The remains of the late Dantong being carried by pallbearers after the valedictory session at the National Assembly... yesterday
•Tears flow at farewell session for Dantong •Mark urges warring parties to dialogue
His voice cracked. It was evident he was battling not to cry. Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba asked questions, which appeared rhetorical “Where is the Jos of old? Plateau of old? Haven of peace, melting pot of culture and religions, preferred home of all. Jos, what happened? Plateau, who replaced laughter with tears; who replaced handshakes with bullets and bombs? Who replaced tears of joy with blood? Who replaced love with hatred in a life time and why? Life has become too casual and cheap. The senseless bloodletting in our nation must stop.”
It was at a valedictory session held by the Senate for Senator Gyang Dantong, who died on July 8. Dantong, who represented Plateau North Senatorial District, died while he was attending a mass burial of people killed in his consistency.
The solemn ceremony saw many senators shed tears in honour of their departed colleague.
Many of the senators, who spoke, eulogised the late senator in emotion laden tones.
Ndoma-Egba said the late Dantong loved humanity, peace in the Plateau, passionately worked for it and hoped for it.
He said: “He tirelessly feared rabidly the ethnic and religious divisiveness that is an uncharacteristic reality in the Plateau. His love for peace and fear of tension consumed him but he is not lost, for the Bible tells us that blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. Children of God, go to God in heaven. Senator Dantong is in heaven.
“Senator Dantong was the bridge between religions, cultures and tribes. Let his death not be in vain. Leaders of all inter-religions and cultures owe it to themselves and Senator Dantong to terminate this culture of hate and promote reconciliation and peace that Plateau was known for.”
Senate President David Mark said it was difficult to say goodbye to a man who has been a “vital part of our lives.”
Mark described the late Dantong as a “shining example of model leadership” and a man who had “capacity to make the best out of life.”
He said: “Today, we say goodbye to Senator Gyang Dalyop Dantong. Even in death, he continues to be a uniting factor and a shining example of model leadership. He was a man who had the capacity to make the best out of life, and he did just that. In the brief years that he acted on life’s mortal stage, he played his roles exceedingly well.
“As a husband, father, senator, medical doctor and Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, he distinguished himself as a lover of peace, humanity, unity and progress.”
He urged warring parties in Plateau to sheath their swords and return to dialogue in honour of the late senator.
Mark added: “Nobody has borne the tragedies of Jos, particularly in the past three years, more than Dantong. As the killings continued, he became a fixed feature at burials. For each casualty of this senseless crisis, Dantong was equally a victim. He never stayed in the comfort of his Abuja home. Rather, every week, he went to console the families of the dead or to attend the burial of one of his constituents.
“Days before his death, he was at the funeral of his Ward Chairman in Sharubutu, Bachit District of Riyom Local Government Area. Dantong had been a worried man in the last few years because of the mindless crisis that engulfed his beloved state. The people he buried every week in his last years were not strangers. They were people he knew so well.
“In his close-knit community, where life revolved around agriculture and the church, at the Vom Christian Hospital, where he was medical director, he attended to some who became victims of the wanton killings in Jos. Others were his patients or parents of patients. Indeed, no one can truly know the pain he endured.
“In the end, he paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, human dignity and peaceful coexistence in Plateau State. Having paid this supreme sacrifice, his death must not be in vain. Peace must now return to Plateau State.
“If peace does not return to Plateau State, then his death would have been in vain. For the sake of the late Senator Dantong and all those who have lost their lives in Plateau State, I urge all warring parties to sheath their swords and return to dialogue like brothers and sisters.”
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said it was time for the nation to pray to God to avert the sordid incidents now bedevilling it and bring lasting peace.
He said: “I am saddened and I believe all of us are saddened. It has been a very challenging time for us as a country. A church was bombed on Christmas Day. Even on New Year Day, churches were bombed. In Yobe, even cattle were attacked. Children have been attacked and killed. Recently, there was a plane crash in Lagos. There was also a tanker fire incident in Rivers State, where over 100 people reportedly died.
“It has been one incident after another, all on the negative side. As we mourn Dantong, we are morning all the people that died in the various incidents. We have to pray and ask God to bring peace to our country.”
He added: “Some people who are fanning the embers of the incidents are somewhere today watching and listening to us but the man who is making peace is laying outside dead. The day of reckoning will come and everybody will pay his dues.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was represented by his deputy Emeka Ihedioha, said Dantong died in active service in pursuit for peace on the Plateau and in the nation.He said: “For us, the challenge is: what shall we remember Senator Dantong for? And I think those of us who are left behind, it calls for soul-searching that the time for politicking is gone. There comes a time when we must begin to truly address the issues of the uncertainties of our lives as a people. The challenge in this country today is very disturbing and I believe there is a lot of lip service.
“There must be solution to the problem on the Plateau and indeed the problem in Nigeria. I believe his death shall not be in vain. The death of Senator Dantong should be a wake-up call for us and should challenge all of us, lawmakers and indeed policy makers in this country that we must find a way forward, a way to give hope to the rest of our country, a way to let peace reign.”
Others, who paid glowing tributes to Dantong, include Senators George Thompson Sekibo, Ahmed Lawan, Abdul Ningi, Chris Ngige, Adegbenga Kaka, Zainab Kure, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu and Ifeanyi Okowa.
Others at the valedictory session in honour of Dantong are Governor Jonah Jang, former deputy president of the Senate, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Dan Sulieman, Dantong’s widow Mrs Hanatu and her children, wife of the Senate President, wife of Deputy Senate President and Dantong’s father.
(The Nation Newspaper 19 July 2012. By Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu)
