By Okoi Obono-Obla
Cumulatively, the leaders of the Senator David Bonaventure Mark faction of the ADC, presently enmeshed in internecine warfare, have occupied the upper echelons of national leadership for over a century.
Senator David Bonaventure Mark served in the military for nearly thirty years before bowing out. He was a member of the praetorian guard of the military that seized power and ruled the country from 1966 to 1979, and again from December 31, 1983 until May 29, 1999. He held several positions: Chairman of the Abandoned Property Committee, Military Governor of Niger State, Minister of Communication, and Member of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council—the ruling junta under General Ibrahim Babangida. This regime annulled the presidential election victory of Chief MKO Abiola, plunging the nation into turmoil.
Professor Omoruyi, in his book, wrote that Brigadier General David Mark was so angered by Abiola’s victory that he threatened to shoot his Commander-in-Chief if power was handed over. Ironically, after the military returned to the barracks in May 1999, Mark became a beneficiary of democracy, elected Senator for Benue South. He was re-elected in 2007, became Senate President until 2015, and served again as Senator until 2019. From his twenties until now, approaching eighty, he has remained a constant figure in Nigeria’s power pantheon. Yet, despite presiding over the National Assembly from 2007 to 2015—a prime stage to enact transformative laws—he failed woefully to change the country’s fortunes.
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives during General Babangida’s transition programme in the 1990s, when global winds of change, triggered by Perestroika and Glasnost in Russia, pressured Nigeria’s military to return to its traditional role. Kwankwaso was elected Governor of Kano State in 1999, serving until 2003. After losing re-election, he was appointed Minister of Defence (2003–2007) and later Nigeria’s envoy to Darfur, Sudan. He returned as Governor of Kano in 2011, served four years, and was elected Senator in 2015, remaining until 2019. Cumulatively, he has been in government for nearly two decades. If he could not change the system in all those years, what more is he seeking?
Rt. Honourable Rotimi Amaechi has been in government since 1999. He served as Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years, Governor of Rivers State for another eight, and Minister of Transportation for eight more. Altogether, he has been immersed in the aroma and paraphernalia of power for 24 years—almost a quarter of a century.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar retired as Deputy Director of the Nigeria Customs Service after nearly thirty years in one of the most lucrative public sector establishments. He was elected Vice President of Nigeria, serving for eight years, and oversaw the privatisation of more than five thousand public enterprises established under the import-substitution policy. Critics argue this programme was bungled, permanently crippling many enterprises as buyers failed to revive them.
Conclusion-
From David Mark to Kwankwaso, Amaechi, and Atiku, these men represent an unbroken circle of Nigeria’s political elite. Their cumulative decades in power reveal a pattern: longevity without transformative change. They have shaped the nation’s political landscape, yet their legacies remain marked more by continuity than by progress of p.
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