The New Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has indeed cleared the doubts of people. He resumed office on May 29, 2023. The governor went ahead to say he is grateful for the trust the people have bestowed and conscious of the sacrifices borne by all of you to make this happen. I am particularly excited at the promise of Hope which our newly minted administration represents. After he resumed office has already done what his predecessors haven’t done in eight years. After a struggle and Big fight between the two ruling parties of Benue state in the last concluded election. Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia was able to pull a whole lot of crowd on election day to vote for him so he could provide good governance in Benue state after the state government had failed its people in recent times. The majority of the people have even given up on the Benue state government because of its lack of negligence from the previous leader. In Time past, indigenes had a gratuity, dilapidated infrastructure, a broken economy, an even more broken civil service, massive unemployment and underemployment, endemic corruption, and malaise. In recent times the attack on people in villages became a case of more concern because of the recent killings which were very brutal leaving many homeless and devasted. This attack has increased the cost of food items in the area because the majority of the people suffering from this attack are farmers. The new Governor has indeed started providing support to the people who lost their homes in this attack, most of these people now stay in IDPS camps located in various zones of the state. The new governor was able to secure support and help from a foreign health organization which has been helping in the supply of food, clothes, and water to the less privileged in the facility. Earlier this month representatives from this organization were present in Benue State to see how the people are surviving and provide extra help where needed. Now is the time for Benue to make that change of direction. Now is the time for the people of Benue to combine the creative imagining of our youths with the wisdom of our sages to regain altitude and soar to higher heights. Benue people are full of hope that a new Benue shall arise from the present morass of stagnation and backwardness and assume her rightful place in the comity of great societies. The hope of Benue lies in the imaginative power of our people and their undying spirit.
The Messiah of Benue is Here
In the completed Nysc orientation camp of Batch B stream one in Benue State Wanunne, he supported the feeding program of this facility for three weeks. He donated the sum of 15 million to the corpers present in the camp at that period and donated castles and bags of rice to ease feeding for the corpers. He visited the camp at the closing date of the camp and pledged to pay corpers serving in the state the sum of Fifteen thousand naira each month, This act was applauded by both staff and corpers present, and it will also help in reducing the large number of corpers redeploying out of the state because of lack of funds not allocated to them. He made sure some properties looted by the previous governor were recovered. Just recently he announced that the state government will be making WAEC and NECO examinations registration free for all approved secondary schools in Benue state for the 2023/2024 academic session, This act has brought a lot of joy and satisfaction to both students and parents.
This will also help improve the education sector in the state, education will now be affordable for everyone. He also promised that civil servants would be paid handsomely and not owe their benefits as when due. In this new administration, condemnation of invasions and killings of Benue people will be matched with actions, and not press releases and the mere words of mouth better than the way the previous administration. Recall the Federal Government has approved five billion naira to each state of the federation to enable them to procure items for distribution to the people to mitigate the harsh effect of fuel subsidy removal. He said the State government will use the funds to achieve the following:
- Provide grants to five thousand women in the state based on the revised social register of women cooperatives.
- Provide intensive computer and ICT training for 2000 youths of the state to enable them to acquire jobs within and outside the state.
- Pay one-month pension arrears to state and local government retirees.
- Provide food items like rice in large quantities to each of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state, amongst other things.
- Purchase one hundred new buses for the state-owned transport company (Benue Links) to provide services to the people of the state at a subsidized rate.
- Provide shuttle buses in the three major towns of Gboko, Makurdi, and Otukpo to ease movement within the towns.
- Register Waec and Neco examinations for graduating students of all government-approved schools.
With these latest developments, Benue people are seeing signs of hope till all these plans are implemented to keep the state in a happy place. Yes, Father!
Written by Aboh Sunday Ugbede
