WHEN GRATITUDE DIES: THE ORTOM-UBA STORY
By Prince Tyodoo Livinus
The Holy Bible tells us:
“Do not reward good with evil, or evil will never depart from your home,” – Proverbs 17:13.
Iconic writer William Shakespeare also told us in his book Macbeth that:
“There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”
In public life, character is often revealed not by what a man receives, but by how he remembers. Loyalty, gratitude, and truth are the quiet virtues that separate statesmen from mere political actors. Sadly, recent utterances by former Benue Assembly Speaker and the 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State, Titus Uba, have cast a harsh light on this distinction, and not in his favour.
Gov Alia should respond to Budgit report on his poor performance and leave former Gov Ortom Alone
While addressing a crowd in Vandeikya yesterday, Uba claimed that during his period of illness, no member of the PDP showed him care or concern, alleging that only Governor Hyacinth Alia reached out to him. This narrative is not just false and misleading; it is a painful distortion of verifiable facts. More worrisome is the selective amnesia Uba’s claim reflects. It has erased sacrifice, loyalty, and uncommon generosity.
Before the 2022 governorship nomination, the PDP conducted a mock primary in Vandeikya to gauge grassroots preference for the governorship ticket among its members. The outcome was clear: Titus Uba came a distant 4th, trailing behind Professor Dennis Ityavyar, Rt. Hon. Dominic Ucha, and Dr. Paul Angya. His own people did not choose him. That rejection was not engineered by any individual, least of all Governor Samuel Ortom.
Yet, against the odds and against popular sentiment, Ortom made a decisive intervention. He gave Titus Uba the PDP ticket, not out of convenience, but conviction. It was a political risk, taken in good faith.
When Uba suddenly fell gravely ill and suffered a stroke ahead of the election, the pressure to replace him intensified. Many urged the party to choose a “fitter” and “more electable” candidate. At that critical moment, Ortom faced a defining choice. He could have yielded to expediency, but he did not. Instead, he chose loyalty over political safety.
Governor Ortom insisted that Titus Uba would remain the party’s candidate. He publicly and privately defended him, reassuring party faithful that Uba would recover. More than words, Ortom acted. His administration ensured that Uba received first-rate medical care, flying him to Germany not once, but twice. The cost: financial, political, and emotional, was borne by the government led by Chief Ortom without hesitation. It was not the duty of office; it was the depth of commitment.
These are facts, not opinions.
Yet, gratitude seemed absent when the political chips fell. In the general election, Titus Uba lost his own council ward woefully. Ironically, it was Chief Ortom who delivered overwhelming votes for him in Nzorov Council Ward, Nongov clan, and Guma Local Government at large, an unmistakable gesture of support that spoke louder than campaign speeches.
Even beyond politics, the pattern persisted. When Uba wedded while serving as Speaker and PDP governorship candidate, his wedding saw little solidarity from his peers across the country. Speakers and PDP governorship candidates from other states were conspicuously absent, not even represented. Still, Governor Ortom stood solidly by him.
And even after the loss of the 2023 election, Ortom’s care did not evaporate. He continued to show concern and support, long after political usefulness had expired. Uba on the other hand was gradually withdrawing from Ortom when he found new allies including Governor Hyacinth Alia and a former governor of the state who convinced him that they would be more useful to him.
To now hear Titus Uba suggest abandonment by the PDP, while praising those who did little or nothing during his darkest hours, is not just disappointing, it is tragic. It is the classic tale of a man who mistakes selective praise for truth, and forgetfulness for freedom.
While it is within his right and freedom to join his
kinsman Governor Alia to politick, Uba needs not castigate those who stood by him when he needed help the most.
Shakespeare warned that the human heart is not easily read by outward appearances. In this case, however, actions tell their own story. When history is honestly recorded, it will show that Samuel Ortom stood by Titus Uba when it was costly to do so, and that this loyalty was repaid not with gratitude, but with convenient silence and revisionism.
Ingratitude, they say, is the wound that never heals. And in politics, it is often remembered longer than defeat.
