The umbrella body of the Benue Diaspora, community for good governance and development has admonished Benue people to critically evaluate the character, determination and working documents of candidates vying for the position of the governor of Benue State, with a view to identifying the best for the position of Governor, as the Saturday 18th, March, 2023 draws near.
The Convener of the coalition of all Diasporan, groups, Comrade Atule Emmanuel and secretary Hon. Emmanuel Tarhembe stated this in a press conference held in Kaduna after a quarterly meeting of the coalition of Benue Diasporan coalition groups for good governance and development.
The Coalition is a Diasporan initiative aimed at harnessing views, policies and development agenda of other states and countries and fine tuning same to suit the situation in Benue State. It aims to attract development to the state via collaboration with other states, agencies and development bodies. It’s main focus is to develop the state.
Comrade Atule, speaking on behalf of the 27 Benue Diasporan groups charged the Benue electorates to take the Saturday elections a great opportunity to elect someone with the courage and burning desire to lead the state to prosperity.
According to Comrade Atule, over the years, Benue State has faced a litany of insurmountable challenges, ranging from insecurity, lack of development, disconnection from the federal, and more worrisome, quality of leadership.
The present administration in the state has failed woefully to bring any meaningful development to the state. The inability of the government to attract industrialization to the state over these years is disturbing. A critical look at all the lofty promises made by this administration will show that non has come to fruition. Promises such as resuscitation of Taraku mills, Igumule Cement company, Cargo Airport and many others, have remained unfulfilled. The government has signed millions of MOU’s and surprisingly not even one has materialized. Surprisingly, the site for the the cargo airport has become a Mega IDP camp.
Comrade Atule stated that, the glaring failure of the government of the day to pay pensioners and wages of workers has caused untold hardship in the state. The only industry in the state is the civil service. This inability to pay workers and pensioners is killing the engine room of government.
The debt profile of the state has continued to surge without any commensurate development to show for such high debts. Budget support initiatives of the Federal government, in addition to bailout that was received have all come and gone leaving the state in a deplorable condition.
The gubernatorial election, therefore puts a burden on all Benue indigenes, especially lovers of development to resist any attempt to foist a leadership that will not serve the interest of the state.
Continuing, Comrade Atule said very disturbing is the inability of the government of the day to work for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the Benue people in IDP camps. We expect, a determined government to work with federal agencies to provide relief and return the people to their ancestral homes. The people are living in pitiable and unbearable conditions in these IDP camps.
The Diasporan coalition, is convinced, having extensively analysed the working documents of all the gubernatorial candidates in the state and considered, their background and strength of character, resolved to mobilize support for the candidature of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia. A catholic priest, whose calling has enabled him to work in rural areas and understand, first hand, the suffering and challenges of the common Benue man. He is not the usual politician, who will play politics at the expense of development. He will be guided by his calling as a priest of the mother church.
From the ongoing, the Benue Diasporan groups for good governance and development after a painstaking consideration of the failure of government over these years and analyzed the people vying for the position of Governor, the Diasporan groups call for the people of Benue State to vote massively for Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia for Governor in the March 18th, 2023 Gubernatorial election.
Benue Diasporan Coalition for good Governance and Development had last year mobilized her members across the country to transfer their voters card and voting units back to Benue State to enable them participate in the process of voting in credible leaders for the state.
