Mrs Anna Acka was the first woman to serve as Chairman of Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue state. Also, she was council Secretary and Director of Personnel. In this interview with TERFA ALAGHGA, she spoke on God’s grace, uprightness and sincerity as tenets of ensuring leadership growth and development.
When did you join the Civil Service?
I graduated from the Gindiri Girls High School in 1962 and in January 1963, I started work with the then Tiv Native Authority TNA(now local government), as a social worker and worked from 1963-1970. And it was in 1970 that the creation of local governments, first took place.
Who was the Divisional Officer (DO) at that time you were employed?
At that time, the Divisional Officers were posted from the Headquarters of the then Northern Region which was Kaduna but then, we had the Permanent Administrator who was the person occupying the position and that was the late Mr Ako Zungwe. After that first creation of the local government areas, the Tiv Native Authority which had its headquarters in Gboko, was split into three local government areas of Gboko, Katsina Ala and Makurdi local government areas. After the creation, there was a massive deployment of staff based on place of birth and place of marriage and I was posted to Katsina Ala, where my husband Simeon Toraer Acka hailed from.
Did you at that time attempt to further your education at all?
Yes. During that period, I gained admission into the Kaduna Polytechnic where I bagged an Ordinary National Diploma and in 1988, I also gained admission into the University of Jos, to read a Higher National Diploma in Public Administration. When I graduated and returned, I changed my cadre from a social worker to administration. It was then that I was transferred from then Katsina-Ala to Gwer Local Government in 1990 when the late Mr Udegha was the council chairman. There in Gwer LG, I was the Assistant Secretary of the council in charge of revenue. I worked for just a year and was moved to Konshisha Local Government in 1991 and then in Konshisha too, I worked for one year after which I was transferred to Ukum local government, where the council secretary was at the verge of retiring from active service. After his retirement, I stepped in. After three months of working as the council secretary of Ukum LG, I was transferred back to Konshisha which happened to be my local government of birth. In my second transfer to Konshisha in 1992. I was there as the Secretary/ Director of Personnel with an official vehicle with plate Number 2 attached to me. And in 1993 there was a change to the military government. The then military administrator, Group Captain Joshua Obademi ordered all the council chairmen to hand over power to their council secretaries with immediate effect. This announcement was made at 9pm and for them to hand over the next day at 9am that was how the late Mr Ahar Galu handed over to me and I became the first woman to act as chairman of Konshisha local government in 1993, a position that I held from 1993-1994 and in that our time, we were only two women out of the eighteen local government secretaries that were made acting chairmen of local governments in Benue State. Mrs Sarah Kpum and myself. We were given so many directives on what to do and what not to do. We were particularly instructed not to pay past contracts that were awarded by the past chairmen and not to award new contracts but in case of a pressing project, we should seek approval.
Did that directive go well with you?
To be candid, it was so tempting a time because you could imagine someone older than your grandfather kneeling before you and begging that the money they executed their contracts be paid to them even with a promise to give me part of it. Sometimes you would feel pity for them but I resisted the temptation.
Were you able to execute any project at all considering the directives by the military administrator?
Konshisha was a totally new and bushy area and during that time, there was a ban on the sales of fuel in the bottle fuel pumps and those who flouted the directives had their equipment seized and in Konshisha, there was no where you could buy fuel except you went to Aliade or Gboko so I had to write to the government to permit me to buy a tank that would be taken to Konshisha where people can access the product within the locality. They approved my request and so I travelled to Zaki Biam and bought the tank. In fact, the people were full of praises for me for that singular project. I also carried out other necessary and important projects for the local government. One day, we were briefed that there was going to be a panel of inquiry that would probe our predecessors and when I heard the news, I felt so bad because I knew that something not friendly would happen to some of the council chairmen and their councillors. In my local government, the chairman and the councillors were reporting to work from Gboko for a reason best known to them anyway.
For how long did you act as the council chairman of Konshisha?
I acted for almost six months and after my tenure there, I was transferred to Gboko local government but before then all the Secretaries acting as chairmen, were dropped except me who was retained and posted to Gboko to continue as the council secretary. That led to my being honoured with the meritorious award by the National Association of Administrators in Lagos and when I was to travel, the governor instructed the then General Manager of Benue Links, to make available a bus which he obeyed and brought it to me even while I was still in Government House Makurdi.
What do you think caused your retention?
I never knew until after sometime, that I was told that the military administrator found me as an upright, dedicated, committed and hardworking woman.
What would you say were the challenging moments during your stay in Konshisha?
Surprisingly, after the panel of inquiry had concluded its findings and implemented it, the political elites in Konshisha accused me of not covering them up and subjected me to a series of threats but of a truth, of all the places that I had worked, I never suffered the way I did while serving in Konshisha which is my local government of birth. But God knows that all the accusations were false because I tried my best to see that everything went well. And if not for God, I wouldn’t have been alive today and here chatting with you.
How do you mean ‘you wouldn’t have been alive?
Mysterious things began to happen to me in Tse- Agberagba. I returned from Government House Makurdi just to discover that the generator that supplied power to my residence was stolen without the consent of the guards who were stationed at the gate. And before I knew what was happening, I saw two police men who reported to me that they were ordered to me as my security officers and they continued guarding me throughout my stay there and even went to Gboko where I was transferred to. That is to say, there was a plot against me which I did not know but they as security experts suspected and so never wanted to take anything to chance.
Where did you go after Gboko?
I was transferred to Ushongo Local Government and soon after I was moved there, a letter came to me that I was suspended from office to face a panel of inquiry charged with Seven Million Naira fraud during my tenure as acting chairman, Konshisha Local Government Area.
Did you really do it?
God is my witness. I had no reason whatsoever, to do what I was accused of. Luckily enough, I had all the documents backing the transaction of the said 7 million naira. This money was approved during the late Galu’s administration but was released during my time and I believed may be they did not have access to it that was why they wanted to set me up on it, I wouldn’t know but the truth was that I used the money for what it was meant. Payment of teachers salary and as God would have it, I did not credit the money to the local government account but to the pay masters who paid teachers the months they were owed by the previous administrations. Other monies were also used accordingly for the purpose they were meant and all the documents were there which I asked them to go themselves to the local government and bring which they did and I presented before the panel of enquiry. I was freed and for the seven years that I was on suspension and even after I was cleared, they did not pay me my salary just as my retirement fell in between these years. I was surprised how wicked human beings could be to a fellow being. They did not present the report of my clearance to the military administrator, Brigadier General Dominic Oneya. Even when he asked that I should be paid half of the monthly salary when the panel was still sitting, they did not. But at last, when by God’s intervention the report finally got to him surprisingly, he ordered that all my full salary of all the seven years that I was suspended from office be paid to me, my gratuity and all the benefits I was supposed to enjoy which I was denied of. I said with God all things are possible and no matter what continue to be patient and wait on the Lord.
What were your best moments during your time as local government staff?
My best moments were when they would call me to camp for sports as a Tennis player and then to represent the state and the local government where I was working, would grant me the permission, that’s all and when I was doing the right thing and putting smiles on people’s faces with my good will and they were acknowledging me, I must not forget to thank those who supported me to grow in the sports circle, like coach Yebrofoa and Mr Joseph Bulya.
What is your advice for women?
Women are wonderful creatures than you can think of but I do not know why the men see us as being fit for only the kitchen and child bearing so the only advice I would give them is that, they should not despair, they should always be themselves, they should always be sympathizers, they should always be straightforward, fair, objective, truthful and hardworking as they are known for. They should always consider themselves as preachers of peace, bridge builders and intercessors.
What advice do you have for the men as regards how they treat women?
They should see women as those without whom they would not be successful. As the saying goes, “behind. a successful man, there is a successful woman”. They should not see the women as their rivals but people they could trust, rely on, and have confidence in. They should also understand that in any position that they give a women, she wouldn’t want to put them to shame. They should not see them as only fit for the kitchen but also as partners in progress.