Sometime in January 1984, I met for the first time 2Lt Satty Davies Gogwim. It was not a pleasant meeting or so I thought. He had accompanied the corpse of WOII Timon Bako, his wife, Margaret’s cousin who was killed on duty at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. For those of you who may recall, the coup that overthrew President Shagari was staged on December 1983,; he was one of the victims.

I remember the white resplendent kaftan he wore that day. Before the corpse was taken into the church, I heard him recommend to one of the deceased uncles that he needed to see where the fatal bullet had hit him. For me, he had an aura that drew people to him. Indeed, it took time before people began to know that his roots were from Dawaki in Kanke LGA.

As early way back in time, Satty had a huge dream, only he knew the direction he was heading to. Before long, the various areas of interest had started to surface particularly for the good of the community and the people. Significantly, all the areas became for many young people an area of entertainment and means of livelihood.

Gradually, he became for me; and indeed many others a point of reference in a number of ways. His house in Panshin, located opposite the Water Board was always a beehive of activities anytime he came home on a visit. But it was the establishment of Nenpin Nite Club and Lodging on April 5, 1985 that opened the eyes of many to the realization of the person of Senator Satty Davies Gogwim; and what he will later represent in the lives of multitudes and communities in the state.

The nite club became in many respects a rendezvous for various events. Even if you don’t believe in the idea of a nite club, it no doubt drew people from various corners of the nation to Pankshin. The concept was so enormous that many saw Pankshin as the ultimate place to visit at weekends.

No wonder, it was common for young men and women in those days to want to beat their friends to be at Nenpin; while those who have not had the opportunity were eager to be told what it was to experience it. Truth be told, if you thought you liked night clubbing and had not danced in its hall; you spoke in hush voice with those who were privileged to have.

If Nenpin was an idea whose time was ripe; it was Manji Football Club that put the icing on the cake of several of his business concerns in1987. Pankshin has always been a football-loving town. Even though it took long before a stadium was built, the pitch at Government Secondary School, Bet, served as the most popular ground where young men and women assembled to be entertained every day.

He brought in fresh legs from various places to ply their trade in Pankshin. Even though there was Kor Rocks established by Nde John Kumben in the same town, it was Manji FC that established the presence of new faces from various towns who were eager and willing to showcase their talents. It paid off in many respects, as young men came all over the state to be signed to play for the club.

It increased keen and healthy rivalry in the competition between clubs in Pankshin, even as many who hitherto didn’t see football as a money spinning industry gradually started to love the game and the talents of the young boys that always entertained them. Those pioneering efforts by him created a willing industry to accept many more that were eager to be absorbed into the big leagues.

Little wonder, there is a plethora of youthful coaches spread around in Pankshin and Kanke; thanks indeed to such pioneering efforts where communities were encouraged with the abundance of talents to start new football outfits.

Those in the hotel industry know what efforts they put to run and maintain one. While appreciating anyone who is effectively running such, we must not forget the fact that efforts like that have boosted the tourism industry with its services. Hotels play significant roles in advancing tourism; and it is in the realization of this that he has to his credit two wonderful outfits: Green Valley Suites and Dimples Lounge and Suites.

Apart from the numerous services they offer, many young men and women are given employment; thus greatly helping government and families find relevance and sustainability. The dream gave him courage to sustain, what for him counts in the lives of people and the community.

Perhaps one of the things that counted for him even in old age was his knack for knowledge. What he did not get in his youthful years, he recovered same by pursuing education as one in a hurry to cover the space of what he had missed. Had he the opportunity God gave him much later, he would have taken as many degrees as possible, as he did later in life.

Ordinarily, as a military man, one would have expected him to have chosen to be a security consultant on retirement on December 31, 2001 as a Major; rather he elected to read law starting from a diploma before he left the army in 2000. He followed it with a degree in the same discipline in 2008; and before long, he was in the lecture rooms for a masters in law in 2012. He was called to the Bar on November 28, 2013. Not done with studies; even when his businesses and family demanded more of his time, he quickly enrolled for a PhD, and was on course when death came knocking on his doors.

The power of education must have opened new vistas of doing things by him. Is it not so that his activities in later life were more consummate and result oriented? Either way, old age didn’t stopped him from pursuing educating and still impacting positively in the lives of various people.

What perhaps further brought him to limelight was his entrance into politics. The opportunity that presented itself for him to contest came in 2007. It was at that contest to represent Plateau Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly that he proved bookmakers wrong. That feat sent the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Nasiru Ibrahim Mantu packing to be the new occupant in the 6th Senate of 2007-2011.

I recall what my elder brother, Hon Josiah Y Gobum, himself having served in the Federal House of Representatives told him after he had clinched the coveted prize: Unite the people, give them a sense of belonging and the future will be ours.



The expectations of his constituents largely came from what the former occupant had achieved. They reasoned that if there was anything they expected; they wanted a replication of Senator Mantu’s feat while representing his people. Even though he was misunderstood at his entrance point, events later were to prove what he stood for the people.

Whether he succeeded as a senator or not is not in our purview to judge him. History will however, be kind to him on several fronts as a man who showed the seed of goodness in the lives of other people. I am aware of several people who are on record of having been sponsored by him to go to school, run a business. He remained largely under-reported, as there are scores of things done that the world is not aware. He has always considered the man on the street as one to be encouraged and motivated to realize God’s given potential in him.

Since leaving the 6th Senate, he has concentrated his time and energy in running his businesses and building them to where they are now. But the time given to those businesses, he did not take his legs off the pedals of commitment to community work and philanthropy. It was for this reason that he was committed to see a united Ngas people working with other tribes to build a more cohesive Plateau State.

No wonder, even when he had left the senate it was a common place to hear him meeting with groups and individuals. Even if the outcome was not made public, no one has returned to say he met with them to undermine certain interests; they were in the main, targeted at building bridges and maintaining solidarity with those groups and individuals for the good of Plateau.

Senator Satty Davies Gogwim will be buried April 23, 2021 at Dawaki in Kanke LGA after a funeral service at St Christopher’s Anglican Church Mai Adiko Rayfield, Jos. He died on April 4, 2021. He was survived by two wives: Mrs. Margaret Gogwim and Mrs. Eno Gogwim, who between them gave birth to: Nenfort E Gogwim, Bunmi Atafo nee Gogwim, Lawade Gogwim, Belinda Oshofisan nee Gogwim, Vanessa Omoyola nee Gogwim, Nentawe Gogwim, and Melissa Gogwim.

A good man has departed our shores. Those who have been beneficiaries of his benevolence have a responsibility to keep his good memories incandescent. He deserves much more having denied himself severally of what God has blessed him for others’ benefit.