Press statement by Mr Yakubu Abubakar
Convener plateau youth for good governance plateau North.
3rd of January 2022
By 10 am at Vonke hotel and suites lamingo road plateau state Nigeria
Ladies and gentlemen of the press Good morning greetings to the leadership of the people Democratic party PDP plateau state stakeholders and the members of our great party PDP,
Let me start with the profile of a servant leader who God has blessed plateau state with and the next governor of plateau state insha Allah BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN SUNDAY SURA (RTD) was Born John Sunday Sura, on February 8th, 1965, to the family of Da Sunday Sura and Mama Tarfusa Sura in Panyam Town of Panyam District in Mangu LGA, Plateau State. He began his academic pursuits at the Army Children School, Shendam between 1972 and 1979, where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate. He then proceeded to the, prestigious Nigerian Military School, (NMS) Zaria (formerly known as ‘The Boys’ Company) from 1979 to 1984, where he obtained his senior school leaving certificate.
Though John already had a knack for the military life from his early formative years as evidenced in his passionate membership of the boy’s brigade (where he attained the rank of Boy Staff Seargent), he was not one who would settle for anything less than the best and as such refused like some of his contemporaries to follow the easy way of simply picking up a Non-commissioned Officer’s conscription which was automatically guaranteed by his Nigerian military School certificate, he wanted to be in the elite officers cadre of the army.He therefore immediately enrolled for preliminary studies, at the Federal School of and Sciences Suleja Niger State, before obtaining admission into the prestigious University of Jos, where he bagged a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Economics in 1990.
He then applied and got enrolled at the Infantry Centre and School Jaji in 1992 as an officer Cadet of the Direct Regular Course 3 and got commissioned in 1993 as a Lieutenant in the Army Finance corps marking the beginning of his military career.
Despite the rigors of a regimented Army career, he was to again proceed to the University of Lagos where he bagged a Master’s degree in Economics in 2002. John, being from a very humble and Christian family, where the fear of God and the virtues of honesty, discipline and loyalty to constituted authority was Law, understood quite early in life that to attain greatness and to change his fortunes and that of his family would require uncommon hard work, steadfastness to duty and courage to follow uncharted courses, thus he saw his military commission not as an end in itself, but rather the end of the beginning.
Determined to rise to the pinnacle of his chosen profession, of service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an officer in Nigerian Army Finance Corps, he discharged his duties with single mindedness, moral rectitude and strict ethical compliance.
This ensured his steady rise in the ranks until his retirement in June, 2019, as a Brigadier General. While in service, his dedication to duty, stubborn insistence on ethical compliance, and use of innovative and creative best practices in financial services and personnel management within the various army formations and corps where he served earned several military and non-military recognition and accolades climaxing with his being awarded the Distinguished Service Star Medal.John has participated in, as well as superintended over many military operations within and outside Nigeria during his career, some of his more notable postings include:
Brigade Finance Officer, Guards Brigade 2007-2009.Staff Officer Grade 1, Training and Operations HQ Nigerian Army Finance Corps, Abuja, 2009.Assistant -Director of Finance and Accounts – Department of Army Logistics Army Headquarters Abuja, 2009.Assistant Director of Finance & Account Unit, Cash Account, Nigerian Army Finance, Appapa 2009-2011. Assistant Director of Finance and Account – 3 Armored Division Jos 2012-2013Deputy Director – Accounts.
Military Pensions Board 2013 – 2014Commander, Finance and Accounts Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command HQTRS Minna.Deputy Director Finance and Accounts, Army Head Quarters, Department of Army Administration. Commander, 1 Div, Finance and Accounts, Nigerian Army. 2019 MedalsBrig. General John Sura is a recipient of some distinguished medals of honor such as: Silver Jubilee Medal (SJM)Golden Jubilee Medal (GJM) African Missions in Sudan (AMIS)Pass Junior Staff College (PJSC)Force Service Star (FSS)Meritorious Service Star (MSS)Distinguished Service Star (DSS)Youths Motivator Award by Arewa Youths Consultative Forum. Plateau, State Chapter, amongst many awards.
Brig. Gen. John Sura, is currently a member (fellow) of the following notable Professional Bodies: Fellow National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA)Fellow Chartered Institute of Taxation (FCITN)Fellow, Institute of Company & Commercial Accountants (FCCA)Member Nigerian Institute of Management (MNIN)Member, Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (CPA)Member, Institute of Management Consultants (IMC)Fellow, Charter Institute of Economics (CIE)When interacting with John, one can easily observe that as a soldier, he is firm, astute and unrelenting and as a man, he is passionate, easy going and patriotic.
This is evidenced in the pride with which he holds his cultural heritage as a mwaghavul man and for that reason, John’s bond with his home community has earned him the traditional recognition and conferment of a chieftaincy title as the Sardauna of Panyam by the Panyam Traditional Council. He is therefore a custodian and a key stakeholder of the traditional institution and indeed a proud son of the Mwaghavul nation.
Brig. Gen. John Sura (Retired) is happily married to Fatima and the union is blessed with three Children; Kyenpiya Stephanie, Manji Kennedy, and Churchill Fwangmun. He is an ardent golfer whose other hobbies include listening to Christian Music, and counselling on investment options.
THE LIBERATION PHILOSOPHY
1 the liberation philosophy predicated on the plateau state of affairs of our common heritage plateau state
2 plateau state has degenerated into a state of near hopeless and has lost it price of place as the home of peace and tourism
3 our people now refugees in their own land with the resultant effect of economic retrogression that has drastically affected their standard of living with a negative trust on other sociological endeavors
THE LIBERATION PROJECT
1 attitudinal rebirth
2 security and security consciousness
3 economic development
CONCLUSION
the task of making plateau great is a collective effort the liberation agenda is and idea whose time has come plateau need a captain to steer the ship to shore amidst the turbulent waters of political and economic development uncertainties security threats and mostly especially an emerging national discourse on the way forward concerning national integration
Ladies and gentleman by this profile and details I want to ashore you that plateau state is safe with someone like BRIGADIER general John Sunday Sura RTD am calling the party faithful on the plateau the members of the press and the general public to key into this project and we will make plateau a better place to be.
