Air Commodore Jonah David Jang (
Retired, Rtd)
CON (born 13 March 1944) is a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
statesman who was the
Governor of Plateau State from 2007 to 2015. He had previously served as Military Governor of
Benue State
Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is th ...
and
Gongola State
Gongola State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the Adamawa and Sardauna Provinces of North State, together with the Wukari Division of the then Benue-Plateau State; it existed until 27 Augus ...
He ran successfully for re-election on 26 April 2011.
[ In 2015, Jang ran and won Plateau North senate seat as his term as Governor of Plateau State drew to a close. In 2018 Jang declared his senate seat vacant and said it was time for the people of Plateau North to decide who would represent them at the red chamber. Jang was at the time making a nocturnal political consultations to run for the presidential ticket of the main opposition, PDP for the 2019 presidential election.
He was a founding member of the Peoples' Democratic Party in the days that preceded the second military to civilian transfer of power in 1999 ushering the ]Nigerian Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...
.
In the new millennium democratic dispensation for which Jang had so much fought to wrest power from the military, he made an unsuccessful run for the governorship of Plateau State
Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself.
Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
in an election which was marred by alleged forms of irregularities and malpractices on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria.
Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...
. Initially, he had sought the PDP governorship nomination prior in 1999 but lost after which he decamped to the opposition ANPP to make yet another run for governorship again.
Jang is a native Berom and is a proponent of massive infrastructural development. During his tenure as Governor of Plateau State, some of his achievements included: road construction through the length and breadth of the state, rehabilitation of public water supply, agricultural partnership program between the state and Israeli experts (ASTC) and in environmental sanitation to mention a few. As Governor, Jang embarked on a thorough purge of the Plateau State Civil Service ridding it of unwanted corrupt elements mostly in the form of ghost workers. He is regarded by many as having recorded achievements comparable only to those of the very first Governor of the state, Police Commissioner Joseph Gomwalk
Joseph Dechi Gomwalk (13 April 1935 – 15 May 1976) was a Nigerian police commissioner and the first Military Governor of Benue-Plateau State after it was formed from part of Northern Region. He was executed due to his connections to Buka Suk ...
.
He has a lot of experience in military and security matters which owes to his prudent management of the Tiv/Jukun crisis during his tenure as Military Governor
A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
of the old Gongola State
Gongola State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the Adamawa and Sardauna Provinces of North State, together with the Wukari Division of the then Benue-Plateau State; it existed until 27 Augus ...
.
In a trial widely dismissed as a political witch hunt, Jang was in 2018 arraigned in the Plateau State High Court of justice, Jos by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...
(EFCC) over allegations of fraud to the tune of 6.3 billion naira of Plateau State funds when he was Governor of the state.
While the citizenry having enjoyed a period of relative plenty and stability from May 2007 to May 2015 when Jang handed over the reins of power, contended the credibility of the trial, on 16 May 2018 he was remanded in Jos prison after his application for bail was declined by the court.
On 28 August 2018 Jang formally declared his interest to run for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
at the Plateau State PDP secretariat.
Background
Jonah David Jang was born on 13 March 1944 in Du, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State
Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself.
Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
. In 1965 he enlisted as an Air Force Officer Cadet at the Military Training School in Kaduna
Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...
. He was given flight training at Uetersen
Uetersen (, formerly known as ''Ütersen (Holstein)'') is a town in the Pinneberg (district), district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately south of Elmshorn, and northwest of Hamburg at the small Pinnau Ri ...
in West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
(1965–1966) and further training at the Nigerian Defence Academy
The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of t ...
, Kaduna. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 1969 and promoted to lieutenant in 1970. He attended a course on Supply Operations Training (Logistics) in Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, United States and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1972, major in 1975 and wing commander in 1978, serving in most of the Nigerian air formations during this period.
During the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...
he served as Military Governor of Benue State from August 1985 to August 1986, then as Military Governor of Gongola State from August 1986 to December 1987.[
He voluntarily retired from the Nigeria Air Force in 1990.
Jonah Jang took a Bachelor of Divinity Degree at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (2000–2002).
In 2007, he successfully contested the governorship election in Plateau State on the platform of the ]People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to:
* People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
*People's Democratic Party (Belize)
*People's Democratic Party (Bhutan)
*People's Democratic Party (Chile)
* People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
( PDP).[
He ran successfully for reelection on 26 April 2011.][
]
Legacy
In the waning days of his second tenure as chief executive of Plateau State
Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself.
Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...
, Jonah Jang
Air Commodore Jonah David Jang ( Retired, Rtd) CON (born 13 March 1944) is a Nigerian statesman who was the Governor of Plateau State from 2007 to 2015. He had previously served as Military Governor of Benue State and Gongola State
He ran s ...
sought for a successor to carry on with his legacy of infrastructural development and governmental reforms and his eyes fell on the astute Gyang Pwajok
Gyang Nyam Shom Pwajok (March 15, 1966 – October 28, 2015) was a Nigerian politician and a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Pwajok was the youngest national Senator during the upper chamber's 7th Assembly, which was in session ...
who was at the time completing the term of the late Senator Gyang Dantong in the Senate. Gyang Pwajok
Gyang Nyam Shom Pwajok (March 15, 1966 – October 28, 2015) was a Nigerian politician and a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Pwajok was the youngest national Senator during the upper chamber's 7th Assembly, which was in session ...
was young, intellectual and virile and was thought to be the most suitable for the job. He was a bridge between the old and young generations and was very representative of a proper transition from the gerontocracy to a new epoch in the political history of the state. However, certain villain and unpatriotic forces then spearheaded by Jang's predecessor and long time rival Joshua Dariye
Joshua Chibi Dariye (born 27 July 1957) assumed office as the Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria on 29 May 1999 during the 1999 Plateau State gubernatorial election on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was re-elected for ...
began to propagandise the population against a Berom back to back leadership of the state. They campaigned on the pretextual premise that having had two governors that both served 8 year tenures from the central senatorial district and the northern senatorial district respectively, since the advent of the Nigerian Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...
it was only proper that a zoning of the gubernatorial office be instituted in the state thus the seat be zoned this time to the southern senatorial district of the state. And so they rallied all the minority tribes of the state and conspired an overthrow with little consideration for the personality and score card of the aspiring successor in the opposition. The Beroms (from which Gyang Pwajok
Gyang Nyam Shom Pwajok (March 15, 1966 – October 28, 2015) was a Nigerian politician and a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Pwajok was the youngest national Senator during the upper chamber's 7th Assembly, which was in session ...
came) and other well-meaning citizens aligned with good governance went to the polls and helped Pwajok poll enough numbers to clinch the vote. However, other forces at large were at play and managed to tip the scales in favour of Simon Lalong
Simon Lalong CON (born 5 May 1963 in Shendam, Plateau State) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician, who is the incumbent Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria.
Education
After his elementary and secondary schools education in Shendam Local Gover ...
of the All Progressives Congress
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...
( APC) and he was announced the winner of the election. Simon Lalong
Simon Lalong CON (born 5 May 1963 in Shendam, Plateau State) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician, who is the incumbent Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria.
Education
After his elementary and secondary schools education in Shendam Local Gover ...
was a long time protégé of Joshua Dariye
Joshua Chibi Dariye (born 27 July 1957) assumed office as the Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria on 29 May 1999 during the 1999 Plateau State gubernatorial election on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was re-elected for ...
and served as speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly when Dariye was governor of the state.
See also
* List of Governors of Plateau State
References
1944 births
Living people
Nigerian Air Force officers
Governors of Benue State
Governors of Plateau State
Governors of Gongola State
Nigerian Defence Academy alumni
Members of the Senate (Nigeria)
Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians
People from Plateau State
Nigerian politicians convicted of crimes
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