How Alia is Inspiring a Generation in Benue

Adams Abonu writes about the remarkable feat of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State in a little over a year after assuming duties in the state.

In an unprecedented leap of growth, there’s a new order of things in Benue. It’s an era of excellence and exemplary leadership occasioned by the the assumption of office by Rev. Father Hyacinth Alia as Governor of the food-basket state in May, 2023.

Since coming into office, Governor Alia has introduced a brand that is people-centered and focused on reviving the common patrimony of Benue people. What began as “Yes Father” chants across Benue following his nomination as governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2022 has today transformed into a charismatic movement that is leaving in its wake an inspirational trajectory.

A walk down memory lane in the sociopolitical evolution of Benue would explain why the people have made Governor Alia a rallying point for development.

For a state known for her abundant agricultural potentials and a robust pool of human resources, Benue has been shortchanged adversely by those who governed the state. Farmers had little or no value for their products leading to massive unemployment and a poor economic outlook. Economic activities were in their lowest ebbs as industries and enterprises were comatose and there was never any sincere plans to revive them. Civil servants wallowed in misery as their wages were delayed and they were left to their sad fate, unable to cater for the needs of their families nor their health. It’s a sad situation in Benue that prevailed for over two decades.

Then entered Father Alia, the soft-spoken clergy versed with wisdom and charisma.

Upon assumption to office, Governor Alia immediately set to work in a bid to meet his people’s collective demands for a fairer deal. Plugging out leakages in government’s revenue, the amiable governor started offsetting the backlog of arrears of salaries, pensions and other emoluments of civil servants. A payment mechanism was intimated to see to the prompt payment of salaries and gratuities of retirees within days of retirement from service. This unprecedented feat has been sustained thus far making public servants heave sighs of relief.

In his bid to revive the physical infrastructure of the state, Makurdi, the state capital is today wearing a new and befitting look with rehabilitation of dilapidated township roads, landscaping of the environment and lightening the township with bright lights.

The Highlevel Underpass that is at a near completion stage is a testament to the commitment of Governor Alia to ease transportation within the state capital and remodel its outlook. In addition, similar projects are at various stages of completion in Katsina-Ala, Gboko and Otukpo townships.

Harnessing the great potentials of Benue’s agricultural sector has also received requisite attention from Father Alia. Farming incentives like fertilizers, herbicides and access to agric loans and grants are readily provided for farmers and this has greatly improved the prospects of food security within the state and the entire nation in general. The administration had also procured machines and implements to enhance agricultural productivity. Inadvertently, this effort has the potential to revive the Benue economy and increase prosperity in the nearest future.

When the governor declared that he’d turnaround the industrial outlook of the state, he has shown that he meant every word of it. Today, the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC) is building a world-class refinery in Makurdi with the prospects of employment and business opportunities for the residents of the state. Similar cottage industries are being established to encourage an economic boom. The health sector is accorded needed priority with the equipping of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital and the revival of primary healthcare provisions across the state.

The pro-masses disposition of the Benue governor has seen him revive the transportation sector with the reinvention of Benue Links with a view to lessen the transportation burden of residents. Today, travellers express profound gratitudes for the timely intervention of government as comfort, safety and affordability has become the hallmark of the transport sector.

Governor Alia’s indelible footprints in Benue are a clear pathways to development and Benue people are following after him with their hearts. In a recent “Thank You Tour” that took the governor through the extensive nook and corners of the state, the mammoth crowd that greeted everywhere he stopped indicated a wide acceptance of his sterling leadership. Never before has Benue people being so inspired by their leader since the days of Aper Aku of blessed memories.

On the political front, how Governor Alia is charting a new course by recruiting a pool of leadership anchored by passion and distinction remains an enduring example worthy of emulation. A clear shift is being witnessed; a shift from politics of aggrandizement to politics that puts the people above all other considerations. Understandably, this shift has met some resistance by elements that held the commonwealth of Benue by the jugular.

That the governor has unrelentingly stood on the side of the people is a testament to his strength of character. Today, a due process mechanism has been put in place in Benue that ensures wholesome expenditure of accruing revenues.

In his numerous feats, Governor Alia is inadvertently inspiring a generation of Benue people to give their best in making the state greater for all. As the local government elections to elect leaders at the third tier of government draws closer, a responsibility beckons on those who would eventually emerge as leaders to sustain the development blueprints of Governor Alia.

The healing mass being orchestrated by the governor need to go down to the grassroots to make Benue a state of our collective dreams.

What Governor Alia is doing in Benue, his inspiring leadership and the consensus of Benue people to rally around him has become a model that would stand the test of time. One can only urge the priest not to relent in his noble bids.

-Abonu writes from Makurdi.