The ‘Agenda 2027’ African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership discourse series continues, and today, the spotlights falls upon David Mark, the General who led the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG), and who now, as the interim National Chairman, is marshalling the repositioned ADC towards an epochal 2027 electoral battle field.
David Mark: the blunt, disciplined, and patriotic defender of democratic values
Personal Attributes, Social Engagement & Characteristics:
Military General turned astute politician, David Mark, 77, is the interim national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the adopted party of the coalition of opposition politicians of the country. Mark started out as a military officer. He traversed the topmost command and administrative postings of the Nigerian military, attained the esteem rank of Brigadier General, and served at the most elevated echelons of power during the era of the military rule of the country. He turned a politician upon retiring from the military, and as he dominated the military turf, he has carved out what is turning out to be an extra-stellar political career whose limit is still unfolding.
David Mark who is from Otukpo, in Benue State, served as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, between 1999 and 2019 (on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and was the Senate President of the 6th and 7th National Assembly, making him to hold the records of being one of the longest serving senators, and the longest-serving Senate President. Prior to his senatorial career, Mark was the Military Governor of Niger State from 1984 to 1986 and a Federal Minister of Communication.
The holder of the esteemed National honor of the Grand Commander of the order of the Niger (GCON), David Mark is financially comfortable, and even at 77, is physically healthy and maintains his youngish, handsome looks. Measured and blunt in speech, he is a highly patriotic and disciplined person, an attribute he derived from his military training and soldiery background.
Still holding the enviable record of the longest-serving Senate President in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic history, David Mark has established himself as a national political leader who is committed to the enthronement of order and discipline in party politics, and in the governance institutions of the country, with his ultimate goal being to secure the democratic future of the country, and a secured and happy homeland for Nigerians. His naturally imbued leadership qualities are seen in his nomination, and serving as the youngest member of the supreme military council (SMC) in 1984, the highest organ of the then military government of the country, his being appointed, and serving as the governor of Niger state from 1984 to 1986, his winning four consecutive elections in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 into the senate, and in his serving as the president of the senate between 2007- 2011, to set the record as the longest serving Senate President of Nigeria. With such illustrious accomplishments in leadership and governance, it did not come as a surprise when he mused interest in contesting for the Presidency of Nigeria in the 2019 general elections.
David Marks’s wealth of experience, that cuts across the military and political domains, and his disciplined and engaging personality, are the factors that earns him his deserved seat at the top echelons of Nigeria’s tables of political leadership .
While blunt and direct in speech, he is also a charming and amiable person who is peace loving and considérant of the viewpoints of others. His leadership style shows that he is a fair arbitrator who values equity, fair play, team spirit and cooperative leadership. Thus, he often find himself being nominated to head intra party crisis resolution and reconciliation committees, and strategic confidence building political projects, which is on account of his invaluable experience and unique collegial perspective on leadership and governance.
Political Vision, Ideological Stance & Leadership Engagement
The newly appointed national chairman of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) is a founding member of the PDP who had worked steadfastly to rebuild, reconcile, and to return the party to national relevance following, especially, its defeat in the 2015 presidential elections, and the intractable differences that followed. However, With the PDP calamitously failing to live up to its billing as a credible opposition party, and it’s leadership crises turning irreconcilable, to such extent that, principle officers and stakeholders of the party are uncaringly acting in manners that subject the party to public ridicule, David Mark, a man of discipline and decorous order, was left with no choice than to quit the party, and to join the National Opposition Coalition Group, to contribute to their collective effort to rescue the country from the creeping dictatorship of the APC, and to preserve Nigeria’s democracy.
His appointment as the head of the National Opposition Coalition Group, a position that conferred on him the responsibility to coordinate the activities of the group, and to manage the mighty ego’s, and the conflicting interest of the top opposition politicians, shows the reference and respect that the other top political leaders have for David Mark. With the adoption of the African Democratic Party (ADC) as the political party of the unified opposition, the appointment of David Mark as the interim chairman of the party is yet another testament of his unifying credentials and collegial leadership competence.
As a nationalist and patriotic leader who has devoted the greater part of his life working to see functional and result oriented governments piloting the affairs of the country, David Mark, bemoans the failure of the leadership of PDP to guide the party according to its constitution, rules, and regulations, a situation that has turned the erstwhile ruling political party into a disorderly and undisciplined organization. In similar veins, he decries the manner in which the National Assembly has allowed itself to be reduced, from an independent arm of government which it is constitutionally, into a feckless appendage of the presidency. Thus, he has put out a clarion call, and passionate appeal, to all conscientious PDP members, and other patriotic Nigerians, to support the ADC, and to aligned their interest to the ADC’s mission to foster national unity, protect Nigeria’s democracy, ensure national security, revitalize the national economy, and to build the political resolve to eradicate the endemic corruption that is destroying the country under the pathetic incompetence, and villainous nepotism, of the Bola Tinubu led APC government, whose divisive ethnocentrism is threatening social cohesion and national unity. His present appeal mirrors a similar appeal which he made as a senator while leading the review of the constitution, during which, he reportedly urged his colleagues to set aside their personal interests and focus on the interests of the country and all Nigerians.
Being from Benue state, located at the central belt that bridges the North and south regions of the country, David Mark is a unifier who eschews unproductive indolence and divisiveness, considering these vices to be impediments to the goals of national development and peaceful coexistence. Thus, when he was the Minister of Communications in 1989, and was on a working visit in Akure, the capital of Ondo state, his response to the complain by union workers that some of their members had not been promoted since 1978, was that workers whose performance have not merited promotion may have to be retired. Mark’s response essentially meant that, eventually, indolent and unproductive employees will have to be let go. Also, while serving as a senator, Mark, who is an ardent sports lover decried the corruption that had become endemic in the Nigeria’s National Football Federation, famously describing the federation as the “centre of corruption in the country”, and suggested that the body may need to be disbanded and reconfigured into a more transparent and productive organization. Also, in 2012, while speaking in a senate session, Mark decried the damage which terrorism unleashed by the islamists boko harem sect was inflicting on Nigeria, and pleaded with them to toe the path of dialogue with the government in the interest of national peace. Also, during the same period, when the government of the UK criticized Nigeria’s Prohibition of Same-Sex Marriage bill passed by the senate, and threatened to halt their foreign aid to the country, Mark , who was the presiding senate president retorted that they “should keep their aid”.
Thus, while often erroneously misconstrued as being indifferent and uncaring, David Mark’s blunt and direct leadership approaches are rooted in his drive for radical improvements in accountability and productivity in national institutions, his respect of traditional and institutional values, and his nationalistic disposition. It is this same push for productivity and efficiency in governance, and his patriotic nationalism that is driving his championing of the ADC’s resolve to put an end to the despairs and anguish which the indolent unproductive governance and pervasive corruption of the APC federal government is subjecting Nigerians to suffer.
Mark’s stance is that leadership is not just about holding exalted positions and offices but about the capacity to inculcate discipline, accountability and improvement in productivity, and to promote peaceful coexistence and national unity. For him, these are the values that hold the key to the social and economic growth and the prosperity of the country – a viewpoint that aligns with the opinion that improvement in economic productivity, and the eradication of corruption and divisiveness are imperative to engender the socio-political progress of the country. This is what situates Mark as values oriented, and a development inclined political leader, whose politics has never being sectional, but is essentially, nationalistic, patriotic, and driven to attain a prosperous and united Nigeria.
Influence & Networks
Coming off an impressive military career, in which he held numerous command and administrative positions, including as a member of the supreme military council, military governor of Niger state, and federal minister of telecommunication, then going on to an accomplished and record making political career, in which he was a four-termed senator, and the longest serving senate president of the country, it is not a surprise that David Mark is man whose stream of network runs deep and wide, and his octopodal connections tentacles are long, spreading across the cream of Nigeria’s past and present rulership elite; traditional, religious, business, and political. This has made him a go to person in the country’s power circles; a man whose words and actions are considered weighty and substantial.
It is indubitable that David Marks’s personality, influence, and leadership played important roles in bringing unity and cohesiveness to the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG), whose unity of purpose led to a united opposition coalition, and the adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the opposition’s party to challenge the ruling APC in the 2027 election.
Likewise, his being chosen by opposition coalition to lead the ADC as chairman, draws from the acknowledgment of his frank truthfulness, and his uniting and collegial leadership competence.
Advocacy & Social Contributions
As a careered soldier, experienced administrator, and a consummate politician, David Mark is deeply interested in the economic and social progress of Nigeria as a unity and peaceful country. He is a leaders who is a strong defender of traditional and institutional values, a stance he demonstrated in his opposition to the alien and un-African same-sex marriage culture, the eroding of party discipline and ethical standards in the PDP, the National Assembly’s shirking of its constitutional responsibilities as a separate arm of government, and his principled opposition to the egomaniacal ethnocentricity of the APC federal government.
Frank, candid, and amiable, David Mark is not the typical spotlight seeking politician, this makes his rare media engagements to be characterized by his brevity in speech, and his frank and straight forward presentations.
Business & Economic Interests
David Mark’s known business and economic interest are centered mostly on entertainment and sports. The best known is the Joy FM 96.5 radio station, which is located in Otukpo, his home town. It is a business which, apart from providing direct and indirect employments and source of income to his people and other Nigerians, is also a major hub for news, education and entertainment in the community. Another of his business is the Otukpo Golf and Country club, which features an 18-hole public golf course.
Personal & Social Life
A devoted Catholic Christian. David Mark is polygamous, and is married to four women, Kate (with whom he has two children), Omale, Helen and Randa. He is a sports loving man, who though, an avid golfer, also plays tennis, and squash.
Strategic Goals & Future Directions
Going by his recent activities, David Mark is strategically inclined and committed to reshaping and redirecting Nigeria’s socio-political outlook and trajectory. His present position, as the chairman of the opposition ADC party, whose principal mission is to rescue the country from its precipitous socioeconomic decline, and to preserve its democracy and democratic values, are clear pointers of his long-term strategic goals and directions.
His gathering and domiciling of Nigeria’s topmost opposition figures, including some former presidents, vice-presidents, former and serving state governors and senators, and a sea of change-loving enthusiastic Nigerians into the ADC, within days of his appointment as party chairman, suggests that he is seriously committed to the ADC’s task of confronting and correcting the social and economic decline of the country.
The zeal with which he faced the formative works of the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG), which led to the adoption of the ADC, should leave on one in doubt of David Mark’s resolves and commitment to accomplishing the stated mission of the ADC. If anything, David Mark can be counted upon to play active roles that would influence the 2027 presidential elections, and the country’s democratic renewal and socioeconomic rebirth.
Prognosis and Final Words
Charming and amiable, David Mark is undoubtedly a top-notched political leader who is an advocate of productivity and efficiency in governance. A defender of traditional and institutional values, he is deeply committed to engendering peaceful coexistence and national unity. His approach is frank blunt, and direct, leveraging on his expansive networks and extensive experience to shape his present engagements. He prioritizes competence, efficiency, and result-oriented leadership, attributes which situates him as a strategic player in the making of Nigeria’s future.
In conclusion, David Mark’s profile is one of blunt brevity, and nationalistic and patriotic leadership. As a soldier and politician, he synthesizes military discipline and political acumen in the leadership roles he is called upon to play in the grand scheme of building a united and prosperous Nigeria – a profile which eminently qualifies him as a leader whose vision and deeds will go a long way in shaping post-2027 Nigeria.
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