By Comrade Acha John
On this faithful morning I woke up to a beautiful day filled with hope and promise just to surf the net and find malicious, irrational, unguarded and misleading articles about the Ortorm/Abounu administration on well read and respected social media platforms.I was moved to write this article not because I am sympathetic to the administration but by the wanton betrayal of our people towards their leaders.
My attention was particularly drawn to comments made by well meaning indigenes of our great state to the well merited award given to his Excellency the Executive governor of our great state for their astute leadership qualities and efforts made towards infrastructural development, human capacity development and economic diversification.
Benue indigenes must understand that the country as a whole is going through hard times as we are witnessing global economic recession coupled with the activities of the Niger delta militants, allocations gotten from the federal government have reduced drastically, beside the cost of crude now in the international market is nothing to write home about. Our internal generated revenue is not enough to move the state forward and this is due to the insensitivity of the previous governments and their lack of foresight to invest in agriculture and mining.
Instead of pointing fingers to this governments for problems they came on board to meet and are fighting hard to resolve, we should all be asking our selves
What happened to our savings as a state?
How comes the Ortom Abounu administration came on board and met a depleted treasury?
What happened to our potential as a giant agrarian state?
What happened to reforms in BIRS under 16 years of PDP manifesto?
How comes 16 years under the PDP manifesto, this state did not witness a single state of the art factory, hospital, industry, light or even provision common water for her people?
Instead the few factories and industries owned by the state were privatized and sold under suspicious deals that have further impoverished our people. My people I know times are hard but its is all over the country and not just Benue state, we are going through a face, a recession and now is the time to join hands with the Ortom/Abounu government, these leaders are rear breed of leaders who are God fearing, industrious, and innovative. It is no fault of theirs that teachers, civil servants and pensioners are been owed salaries, and this can be attested to the fact that immediately the allocations from the federal government improved, this government ordered the payment of two months areas been owed by the state government and on live radio our governor promised to pay off the rest as soon as the financial situation of the state improves.
We have to stop this unnecessary slander and barter on the image of this administration and join hands in fighting corruption, crime and right the wrongs of our past leaders. Are we that blind to see the schools, roads and other infrastructure been embarked upon by this administration? or the giant strides taken by this administration to attract agricultural and mining investors from Ukraine, China, and India just to mention a few to our great state? People in otukpo and kastina Ala axis don’t u now enjoy uninterrupted supply of water after so many years? Don’t we now enjoy power supply in the state? The Fulani/herdsmen issue you all use to crucify this upright administration is not a solely Benue affair, its a national issue that needs National attention, but yet this administration has shown great zeal in tackling the issue constitutionally the best way they can within their constitutional powers. We must appreciate the efforts made by this sincere government and thus encourage them to do more. We must stop pointing accusing fingers at our leaders and join hands in moving the state forward.
At this junction I dare to say “he without a sin to cast the first stone” we keep complaining and insulting instead of providing innovative solutions to our problems.. There are many great Benue sons who can bring in investors and partner with the government but have they done that? We always want the government to do something for us but I ask u all today what have you done on your own to help government develop the state how many of us pay our taxes? The government has duties towards its citizens and the citizens owe duties to the state and government too, it not all about what the state can do for you, but what you as an individual or group can do for your government and state.
Our problems as a nation and state has always been bad and visionless leaders, thank God almighty we now have straight forward leaders at the helm of affairs, with the mission of staring the ship of Benue state from troubled water and looming state failure caused by 16 years of mind bulging corrupt and visionless leaders.
We now have great leaders with astute leadership qualities and proven track record of excellence in the persons of His Excellency Dr Ortorm and His Excellency Engr Benson Abounu who are God fearing, courageous, innovation and sincere in their every dealings.
We have to be patient and join hands in building a future for our children’s children to come. We must sacrifice to make Benue a better and safer place to stay instead of playing blame games and pointing accusing to a government who have shown unequivocal dedication in moving our great state forward. Nothing good comes easy. Sorrow and weeping may come in the night but rejoice for joy cometh in the morning.
God bless our great leaders of Benue state, God bless Benue state, god bless Nigeria and God bless the black race…. Amen
Culled From - benue.com.ng
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