INTERVIEW: Good leadership can improve the livelihood of Benue people – P.L.O Lumumba

By Michael Nicholas-Mandla

Patrice Loch Otiano Lumumba, former Director at Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and former Director Kenya Law School, has said that visionary leadership is necessary to improving the livelihood of Benue indigenes and spurring economic development in the middle-belt state, as well as across African states.

The law professor made this known in a meeting with Michael Nicholas Mandla, Pan-African writer/columnist, at the Southern Sun, Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday, when the East African lawyer visited Nigeria.

At the meeting Nicholas-Mandla lamented the high incidence of poverty in Benue. The Pan-African writer pointed that many schools in rural Benue are currently in a dilapidated state and students receive lectures in the open-under the sun and in the rain. Nicholas-Mandla warned this anomaly would reinforce the cycle of poverty.

Cultism was another problem affecting the state. More recently, there have been increased activities of cultists in Benue,” according to Nicholas-Mandla. The major route from Makurdi to Enugu, between Otukpo and Enugu round-about has been infested by criminal element. Nicholas-Mandla links the rise of cultism to poverty at the grassroots.

“The issue is bad governance which we have seen over the years across Africa states,” Lumumba said.

Encouraging Nicholas-Mandla and other young Nigerians who are passionate about youth reform and development of the country, Lumumba assured that the future is promising for Nigeria and Africa.

“I would implore you to keep working hard and never give up on this issue,” Lumumba said.