Tiv Youth Council Worldwide has urged outgoing governor of Benue State, Dr Samuel Ortom to reflect on his stewardship as he celebrates his 62nd birthday a month to the end of his eight-year tenure and handover to a new government.
The group in a birthday message to the governor signed by its president, Mike Msuaan, said it had severally drawn the attention of the governor to perceived lapses in the course of his tenure hence the need to call for a sober reflection over a few of the issues.
Msuuan said, “On this day of your birth, and remarkably the last days of your eight-year tenure as governor of Benue State, you must reflect on your leadership, stewardship and the legacies.
“Recall Your Excellency that on several occasions, we have had no option but to publicly draw your attention to your dismal performance which has stagnated the state over these years. We had in our patriotism listed several areas of leadership deficit during your tenure. With a few days to hand over to a new government, it is pertinent to ponder over a few things,” the group said.
It expressed pain that eight years of Ortom’s administration had gone down the drain without any symbolic achievement and argued that the governor’s defeat in the February 25, 2023 Benue North senatorial poll spoke volume of the people’s resentment to his stewardship while at the helm in the state.
“This is a clear indication that the Benue people did not see you in such borrowed robes and the moment an opportunity cropped up, they rejected you. The celebration that has greeted the victory of the APC in the state is a clear testimony. Benue people feel they have been set free from king Pharaoh and Egypt,” it noted.
The youth group also faulted the claim by the outgoing governor that the recurring farmers/herders’ clashes was responsible for his inability to deliver democracy dividends in the state.
The group remarked that such excuses could not hold water since his peers in Borno and Kaduna States that suffered consistent and devastating terrorists’ attacks were able to commission plenty of legacy projects.
“How many federal projects have you attracted to the state? Not even one Your Excellency. The numerous federal projects in the state are as a result of Mr President’s magnanimous disposition and the efforts of the minister of special duties and intergovernmental affairs, Senator George Akume.
“The Benue people rejected and revolted against you solely. Never in the history of the state has such ever happened. Your predecessor, Senator Suswam did not suffer such rejection.
“The margin of win between the winner and candidate of the APC, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Iormem Alia and your allegedly imposed candidate, Hon. Titus Uba, is such that has never been witnessed in the past. This was possible because the people felt they were voting against you.
“Just when one thought you will begin a remorseful self-examination and begin to seek forgiveness, you introduced a pension bill for yourself aimed at paying you huge sums of money and other benefits.
“But you have treated pensioners with disdain. Protests by pensioners whose only crime is to have served the state meritoriously and to have you as governor within these years has become almost a daily occurrence in the state. Workers are worse off. The civil service has been annihilated under your watch.
“Your government has no life, it could best be likened to a rocking chair, making all the noise without any significant movement. Not even a single problem that you met or that cropped up under your tenure has been solved.
“Very disturbing is the number of people in IDP camps. You will be leaving more people in IDP camps than any administration before you. There have been no concerted efforts from you to rehabilitate, resettle and return these people to their ancestral land,” Msuuan said.
