The inauguration of His Excellency Governor Samuel Ioraernyi Ortom as the 5th democratically elected governor of Benue State on May 29th 2015 heralded a new dimension to the politics of Benue State. It was the first time the opposition party would defeat the incumbent.
Indeed, the Benue people had high hopes that they had installed a government that will serve them, judging from the campaign promises and the failure of the previous government to meet the yearnings of the Benue masses. It was light at the end of the tunnel.
Governor Samuel Ortom had quite a tall resume. A former chairman of Guma Local government area of Benue State, secretary of the People’s Democratic Party in Benue State. He was later made the National Auditor of the PDP. President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him the Minister of State, Trade and Investment and later supervising minister of Aviation. He had a stint as an executive, party administrator, private sector and cabinet member of the highest decision making body in the country; the Federal Executive Council.
The people expected the Ortom led administration to swiftly swing into action and unveil definite and, immediate, short and long term plans to place Benue on the path of prosperity and development. Having surmounted all odds to move from a Coca Cola truck driver to become a member of FEC. The people felt Ortom had sufficient preparation and experience.
With few months to the end of the tenure of Governor Ortom, a reflection over his stewardship makes the Benue people wish to have remained in Egypt than the paradise Ortom promised them during campaigns and the early days of his government. The people look down memory lane to see a fleet of unfulfilled promises, suffering, hunger, hardship and total lack of development.
The Benue people have been more patient with Governor Samuel Ortom than any other governor in the history of the state. The first civilian governor of the state, Late Apollos Aku was heavily criticized irrespective of his development strides, which of course are celebrated today. Senator George Akume who took over at the return to democratic rule in 1999 faced serious opposition from the likes of chieftain of the then All Peoples Party (APP), Wantaregh Paul Unongo, Sen. Daniel Saror, Chief SJI Akure, Hon. Nanevwua Uhondo, etc. Governor Gabriel Suswam, as he then was faced same, as a matter of fact, many people still believe that Prof. Steve Torkuma Ugbah defeated him during his reelection bid. This has not been so with Governor Ortom. The opposition is not strong, maybe because he won as an opposition candidate before later decamping to PDP in the state.
It is therefore difficult to sufficiently place the reason for Ortom’s glaring inability to attack the development of the state headlong other than to place it at the door steps of incompetence and lack of initiative.
At the inception of his administration, the governor gave reasons ranging from recession, leading to paucity of funds which the country went into as reason for his nonperformance. In another turn, the governor listed the looting of the state treasury by his predecessor as reason. To show his disdain for corruption, the governor set up a Judicial panel of inquiry headed to investigate the monies that accrued to the state during the tenure of Gabriel Suswam. The panel established that a whopping amount of N107 billion was looted and recommended a further investigation of another N44 billion. At some points, Governor Ortom was quoted to have said, if he got N60 billion out of the monies looted by the previous administration he will turn Benue State into a Dubai, UAE.
Development continued to elude Benue State with the governor dishing out flimsy more excuses ranging from evil spirits to the over bearing attitude of his god father etc. Pensions and salaries of workers continued to pile up without any solution to it. Recall that during one of his campaigns, the governor could not contain his tears over the plight of workers and pensioners in the state. He profusely cried in the church before a stunned congregation. Sights of old pensioners protesting several months of unpaid pension allowances have become normal in Benue State under Governor Samuel Ortom. In fact, under his government pensioners besieged the gate of government house and slept outside for about two weeks to demand for payment of their pension allowances.
The governor traveled to several countries such as China, the United States of America, Brazil, etc ostensibly to attract foreign investors to the state. This has not yielded any result. The many MOU’S signed by the Governor in many countries and with many companies have never materialized. Not even a single one. International organizations and Development bodies that hitherto operated in the state have packed out of Benue State for the inability of government to pay counterpart funds.
Agriculture which Benue State has comparative advantage in has not fared any better under Governor Samuel Ortom. Apart from declaring Fridays as work free days for civil servants to go to farms, there has been no deliberate attempt to boost food production. Agricultural inputs like fertilizer, improved seedlings and herbicides barely get to farmers in the state. No mechanized Agriculture, no processing facilities. The unfortunate security challenges occasioned by the herders and farmers clash has always been a veil for the governor. Every interrogation of the governor’s development strides always ends at security challenges being the reason for his failure to work.
Since inception of the Ortom administration, not even a cottage industry has been built in the state. No moribund industry has been brought back to life in the state. But during his campaign, the governor made the Benue people believe that as a former minister of state for Trade and Investment, he would build many industries in the state and open up the state for many more investors to build industries in the state. Part of his strong campaign message was to move Benue State away from a grossly civil service state to an industrialized state.
The infrastructural drive of the Ortom administration is without life. Many of the roads the governor initiated during his first tenure with a completion span of 24 months have not been completed up till now. The few kilometers of roads constructed so far have become death traps or dilapidated and pot hole ridden. The quality does not reflect what is obtainable elsewhere and does not befit a cosmopolitan state like Benue. It excited Benue people that Governor Ortom would build a Cargo airport that would expose the state to a lot of investments. The excitement increased when the Federal government granted the yam market in Zaki-Biam an international status. This cargo airport would have made it easy for Benue yams to be sold in the international market. With the failure of the Cargo airport project, the governor promised to build an international airport on the land and even included it in the budget. This has remained a mirage as well.
Many people see Governor Samuel Ortom as merely speaking out against insecurity in the country. All governors before him have set up special security out feats like, Operation ‘Zenda’ under his predecessor. Ortom has not done this. One expects the governor to build a strong synergy with neighboring states of Nassarawa, Kogi and Taraba who face almost the same security threats like Benue to fight criminals traversing these states into his state.
It is difficult to point at the administration’s areas of strength. An air of uncommon hardship pervades the state. With the only industry in the state; the civil service emasculated by the government via non payment of salaries in addition to nonpayment of pension allowances, life is indeed very difficult for Benue people. At a point, it was the social investment program of the Federal government that seemingly held the economy of the state.
Governor Ortom has fought many political battles, at inception he fought a fierce political battle with his predecessor Sen. Suswam. His god father and benefactor Sen. Akume was not spared when he fell out with him in 2018.
At the moment, a cold war exists between the governor and the national chairman of the PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu with the governor tagging the national leadership of his party as being incompetent to manage the affairs of the party.
The governor appear to be leading his people to an unclear political journey. Having refused to work for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of his party, the PDP, the governor has clandestinely declared his support for the candidate of labor party, Mr. Peter Obi. Many political pundits view this as lack of tact.
For the Benue people, it is time to take stock and reflect on the administration of Governor Ortom as his days in office gradually wind down. It is a time to look at the campaign promises and the level of fulfillment. Posterity will look for the many industries he promised to build, how well workers and pensioners have fared under him and how much development he has brought to the state. Most importantly, where he has placed the Tiv people in particular and Benue at large on the country’s political space?
– Hon. Msuaan, a public affairs commentator writes from Makurdi.
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