THROWBACK: "JANG BETRAYED ME" PAULINE TALLEN

She is a thorough grassroots politician, women emancipator a voice on the plateau and indeed Nigeria when it comes to the affairs of governance, Dame Pauline Tallen a former minister of science and technology, a former deputy Governor and recently  the national adviser women campaign team to Mrs Aisha Buhari is indeed in the forefront of the advocacy for change that has come to Nigeria, in this exclusive interview with Mashat Alfred Makut, Pauline bares it all on her conflicts with former Governor of Plateau state and senator Jos north senatorial district Jonah Jang, her role as member of trustees and founding member of Peoples democratic party, the reasons why she left  the PDP to join APC and how she is part of the change on the plateau and Nigeria. Excerpts of the conversation below.

Your last campaign slogan was ‘with God change is possible”, what inspired that prophetic statement especially with the historic transition from one democratically elected government to another?

It was clearly an inspiration because of what I went through as a deputy Governor, things were not done right and I could not just stand it. I played my role as an adviser because the role of a deputy is to advise the Governor to ensure that the right thing is done, to ensure that we fulfil our mandate because during our campaign we made promises to people, we promised them good governance but when we came into office what I saw was different and I was pained, my heart bled because the person of Jang that I envisaged was not what came out when we were in office. I believe that a God fearing person must be fair and just, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom it’s not just to say you are a pastor, a man of God it must be practical. I have never seen God, but I see God in you, I see God in the Muslim, I see God in the pagan, I see God in every child of God, God created us in his image, the love of neighbour is the love of God; If I love you I won’t hurt you or raise a finger on you, there will be no corruption when there is love because corruption is the absence of love, it is greed,unsatiable greed , you accumulate wealth that you don’t even need , that ten generations after you will not even need, people  must learn to be contented ,people must learn to have love, it is the absence of love that creates conflict; fairness and justice are the ingredients of good governance and if that is done there will be peace.


You worked tirelessly for PDP prior to you becoming Deputy Governor, what made you fall out with your Superior the then governor Jonah Jang?

Well, it is nothing but injustice, everything was just one sided, you will advise he will not listen, he personalised governance thank God the person that came after me has seen it clearly, thank God today I am vindicated, everybody on the Plateau knows what Ignatius longjang went through under Jang,  so those that thought it was Pauline that was rather ambitious or Pauline didn’t want to work with Jang has now seen it clearly, I for one is not a person that keeps quite when things are going wrong, I don’t pretend I will not say yes when I know something is wrong and he knows that , he even said that was what endeared me to him ever since I was a commissioner, but unfortunately when we came into office he changed , it was not the Jang I knew and I told him not once not twice and I told him several times , I looked into his eyes and said Mr Governor I am getting scared, this is not the Jang I knew before we started our campaign ,the fear of God must be the cardinal point in governance and once that is absent and the people cry out to God something must happen, and I thank God what Jang did to me, the hard time I went through strengthened me, it brought me closer to my God, he made me redundant if you remember initially when we came into office I was to take charge of the ministry of education, I set out an agenda, I have a soft spot by my training I love to give the best to our children because education is the greatest asset you can give a child, I am the first woman on the plateau to set up the first modern nursery and primary school in shendam, when I was a minister in 1999 my first set came to pay me a visit  from the law school I was in tears of joy , I am a fulfilled person because I have invested in human beings and neglecting education is criminal, it is deadly for the state my heart bleeds that plateau use to stand out in education after kwara then in northern Nigeria plateau use to come second, but it is a shame that today Plateau is last , so sad.

When you came out for Governorship race, you were accused of disloyalty to the Governor what was the reason for you to contest the seat while you were the deputy?

Well thank God; the records are there, same as some of the elders committee that screened us that were appointed to reach out to all interest groups in the state, it was like a screening committee and the seven of us were screened, I did not come out single-handedly on my own to say that I must be a governor, and I have the right to come out and contest, when he refused to work with me, when he refused to cooperate for us to work together he decided to go , I mean we virtually worked with Jang for just one year , I went through hell but  I give God the Glory because everything that I said came to light after I left office he did the same with his deputy governor in his second tenure, and the man too had the same right to contest but you all are living witnesses to what he did to Longjang, the same thing that happened to me happened to my successor ,the ticket of Governor and deputy is a joint ticket;  Jang is simply one among equals politics is about interest, so since he refused to work with me he betrayed the trust and his pastors are all alive when he pleaded with me to be his deputy governor, he begged me that he will do only one term of four years and the second tenure will be for me, it is on record, if I play the cassette of our campaign you will hear it he said it all through our campaign so it is not that I was doing anything unusual but I would have been patient but he frustrated me, he refused to work with me. And it was not just only me we have founding members of PDP like the DG of our campaign former Governor Fidelis Tapgun, former minister of sports Damishi Sango, Eng Jimmy Cheto, Architect Gyang Pam that was to be my deputy, John Alkali, Danladi Atto also came out. The elders intervened that seven of us cannot come out against one man, they advised we speak with one voice and we held a meeting and we were all against the bad leadership of Jonah Jang and the elders agreed that a committee be put in place to sample public opinion and screen the seven of us and who ever emerges will be presented as the consensus candidate that all will support, and I am proud to say that the chairman of the elders committee Alhassan  Shuaibu is still alive, deputised by senator Damkin, late deputy Governor Micheal Botmang was a member, Bagudu Hirse etc, they worked tirelessly for six weeks , we all signed the document that whoever emerges we will team up behind the person and support him. And after three weeks they called us that I emerged the consensus candidate, you know the normal gang up against womanhood, Tapgun was the eldest at the meeting, he responded on behalf of all that they will respect the outcome but along the line Jang played his tricks and divided us promising them tickets in 2015, the same Jang that could not keep to his promise betrayed all of them again, I am vindicated this is not my battle it was the lord’s battle and he has won it for me, Lalong is a child of necessity, even if Jang didn’t like all the qualified people from the southern zone he could have just given it to his deputy Longjang who is from the southern zone but he refused and he felt the whole of plateau state the 53 nationalities must be subservient to his tribe Berom, is this fair? If we were to be selfish all these southern people wanted to contest with him in 2007 but I stood and pleaded with Obasanjo the then president, he is alive and can testify to this that I vowed and went on my knees pleading with him to give the ticket to Jang and I have no regret for the good thing I did then, God is a God of Justice, this is nothing but retributive justice.

You came out for the southern senatorial ticket in the last election but you were denied the waiver to contest by PDP, why were you denied the right to contest?

I am thanking God and thanking them for the denial of giving me the waiver,  it turned out for my good, you see when your hand is clean and you are right with your God, he will direct your paths. The situation between me and Jang and the National chairman of the party and former president Goodluck Jonathan is nothing but an act of God, I was a former member of the board of trustees of PDP, it was the motion that I moved that brought Jang back into PDP when he left the party and contested under ANPP if you can remember. Jang is the first person that brought Buhari into Jos in 2003 but he forgot, today he is saying Buhari is a Muslim, didn’t he know Buhari was a Muslim when he went out and contested under him? Secondly what they did to me is like the story of the Israelites and Pharaoh God hardened their hearts in order to get me out of the mess of PDP, I am founding member of PDP in 1998, a first minister under the party and suddenly the governor felt the party belonged to him and the state chairman and the national chairman of the party due to massive corruption they denied me the ticket. So when this thing happened I smiled and prayed to my God because I know all power comes from God, I consulted my religious leaders, I went to Abuja and met cardinal onaiyekan, seeked for his prayers and discussed with him, he said I should remain steadfast and at a point he said what is the difference between PDP and APC that I have to worry and insist on staying in PDP, so the final stroke that broke the camel’s back it is so prophetic my late Bishop of shendam who hardly talks, nice gentleman may his soul rest in peace, he hardly calls but when he sees your missed call he will respond Bishop Damang surprisingly on the 9th call me and gave me three advice, it was like a riot act he read to me, he said dame you know my heart beats for what Jang did to you in 2011, you won your election you were denied, you went to tribunal you were denied, now you stoop to conquer and allow peace to reign by contesting for senate so that there will be no controversy since Jang is adamant on handing over to his boy since GNS is his boy, his nephew, he wants everything to be in his family, so Bishop Damang advised me that with what they have done to me in PDP I have no reason to be there, Lalong is my son, I should embrace Lalong and hand over my structures to him  and support him that he has prayed and he can feel it and see that if I support  APC and Lalong, he will surely emerge victorious and he shall emerge as Governor, I can say this between God and man the Bishop is dead, I cannot lie on a dead man, but God used my bishop to advise me and I quickly called my senior Bishop, the Arch Bishop of Jos, I said look I am scared, he did not stop there he said I should support APC,support Lalong and support Buhari, Buhari will be the next president, he said that and everything he said I followed and believe you me everything has come to pass.  So again I can tell you that this is the hand of God, It is not about Buhari, it is not about APC, it is about God making a statement in Nigeria; because the leadership of PDP played God and God has humbled them, the leadership thought money was everything, they shared money, they think is all about stomach infrastructure when we are talking about positive change to this country. And Nigerians prayed, we prayed both Christians and Muslims, traditional religions and God heard the cry of the masses. Power comes from God.

You are the national adviser women campaign team to Mrs Aisha Buhari; you were with the first lady campaigning from one state to the other, what has endeared you to the first family?

I could see a true Nigerian in Buhari who refused to give up despite all odds; he remained steadfast believing that God will one day answer him, he believed in the project Nigeria, you can see that this is a man that is so humble he is a contented man and I am proud to say that his wife is a perfect match to him, her Excellency Aisha Buhari is such a humble woman, a kind hearted mother, if you see how she treats us members of her campaign team, we are like one family, like sisters, if you see us sitting together you will not know that she is the wife of the president, she  doesn’t take power or life as anything serious, she was of course the wife of the president under the military rule and that could have made her  even proud or something but she is such a humble woman, so contented and you can see a woman that is from a well brought up home and disciplined and she follows the dictates of her husband, and we are seeing a clear and transparent leadership. It is a new dawn for Nigeria new hope, new things that Nigerians have never seen before about to happen and it is God making a statement ,God allowed this to happen so that those killing lives about bringing religion into politics will be shocked, they will be shocked because the man Buhari is not a religious Bigot, a true child of God should not pronounce religion but your day to day interaction with people will tell, anybody that brings religion into politics is a liar there is no sincerity about it because a politician wants everybody’s vote, a politician wants a pagan’s vote, a Christian’s vote, a Muslim’s vote, so why now talk about religion it is between you and God.