SENATOR ZWINGINA’S UNREALIZED DREAM
By Ahmad Sajoh
My last encounter with Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina was on a day I accompanied Dr. Ike Neliaku, the President of NIPR to his office for a discussion on a dream he had which was never realized. I will come to that later. Senator Zwingina and I were billed to address a Forum of Adamawa residents in Abuja. His words to me on the issue were really touching. “Comrade Sajoh, ni da Kai ai our points of view are the same, you can speak for both of us” I couldn’t believe my ears. As if reading my doubts he repeated it in plain language for the President of NIPR and other persons present to hear. I was so excited by such a testimony in the presence of such high profile personalities that I almost floated on my way out.
My relationship with Zwingina started during the second Republic. Governors of all opposition parties opposed to the NPN were to meet in Yola, the capital of Gongola state under the banner of the progressive governors forum. The meeting was to be hosted by the Governor of Gongola state. However, word filtered that certain unsavory things were to happen during the meeting. A fiery lecturer who just came back from abroad with his PhD invited us to protest those occurrences. His name was Jonathan Zwingina. He led us, we fought the police, inhaled tear gas and a few of us were injured. That incident also brought him to the limelight. He became an instant hero and revolutionary.
When Zwingina became head of MAMSER in Gongola state he became a rallying point for all progressive forces in the state. I remember very vividly when he led us to Calabar for the declaration of the establishment of the Labour Party by the Nigerian Labour Congress under the leadership of Comrade Pascal Bafyau of blessed memory. Dr. Jonathan Zwingina was indeed one of the leading lights of the progressive forces that gave birth to the establishment of the Labour Party. The Calabar meeting also gave us the opportunity to interact very closely with Zwingina on the politics of Gongola state. He was clear on one important point, that keeping away from participating in politics was a defeatist principle. It was not progressive to avoid politics or leave it to those who are not fit to lead.
When he pitched his tent with the SDP during the aborted third Republic it was mainly for the fact that it was “a little to the left” or the nearest to the progressive tendency. His brilliance showed so clearly that it was not difficult to assign him the historic task of leading the presidential campaign Secretariat as Director General. Zwingina delivered so well that the nation got to realize his potential as a national icon. From then on he never looked back. He became an active participant in the political scene. He never believed that a scholar can only analyze the political scene without participating. He was an intellectual in politics. He ventured further by contesting the Senate seat in the Adamawa South Senatorial District which he won effortlessly.
In the Senate he was first made the Chairman of the Information Committee. He introduced the weekly press briefing by the committee. He never waited for an issue to dictate his engagement with the media. He ran an open system anchored on weekly engagements with the media even if the Senate never sat for the week. It was the greatest attempt at running an open governance system. An intellectual in leadership is expected to be an innovator. Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina was an innovative intellectual. When as the head of the production team at Newage Network we wanted greater access to workings of Senate for our program “Inside the Senate” it was to Zwingina I went. At that time he was working closely with the then Deputy Senate President Mantu. He made our job very easy.
Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina became a towering figure in Adamawa State politics. His death left an indelible mark on the landscape of Nigerian governance. His passing on October 2nd, 2024, marks a profound loss for the nation, particularly for those who championed his unwavering commitment to openness and transparency.
Senator Zwingina’s legacy is not merely defined by his political achievements, but by the principles he embodied. He was a leader who believed in the power of dialogue, in the importance of engaging with the people, and in the necessity of holding power accountable. His unwavering dedication to these ideals resonated deeply with those who knew him, particularly within the progressive movement in Gongola State and later Adamawa politics. He lived these ideals till his last breath on earth.
His leadership style, characterized by a commitment to inclusivity and a willingness to challenge the status quo, inspired a generation of young leaders. His memory will serve as a constant reminder of the importance of integrity, transparency, and the pursuit of a more just and equitable society. As a beneficiary of such ideals at close quarters being one of his political disciples I will always remember him for imbibing those ideals in many of us. The good thing about being a scholar is that ones ideas never die. Senator Zwingina will live forever in his written works, students he taught and younger persons he mentored.
What was his dream that he never realized? On that fateful day I visited him with the President of NIPR it was to discuss a Bill he once sponsored in the Senate which never became law. It was called National Order of Protocol Bill. Jonathan Zwingina as a Nationalist wanted a law to settle the issue of order of prescedence. Every great nation has its order of merit when establishing protocols at events either at National or sub-National levels.
In a nation where Governors want to be Senators and Senators want to Governors, who takes precedence at functions? The president of NIPR believes that the Institute could take up the process since the NIPR prides itself as the promoter of the reputation assest of the nation. In our engagement with Senator Zwingina he told us the intricate arguments on the matter. Senators claim that their functions are National beyond the narrow functions of governors which is limited to the sub-National entities. However the Governors say there are three Senatorial Constituencies within their single constituency. He pledged to support us actualize our project of establishing a National order of merit to guide protocols at functions. He wanted to work with the NIPR to lobby the National Assembly pass such a law. One of the greatest tributes we can pay to Zwingina is to actualize his desire for a law that requlates our National Order of Protocol.
Adieu Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina. Rest on peacefully Comrade.