By Godwin Toryuha Agber
On his assumption of office on 29th May, 2023 as the 6th executive governor of Benue State, His Excellency Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia markedly evinced crystal signs of preparedness and readiness to take up the gauntlet. He left no one in doubt of his envisioned mandate for Benue people as he delineated this in his inaugural address: “I want to say to you Benue, I am ready and willing to provide the requisite leadership to take that leap of faith into a future of shared prosperity for Benue. And I WILL NOT FAIL YOU!”
Alia, a well groomed priest of high intellect with ethical praxis of pastoral experience, was well circumstanced for his new role as the number one citizen of the state, taking off from a ludicrous leadership of Dr. Samuel Ortom whose administration was in comatose with unpaid salaries, pensions and a heavy debt of over 187 billion naira. Obviously, Benue people waited with bated breath for their hope to be once again restored. No wonder, his triumphant entry into government house was greeted with so much anxiety and trepidation. This spurred him up as a stimulant to deliver on the promises he made to his good people of Benue State.
He wasted no time at all in doing this. Within few weeks in office, he restored sanity and constitutional rule in governance by reverting wrong appointments that were done at the whirlwind of his predecessor’s administration without due process. As an accountable and a descent administrator, Fr. Alia took time to explain and outline credible reasons for his action and many people of good conscience consented to his decision. This finds credence to his meticulous background as a priest of the most high with a knack for perfection. He demonstrated this uncanny ability once again to turn things around and reposition the civil and public service of the state by paying unscheduled visits to government establishments for a firsthand knowledge of their activities and equally supervising the infrastructural facilities in those areas. The degree of decay he discovered both in service delivery and infrastructural facilities was mind bugging.
In the area of agriculture, Fr. Alia’s government ordered and took delivery of 300 metric tones of fertilizer and delivered them to farmers at subsidized rate of 12,500 instead of 25,000 Naira at market value. It is worthy of note that for the past 8years, that was the first time farmers got fertilizer in due time to apply on their farms.
As a responsive and trustworthy steward, his Excellency demystified the debacle of salary and pension emolument. Unpaid salary and pension arrears were exorcised with prompt alerts hitting the accounts of beneficiaries. He did not stop there, but went further to approve the implementation of new retirement age and length of service for teachers to ensure job security and guarantee maximum output. He equally sanitized the civil service by getting rid of ghost workers thereby rescuing the state from a humongous waste of over one billion naira.
On health care and youth empowerment, the trained medical ethics and a quintessential Rev. Gentleman was the first governor in the country to implement the Revised Medical Training Fund (RMTF) for medical doctors in the state. The revered priest who pastored mostly in rural areas has been through the thick and thins of life. This moved him to empathized with the hardships experienced by youth corps members (NYSC) serving in the state when he personally attended their Passing-out Parade. As a father, he quickly announced an upward review of their state allowance from 5000 to 15, 000 thousand naira monthly.
Foregrounded in a life of asceticism, Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia does not see himself as a politician but as a humble servant called to make a difference in the lives of his subjects and add value to them. He has dynamized this by implementing skills acquisition as a veritable tool for youth empowerment. In this regard, he dutifully approved the training of 10, 000 youths in ICT with a view of equipping them with the latest digital technology in E-commerce, Data analytics, Infographics, Smart Videography and lots more.
In terns of infrastructural development, Dr. Alia has started the reconstruction of the state assembly complex from the roof to the floor. This is to ensure a very convenient atmosphere for legislative activities in the state. Alia has also not disappointed Makurdi residents by flagging off the construction of 16 road networks in the capital within his first 100 days in office.
In order to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy, Dr. Alia has ordered for the procurement of 100 hummer buses for the state owned company, Benue Links to transport passengers at a greatly reduced cost. He has equally extended the palliative largesse to the students sitting for the 2024 WAEC and NECO exams. He has taken responsibility for the registration of the candidates for these exams which will go a long way to relieve parents of this huge burden on their shoulders.
So far, the governor has made good his promise of providing the requisite leadership by taken that leap of faith of shared prosperity as he promised the good people of Benue State at his inauguration. On his recent address on Radio Benue, he reiterated this commitment after enumerating his achievements in 100 days, he appealed for patience and understanding having taken off from ground zero. Let’s pray for his Excellency, we have made no mistake at all in reposing our confidence in him.
Godwin Toryuha Agber, an independent observer writes from Abuja.
