.

Akume who represents Benue North-West at the red chamber of the National Assembly urged the leaders to stop playing the ostrich while the North is grabbling with numerous problems, emphasizing that the people must learn to put aside all forms of sycophancy to move the area forward.

The erstwhile governor spoke in Makurdi at the official launching of the biography of Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue, entitled: Suswam: Right on Time— the biography of a rising political star, written by Dr. Terhember Shija, a lecturer at the Nasarawa State University.

He implored the people to start telling their leaders the truth rather than falsely praise-sing them even when they fall short of the people’s expectations.

Akume said: ‘We cannot continue to play the ostrich when things are going bad. We must learn to tell our leaders the truth at all times in order not to mislead them. And that is the more reason why we must do away with sycophancy and always say the truth at all times.

“We cannot pretend that we are unaware that the North is currently faced with the issue of crisis that has left incumbent governors pitched against their predecessors yet we are not taking steps to address such issues. Let’s learn to tell each other the truth.”