Benue State at Forty Six

Forty six years ago, 3rd February, 1976 to be precise, Benue State was created. It was carved out of the then Benue Plateau State by the short-lived General Murtala Muhammed military administration.

Forty six years down the line, Benue, like every other state in the country, has a rich history to share about its creation, development, prospects and challenges. 

Like the fable about the five blind men who touched an elephant and gave different descriptions based on where they touched, the story of Benue State at forty six can be told from different perspectives.

However, there should be a consensus on the fact that the state has not remained static since its creation. 

For instance, the composition of the state at creation is no longer the same today with the exit of the Igala component which was carved out to form part of Kogi State in 1991.

Having been governed by eleven military Administrators and five civilian governors, it is also a fact that the state has recorded many landmark achievements in all sectors of the economy, though some may argue that it could have fared better. 

Over time, many communities have been opened up through the construction of major and feeder roads, many towns and villages now enjoy electricity and potable water, public and private hospitals as well as public primary schools can now be found in all the nooks and crannies of the state. 

Post primary and higher institutions keep springing up across the state while enrolment in schools is on the increase and graduates are being churned out in great number. 

The Benue State University, Joseph Sawuan Tarka University, University of Mkar, Federal University of Health Sciences, and the many Colleges of Education and Polytechnics are some of the visible landmarks of the state’s progress in the education sector since creation. 

The Aper Aku Stadium, State Secretariat, Modern Market, International Market, IBB Square, JS Tarka Foundation, Aminu Isah Kontagora Arts Theatre Complex, the Government House edifices, all in Makurdi, are further testaments of the progress the state has made so far. 

There was also a time when Benue as a state, boasted of industries such as Taraku Mills, Otukpo Burnt bricks, Benco Roof Tiles as well as tourist sites such as the Ikyogen and Raav Cattle Ranches, Ikwe Wildlife Park, Ber’Agbum and Akata Fishing sites.

The point of emphasis is that the various Chief Executive Officers of the state left varying imprints on the development map of the state as dictated by their development vision and resources available to them. 

The incumbent administration needs special mention of course because it is under it that the state is marking the forty sixth anniversary of its creation. 

Since assumption of office in May 2015, Governor Samuel Ortom can be said to have made outstanding strides in the development of the state especially given the myriad of challenges his administration has faced from the onset. 

In the area of roads construction for instance, the Ortom Administration has achieved a lot. It completed work on road projects started by the Suswam administration such as the ZakiBiam-Afia-Gbeji road, Taraku-Naka-Agagbe road, Otukpo-Utonkon-Igumale road, Oju-Obussa-Utonkon road and the Oshigbudu-Obagaji road. 

Thereafter, the administration embarked on the construction of new roads such as the Daudu-Gbajimba; Abuku-Ortese-Jingir-Tyogbenda Wombo; OtukpoIcho-Odudaje-Aondona; Origbo-Imande-Akpur-Gbajimba; Makurdi (NASME)-Yogbo-Udei Branch; Ikov-Utange-Mbagwaza-Mbagba-LsselMhiitom; Obagaji-Okokolo-Abian-Agagbe; and the Tor Donga-Zaki Biam-Terwase-Tiza-Shila roads. 

Others are the Terwase Agbadu-Yaikyo-Apir road; Customary Court-George Akume road now known as Senator Gabriel Suswam Road; Atoato Girgi Street and Gordon Esa Street, all in Makurdi, as well as the Aper Aku; Isaac Shaahu and Martin Dent Roads in Gboko, and the Armstrong and Commercial Roads in Otukpo. 

In the education sector, the administration has executed over a thousand projects in the primary education sector in the state and upgraded several secondary schools.

The Ortom administration ensured that the students of Medicine studying at the Benue State University College of Health Sciences who had stagnated for years on account of non-accreditation, graduated, as part of a deliberate policy to beef up the health delivery process. 

In the same manner, the Administration ensured that the Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Makurdi which had long lost their accreditation, got it back and recommenced the training of nurses and midwives, while structures at the schools were reconstructed and refurbished. 

Insecurity occasioned by incessant attacks on the state by herdsmen militia has been one of the factors that posed a very serious challenge to developmental efforts over the years. 

The Ortom administration proffered a bold solution to this problem with the enactment of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law which represents win-win legislation for all parties. This law has not only been applauded by individuals, groups and governments who are committed to peace but has also been adopted by other states facing similar attacks. 

In Agriculture, the Administration has encouraged the people of the state to go into farming, no matter the scale, so that they could feed themselves and their families with the produce of their farms. The declaration of particular days free for civil servants to farm, the sustained encouragement of Benue farmers to key into the Anchor Borrowers Programme and other credit facilities floated by the federal government to advance their farming and enhance their livelihood, are ready examples of how the administration has been promoting agriculture. 

Over time, the Administration has made fertiliser and other farm inputs available to farmers in the state at subsidized rates while tractors have been purchased and made available to the people also at subsidized rates. 

However, arguments that the state, at forty-six, should have developed much more than where it is, is understandable and we appeal to all stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, who have been blessed with the capacity to add value to the development of the state, to do so. 

We are encouraged that the state government is determined to intensify its efforts at taking Benue to glory land. We therefore equally call for the copious support of all indigenes and residents of the state to be part of its development for the benefit of all. 

Happy forty-sixth anniversary, Benue. 

Ogbole is the Director of News, Radio Benue