By Victor Bajah
The Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly (BNHOA), Rt. Hon. Titus Uba has said his isolation during his treatment for COVID-19 was an opportunity to make amends with his creator.
He narrated his ordeal in his office when his colleagues paid him a solidarity visit.
According to the Speaker, though the period of his isolation was bitter, God had something good in it for him, adding that there were both positive and negative reactions he got that taught him deeper lessons about life.
“I had learned the essence of life when I was isolated. I thank God for giving me an opportunity to spend time thinking about my life. In every bad thing that happen, to you, there is something good God brings out of it. I lived all by myself separated from every member of my family. They will come and keep food for me and go away, I will just eat and keep back the plates for them. What I went through is not something I will even wish for my enemy. The stigma was so intense, even my cook, a younger girl who lived with her elder sister was thrown out in the streets because she associated with me. I had to arrange for an alternative accommodation for her to find shelter,” he said.
He said he suffered the stigma of being branded as someone carrying an incurable disease while his staff was thrown out in the streets by their family members for associating with him.
The speaker said the isolation gave him an opportunity to sit all by himself and think about his life and his relationship with God.
“I have been so busy with work and other things, I never had the time to sit in one place and think about my life or God the way I did during this isolation,” he added.
Rt. Hon. Uba also noted that, he was overwhelmed by the many calls and text messages that came in during the period.
“I was overwhelmed by calls and text messages that came in. Initially, I started trying to reply each message but with time, they became too many for me to respond to all of them.”
According to him, the COVID-19 experience opened his eyes to see how much he could work together with his colleagues and other staff of the Assembly better than he did and expressed gratitude to the State Governor, Samuel Ortom for his fatherly care, love and support.
He said, the governor checked on him almost every day, this gave him a lot of confidence to fight back against the disease that appeared formidable.
The Speaker said he was overjoyed by the motion of vote of confidence passed on him by his colleagues. While it came to him as a great surprise, he was moved by the fact that the motion was unanimously sponsored by his brother and close friend, Hon. Terkaa Ucha and fully supported by Hon Bem Mgutyo.
He said, the unity with which his colleagues, in spite of their political differences, united to stand by him has encouraged him to do more and unify the legislative arm of government for the greater good of the people of the state, describing it as the highest love that can be shown to him by his colleagues.
“The vote of confidence passed on me by my colleagues is an expression of love. It was heartwarming for me. What was interesting about it was that both political parties stood together to do that motion. They chose to work together in spite of their political differences. That is the highest love that can be shown to you by your colleagues,” he said.