Background
Tarka was born on 10 July 1932 in Igbor, Gboko, Benue State. His father was a village teacher and administrator, of Tiv origin. After completing his education he became a teacher for a while at Katsina-Ala Middle School, before going on to further studies at Bauchi Rural Science School. He became a member of the Tiv Native Authority Staff Union and of the Northern Teachers Association.
First Republic
Tarka was elected to a seat in the Federal House of Representative in 1954 on a non-party basis, at age 22. In 1957, he emerged as president of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), which formed an alliance with the Action Group, the dominant South West party. These two predominantly Christian parties contested the pre-independence election of 1959 and the subsequent election of 1963 against the mainly Moslem Northern People's Congress (NPC). Both elections led to violence in the Middle Belt, which contributed to the military take-over by General Yakubu Gowon in August 1966. Tarka was reelected in 1959. He was arrested in 1962 on charges of treasonable felony with some other Action Group leaders, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Later career
After General Gowon took charge in August 1966, Tarka was appointed Federal Commissioner of Transport and then of Communications, resigning in 1974 after allegations of corruption from a fellow-Tiv named Godwin Daboh were published. Daboh's action was allegedly instigated by Paul Unongo and Benue-Plateau State Governor Joseph Gomwalk.
In the lead-up to restoration of democracy with the Nigerian Second Republic, Tarka aligned with northern politicians to form the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), on which platform he unsuccessfully competed in the Presidential elections. He was elected Senator for Benue East in 1979, and was appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation, a position he held when he died on 30 March 1980, aged 48. His son Simeon Tarka was elected to the House of Representatives in 1979.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
Edited by: Kabeer M. Adamu
Thank you for the post above. However, I wish to correct a statement from the above. And it goes..'These two predominantly Christian parties contested the pre-independence election of 1959 and the subsequent election of 1963 against the mainly Moslem Northern People's Congress (NPC). Both elections led to violence in the Middle Belt, which contributed to the military take-over by General Yakubu Gowon in August 1966.' This statement is incorrect and misleading. the fact of history shows us that in 1966 there were two takeovers by the Military, the first took place in January 1966 and it was by Military officers of Southern Nigerian extinction. Those mainly killed were leaders mainly from the North with other similar identified leaders that had good relationship with the then Northern leaders. This in fact became the eye opener for Military coups in Nigeria and also truncated the democratic Government established in Nigeria then. This became a bad omen to the nations democratic development ever since.
ReplyDeleteThe second was government takeover by Military officers of Northern extinction which brought about the leadership of Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon in the same year of 1966. This was seen as a counter coup to the first by Major Nzeogwu.
This is a Master summary of the life times of JS Tarkar.this account seem to associate him with a religious political dimension . The is not true but also reflect one of the dimension of the current National political dimension of politics. But originally the issue was etho cultural rather than etho religious.
ReplyDeleteEnter your comment...I'm still leaning our history .
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you guys the brief history thank you very much