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AFTER 10 months of medical treatment overseas, Taraba State Governor,Danbaba Suntai , arrived in the country Sunday.

  He was flown to the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, in the afternoon aboard a chartered aircraft with number N3889A at 12.48 p.m.

  Suntai sustained injuries when his self-piloted plane crashed on October 25, 2012 in Yola, Adamawa. 

  Dressed in a dark grey suit, Suntai had difficulty climbing down the steps of the aircraft as well as getting to a car that took him to the reception at the presidential wing where he was received by his friends and close associates. 

  Although Suntai did not talk to journalists, he was able to wave to some of his friends.

  Former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, who led a team of friends to receive the governor, explained that the discomfort experienced by Suntai at the airport was caused by the long hours of flight from the United States (U.S.). 

  Shortly after unsuccessful attempts to interview the Taraba governor, journalists were asked to depart the venue to allow him rest.

  “Gentlemen of the press, you have come and you have seen him (Suntai). I think that is enough for now,” Gana said, as security men quickly led journalists out of the scene.

  Airport authorities said that Suntai would remain at the airport until after an hour when some stopover formalities would have been concluded before he could depart Abuja to Jalingo.

  On the state of health of the governor, Mr. John Dara, a special assistant to the former Defence Minister, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, told journalists: “As we saw, the governor had some pains in his legs and the rest. Oh yes! That is understandable. He is obviously recuperating. He is well. He greeted each and everyone of us and called us by name. I was shocked that he recognised everyone. So, he is mentally alert.

  “We were really excited to see the governor. What is clear is that after the long journey from America, he was obviously weak and tired.”  

  On changes made by the acting governor, Garba Umar, in the absence of Suntai, Dara said:  “Those were minor administrative issues. If somebody was sacked and if he as the governor is convinced the person should be reinstated, he is reinstated. If the governor is convinced they were fairly treated when the facts are presented to him, it is up to him.”

  Other persons at the Abuja airport to receive Suntai included Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, Minister of State for Niger Delta, Taru Isiaku and a former Sports Minister, Damishu Sango.

  Experiences at the Abuja airport were mixed as journalists and other friends of the governor waited for hours to see him.  Journalists were initially asked to keep off the airport’s vicinity by policemen and airport authorities. 

  Later, the governor was assisted into a waiting red Range Rover by his wife, Hauwa Suntai and family friends. Despite the large crowd that came to welcome him, Suntai did not address them. 

  Tears dropped from the eyes of some security personnel and his associates who drew close when the governor was being helped into the waiting vehicle.

  One of the security personnel who The Guardian noticed was a senior officer with the Nigeria Police described the return of Suntai as “sheer wickedness,” stating that “this man is not yet fit, why for God’s sake did they decide to bring him back now?”

  The acting governor, who was taken unawares by the sudden decision to fly the governor back home, could not meet his boss as security operatives prevented dignitaries and journalists from getting close to the aircraft that brought in Suntai.

   Though the return was described by some persons as a welcome development, many are still of the view that he should have been left in the care of his medical personnel in the U.S. pending when he fully recovers.

  Wondering why the governor was not allowed to address the crowd or journalists, a top member of the ruling PDP told The Guardian that the decision to bring him back was “political because if it is what you and I saw, then it is obvious he cannot perform his constitutional responsibilities.”

  The state co-ordinator of the Save Taraba Group, Razaq Umar, said that Taraba residents were not afraid of his return but “what we are asking is can he perform his duties as the number one citizen of our state?”

  The group, he said, would not condone a situation where the governor is kept from the public and “some groups would be dishing out directives under the pretext that such directives were being given by the governor.”

  In the same vein, a top member of the PDP, Danjuma Munga, told The Guardian that “we are not against his coming back. We are glad they have succeeded in bringing him home, but it is going to be a disaster when he fails to act in his capacity as governor.”

Source: The Guardian