Joseph Tarka

Joseph Sarwuan Tarka
Federal Commissioner of Transport
In office 1966–.
Federal Commissioner of Communications
In office . – 1 August 1974
Senator for Benue North East
In office 1979–1980
Personal details
Born	10 July 1932 Gboko, Benue State, Nigeria
Died	30 March 1980

Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka (1932–1980) was a Nigerian politician from Benue State and a former minister for Transport and then Communications under General Yakubu Gowon. He was one of the founding members of the United Middle Belt Congress, a political organization that dedicated to protecting and advocating for the country's Middle Belt.^[1]

Background

Tarka was born on 10 July 1932 in Igbor, Gboko, Benue State. His father was a village teacher and administrator, of Tiv origin.^[2] 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.^[3]

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. Both elections led to violence in the Middle Belt, which contributed to the Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu's inspired military take-over on January 15, 1966.^[4] 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.^[2]

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.^[5]

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, 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.^[3] His son Simeon Tarka was elected to the House of Representatives in 1979.^[2]

References