Politics is indeed a business for politicians, and to expect any type of morality is foolishness. Those who are into this business have compromised their characters and morality. They say whatever they have to say to convince the people and continue with their business.
It was so surprising listening to the former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom tried to pin narratives to his advantage on Agate Radio despite the severity of his poor performance as Governor of the state. Anyways, we have people who do not value honesty, therefore, they do not set standard of always telling the truth.
LLlMaybe Chief Ortom believes that Benue people lack common sense, they do not have good judgment, and they are not intelligent, that’s why he feels they have forgotten what happened during his time of leadership.However, there is nothing so displeasing than listening to someone who abused the power entrusted to him, undermined public trust, and hindered good governance for eight years.
To begin with, it is not right to say Governor Alia has ignored the Anti-Open Grazing law and prayers should be offered for him to understand the consequences.
Governor Alia did not ignore the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. He upheld it and strengthened it. It is in reaffirmation of his administration’s untiring dedication to strengthening the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law (2017) that Governor Alia urged the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to champion National legislative reforms that promote ranching over open grazing.
The law is fully in place in Benue State, however, there is no need militarizing it when neighbouring states are practicing open grazing allowing cattle to pass through to Benue. The Ortom led administration which claimed to have enforced the implementation of Anti-Open Grazing law failed to create any lasting security framework beyond press statements and mere propaganda. They handed insecurity and IDPs to Governor Alia.
Secondly, why did Ortom hand over ONLY five months of salary arrears to Governor Alia? Referring to five months of willfully subjecting Benue workers to hardships as “only” is a clear show of insensitivity and disregard to the problem of those who voted him into power. Five months of unpaid salaries implies a failure to meet one’s obligation, it implies a losing streak and a consistent poor play, there is no justification for that.
If there was a time in the history of Benue State when civil servants experienced financial insecurity, it was during Ortom’s administration. The eight years of his reign was the time civil servants experienced difficulty paying their bills and meeting other basic financial needs.
Ortom is expected to apologize to Benue people for abusing the power they gave him. He is also expected to thank Governor Alia for allowing him to move freely in spite of the lack of accountability that characterized his time of leadership. He needs to hide somewhere and contend with the reproach and shame that trialed his administration.
We have leaders who offer solutions to the challenges facing their areas, who bring forward policies, and implement them, to improve the lives of others. We also have leaders who offer excuses for the challenges their people face, who avoid ideas and instead blame others for problems they have either not solved or have created themselves. Ortom is simply a perfect fit in the latter.
There was no justification for owing workers salaries because there was enough money to take care of that.
Here is a quotation from Sahara Reporters of January 26, 2022 to buttress this submission. “This is the president who has at various times lent money to the states in excess of N1.682 trillion, and Benue, Mr Ortom’s State did not miss out on all occasions. Salary Bailout, Excess Crude Loan and Budget Support Loan. A few states declined to take one or two. Mr. Ortom, an office holder who collected on all occasions currently holds the country’s longest record of unpaid salaries and pensions”. That was the former President’s spokesperson referring to Chief Samuel Ortom. From that quotation, Ortom had no reason whatsoever to owe workers salaries for five months as he claimed.
Ortom blamed his predecessor for creating the arrears and further added up more salary and pension debts on top of those bequeathed to him, on the other hand, Governor Alia has proved that he is better by paying the salary and pension debts created by his predecessor.
Thirdly, why did he not mention the number of months he handed over pension arrears to Governor Alia. Does it mean that retired Benue workers were not considered? He should have also stated it on Agate Radio that he handed over 72 months (6 years) of pension arrears owed retired Local Government workers in the state to Governor Alia.
Additionally, the claim that he rejected 35 billion offered to him to repeal Anti-Open Grazing law in Benue State will only be considered when Ortom mentioned those who offered him such money. As far as the names of those who made this huge offer to our former Governor are not mentioned, we will consider this narrative as another great attempt at face-saving.
The SGF is a father-figure in Benue politics, no doubt about that. What is ridiculous is that why acknowledged him now after a long fell-out characterized by strong accusations of benefiting from the Fulani attacks on Benue State and stealing Benue money. Governor Alia will always accord the SGF maximum respect. That’s why newspapers have not quoted Alia of saying any negative thing against the SGF and there has never been any recorded phone call to that effect, unlike the previous administration.
Finally, PDP will win elections in Benue, but that will only happen in the imagination of a few people who seem to believe that Benue people are not wise. If you think PDP will win elections in Benue State, why not ‘test the ground’ by contesting so that your track records will speak for you?
In conclusion, Benue people are wise now and they cannot be fooled by dishonest politicians.We also have to set standards in our lives . Standards that will help us understand what is important to us and what we are willing to accept or tolerate. Let us live in alignment with our values and goals. It is by doing so that dishonest politicians will not be using us to their advantage. Let us support Governor Alia who mean well for the state and is practically doing everything possible to transform Benue State and make it a better place.
