Dan Bok's Desperation for Power Denies PPA Members FG Grants - Shabul Mazadu February 21, 2025

Dan Bok's Desperation for Power Denies PPA Members FG Grants - Shabul Mazadu

February 21, 2025

The lingering power tussle bedeviling the Plateau Publishers Association (PPA) with hope flickers in a distance and seems to have a tangible hope in sight with the current revelation of who seems to be fueling the problem fragmenting the once homogeneous group, Shabul Mazadu, the former chairman of the association, the current chairman of the Independent Publishers Association (IPA), and the publisher of The Beacon Newspaper, pinpointing the architect of the leadership wrangling and other pertinent issues. Enjoy the excerpts:

Question: the Socal media was awash with the title, Nanyah Daman not the problem of PPA but Dan Bok, can you tell us more about this.

Mazadu: You see, there's a bid difference between PIPA and PPA, you know PIPA came before PPA and PIPA was scrabbed, all other factions of the Publishers on the Plateau was scrabbed when Joe Ari call us and told us to merge and be one body. So that new body was Plateau Publishers Association, it is just like a new born baby like a new child. When that was finished, then we started having problems because of one person's ambition and it is in your presence that association did not last for 2 to 3 years before it split into PPA and IPA and many people did not know Dan Bok was the problem. He contested for the deputy chairman during our elections simply with the aim that in case the Chairman is not available, he would become the Chairman, so he deputies for Nash and when Nash was having problems, the deputy did not do anything to support him or clear thier names he's just watching until some people rose up and say there should be a change in baton and Nash accepted to resign from the leadership.

On the day of his resignation, Dan Bok stood up and said if the association had problem with Nash, the association is not having problem with him. So why will he not be the person to take over from Nash? but the entire house said no let all EXCO be dissolved and when it dissolved, they chose new temporary EXCO that will hold sway for 6 months.

When I was called upon to be the interim Chairman and Dan Bok was asked to be the secretary, I resisted. You were all there I said no, I don't want Dan Bok to be the secretary I prefer Orgak Walbe why because I saw the way Dan Bok handled his principal because he didn't help him but, I needed someone that will help me and help the association.

Since we formed the group, we started scouting on how to survive to get patronage and to perform our duties well, Dan Bok started strategizing on how he would bring me down so that he can actualize his ambition. since I knew what he did to Nash, I opened my eyes to see the traps he will set. 

They just whispered to me that let's have a clique because Nanyah was dominiaring the association according to them that he has his own clique, he's moves around with his clique and he was getting patronage. When I saw Dan Bok amongst them, I knew it was a trap, aside that as a leader, I said I will not be party to creating problem because if I have form a clique, problem would have started in that PPA because I have divided the association, I refused.

Then before this event, we paid a courtesy call to Dasuki Nakande the proprietor of Unity FM and after that, there's another time we paid him a second visit and then he said the Federal Government is giving assistance and grants, so he is going to work out grants for all the members of Plateau Publishers Association to help boost their businesses, so he brought N10,000 and gave us and asked us to go and register with PLASCHEMA. so when we went for the registration, we discovered that it was N15,000 so we cough out N5000 making it N15,000 and we started the process.

When we went the first day, then we discovered that it wasn't possible and we had other activities then we delegated Dan Bok as the secretary to continue and we heard nothing about that assignment given to him, he didn't come back to give us the feedback, he didn't tell us anything and I perceived he did that deliberately because if we have succeeded and the members were empowered, he felt I will take the glory so the best thing was not to do that.

Again, after we gave Lalong an award, Plateau Internal Revenue Service call us to patronize us by giving us advert, you know in congratulating Lalong for the Award, then Dan Bok came to me and whispered that I should write the names of those to publish the advert since the amount would not go round for everybody to go to the press, so what I did was I knew if I had written the names, I will have problems because I knew he was setting banana peels for me, he never knew, I knew these things and I told him, go and prepare the names because if I have prepared the names, Dan Bok would've used that against me to tell some of his friends that I was the one that excluded their names, I allowed him I said write the names and bring them and so he write the names and brought them and we give them. Dan Bok alone, did not publish, and one of his friends, intimate friend, let me be specific, Philip Zhattau put the picture of Lalong but he did not put my picture giving Lalong the award and if he says I'm lying, let him go and bring the paper today and show the picture he put that I was giving the plaque to Lalong. That sends a signal to me that something was happening underground because they were very close and they were the same people that met me and told me to have a clique.

Dan Bok did not do it so that next time if we get any advert, if anybody fails to do it, they'll say the secretary did not do his own what happen to him? and if Dan Bok said he did it, let him bring out the newspaper he published and show it to the world. After that, when we kept moving, I started noticing some things among the EXCO because we're only five. So closed to one Ramadan period like that, I called the treasurer, advice me we want to produce a greeting card for Muslims for this Ramadan period, what's your advice? She said her to advise me? She'll not, you the PRO is here, you raised a memo I signed it that you should go and collect some money from her and print the cards because 3 of us agreed to print the cards she didn't give you the money and I cough out the money from my pocket and I went ahead to print the cards and what did I tell you? I said since we have few period to go, I will not collect any money to run the association from the treasurer until our term is over. After that, we call for a meeting towards the handing over, Dan Bok did not attend the meeting he said he traveled to Bokkos or so and the treasurer did not attend. One of his foot soldiers earlier, when we started the association, they told us that we should give them letters to distribute the letters in Abuja, they refused to distribute the letters they stayed and when we call the PA of the then Minister, Pauline Tallen we sent letters to your Ministry, we did not see the feedback, he said we should send the acknowledgement copy that was when we discovered that they did not actually go to give the letters. So if you wanted me to succeed, will you be doing these activities? But I still went ahead because I came on board and discovered zero account with lot of debts, I was able to clear some of the debts. I raised three hundred and thirteen thousand naira, I left thirty six thousand for the association. Under their own executive, they were collecting whatever is shared, they collected more than the members, I never collected anything more than the members, we shared everything equally you people are witnesses. When we're about rounding up planning, we asked Dan Bok when is our six months expiring, Dan Bok refused to tell me he ran away because he's our secretary having our minutes, so he should known the day we started and he should've told us then the PRO here, we asked him go and check and tell us the date so he did his investigation and told us the date, so when we have two weeks to go, we call for a general meeting and the current Dan Bok right hand man was the one busy attacking and castigating us on that day that we did nothing despite the glaring achievements we made. I already had it at the back of my mind that if I exceeded one day this man will topple me because there was already a propaganda and I don't know where the propaganda was coming from. That I was using PPA to prepare myself to contest for the house of Assembly and I never had that at heart. Now this same Dan Bok before the final meeting to handover the notes, one of our EXCO member met Dan bok particularly the treasurer and told him that your Chairman is not exceeding 6 months twice they told him and he came to tell me and then he asked, who will you replaced the Chairman with, the person said Dan Bok, that Dan bok will perform better than I do. Eventually, their plan leaqued and somebody circulated that news that, this was the plan and after the plan if they succeeded, PPA will break out you knew, the news circulated and that was the exact thing that happened and then I told you the PRO that these people are bad schemers they don't know how to plan. On that day, when we entered the hall, Nanyah calls me and said they heard we had problems that the EXCO was divided so for that reason, they're going to take an action to amend and to correct that, will you be comfortable with me? I said fine any decision you take because I knew what was coming. Now who told Nanyah that there was a crack? We were five, I have no problem with the PRO Nanfa, I have no problem with Orgak, the 3 of us are working in unity. So where was the crack? Dan Bok and how did he prove that he was the crack? on that day he stood up before all of you and said if a day is added to me, he'll leave, he made that statement.

Now if you are saying Nanyah was the problem, one, Nanyah have no hand in the pressure mounted on Nash to step down, I had no hand in the pressure mounted on Nash to step down both of us, we had no hands.

Nanyah is a member of the BOT, Amos Gizo is a member of the BOT, Mr Ossai is a member of the BOT and Juliana Ozuaka a member of the BOT. It is now that I learnt that Nash join them, but when they were only 4 he met them and told them, what decision you think was the right thing for them to have taken, the decision for them to have taken was to dissolve EXCO, they have to because what would they have done? to ask the 3 of us to leave and bring another 3 or to ask two of them to leave or to bring another 2? So the best thing for them to do was to dissolve as it is, it was temporary let election be conducted and they are going to choose ELCOM, ELCOM that will handle the association for six months and when that ELCOM was chosen, looking at the combination, I knew what Dan Bok did to me the same problem will arise.

Joe Ari took his time and everything to reconciled us and some people were brewing problems to distroy that arrangement. I won't be part of it. In fact, we have 2 weeks to go but they could not even allow the 2 Weeks to go, so I handed everything and after what I saw in the ELCOM, I decided to leave the PPA, I'm not going to be part of the PPA to be witnessing these kind of crisis and shame again, then some people said since that was the case, we saw the work you did, we saw the sacrifices you made, we saw everything, we left.

You are here, can you pinpoint to me one mistake or one fault they found with me? There's none. Uptil date, nobody will accuse me of curruption or cheating or I have been bad, the records are there, I still have the records. I raised three hundred and fifteen thousand Naira, they all benefited from that and I left N36,000 within the span of 3 months when coming to office, I found zero account. When I left the others followed.

So when that ELCOM was still on going, we have no problem with them we're minding our business. What happens next their ELCOM we learnt, was dissolved they chose Nanyah as the Chairman and then Dan Bok as the deputy, so what happens now to PPA? They're in factions. Dan Bok went ahead to toppled Nanyah because he gave Nanyah's space being the deputy and Nanyah exceeded without conducting elections and other things and then he came out and said they topple Nanyah because Nanyah was no longer the Chairman. you could see the trap he was setting for me that I saw that I could not enter. Nanyah was too careless to have known who Dan Bok was, because right from the time he was assisting Nash, I studied him and I knew. Since we left, did you hear any crisis in IPA? I told IPA members that I don't want to be the Chairman and they said no we believed in your leadership, you must be and even have fresh hands that came to join us. They said they have remove Nanyah, Nanyah said he's sack them from the association. The problem has reveal itself and who was the problem? Dan Bok because he wanted power and when the right time came for him and his angels around him those believed that he was an angel they followed him like goats and then they came pleading to us that we should join hands with them form one association, we said no, we don't have problem with anybody but since your problem is that, you're always excluded in assignment, go ahead and have assignment committee, they had the assignment committee they allow Dan Bok to chair the assignment committee I am the Chairman of IPA, I didn't bother I said let them go ahead if it is assignment committee, you'll go and present yourselves as one, we are okay with that, but he was not okay with the assignment committee, when we said no, we're not joining you, because we cannot join in your fight because Nanyah is claiming he is the authentic PPA Chairman, Dan Bok is claiming he's the authentic PPA Chairman so how do you expect us to come and join. Dan Bok stage a coup as far as we're concerned it was a coo or he should give us where the constitution of the PPA states that if the Chairman refuse to do that he should take over? The next thing that we see was that when they paid a courtesy call to the then Commissioner of Information, they wrote the, it was all over the social media that they told the Commissioner that they were the authentic publishers on the Plateau, I called Dan Bok and said why are trying to have issues with us, why are you comparing yourself with us? I told him that whenever IPA goes for an assignment, we strictly restrict ourselves to IPA, we don't even mention PPA or anything we told them we are IPA and then there are other faction like PPA that's all we don't discredit anybody, we fight anybody so are you doing these thing and if you have any evidence that we've ever wrote that we're better than any other association bring it. But we have the news that they were the authentic then he asked me are you a journalist is that how you read news I said what do you mean? He said who wrote the news? Was it not the byline of Philip zhattau? I told him look, Philip Zhattau cannot write this news and then kept on criticizing me as a quack Journalist then I asked him a question what has my profession got to do with what you did? You said we're not authentic and I am telling you you please stop this we don't want to have problems with you. We also learnt that anywhere they went, they presented themselves as combination and coalition of all Publishers. I called some of their members and caution them, I said don't ever join issues with us we are not part of you.

They went to the CP the presented themselves as the Publishers on the Plateau, yesterday I was with the CP, the CP raised surprise again and said which publishers are you talking about? I said we have PPA, we have IPA that was when he knew there was a faction. They went to Orthopedic Hospital and presented themselves as all the representatives of the Publishers on the Plateau we told them we are not part of you, stop that.

Information officer of one of the Ministry here on the Plateau, called me that they've learnt that PPA, we've all join forces and we are one that we're coming for a courtesy call, I said IPA is not part those people, we are not part of them.