Benue at 45, from Shelleng to Ortom

February 3, 1976 will remain an enduring milestone in the socio economic and political history of Benue State. It was on that day that Benue State was carved out of the defunct Benue-Plateau State by the then administration of late General Murtala Mohammed. The state aptly derived its name from the second largest river in Nigeria, the River Benue. Since it was created forty- five years ago, Benue state has made significant progress in all spheres of human endeavors. Since then, the state has had 16 governors in all, 11 of them military governors and five civilians, including the incumbent Governor Samuel Ortom.

Colonel Abdullahi Shelleng was appointed the first military governor of the fledgling state from Feb 3, 1976 to July 1978. As the military administrator of a brand new state, Shelleng started off with the construction of residential housing estates, popularly known as GRA for workers. He also established several schools and colleges to serve as breeding ground for the future work force and intelligentsia for the state.

In October 1979, Group Captain Adebayo Lawal took over from Shelleng. The following year Adebayo oversaw a peaceful transition of power from military to civil rule under the leadership of the first democratically elected governor of the state, Appolos Aper Aku, who administered the state until December 1983. It was during the pragmatic leadership of Governor Aku that the state witnessed a flurry of socio economic activities which became the ‘German floor’ for the overall development of Benue State. Governor Aku encouraged mass agricultural production, established Benro Packaging, Benue Bottling Company, Lobi Bank, Ber-Agbum Fish Farm, Ikogen Cattle Ranch, Taraku Vegetable Processing Industry, Benue Hotels, Makurdi, among others. He also established Advance Teachers College Katsina Ala, Oju and Idah.

The democratic dispensation and rapid development ushered in by the purpose-driven Aper Aku’s administration came to an abrupt end with another military intervention in the country in December 1983.

From 1984 to 1992, Benue State came under six different military administrations headed by Brig-General John Atom Kpera, Air Commodore Jonah David Jang, Col, Yohanna Madaki, Major-General Ishaya Bakut, Colonel Idris Garba, and Lt. Colonel Fidelis Makka.

Political commentators agree that the six years of the military interregnum was a period of relative inactivity in terms of rapid and rigorous development witnessed in the days of Aper Aku. However, some of the administrations recoreded flashes of developmental efforts. For instance, Jonah Jang opened up and dualized most of the major roads in the state capital while Fidelis Makka completed the Aper Aku Stadium, built Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) Square, Fidelis Makka , Pauline Makka Women Centre and completed six general hospitals across the state.

The brief tenure of Rev. Father Moses Orshio Adasu saw the establishment of the Benue State University and the return of ATC Oju, earlier shut down by the military, as College of Education. He had been elected governor of the State under a military supervised transition programme of Ibrahim Babangida and transitional interim government of Ernest Shonekan. After Adasu, the state was, again, ruled by three successive military administrators namely; Group Captian Joshua Obademi, Colonel Aminu Isa Kantagora and Brig. General Dominic Oneya before it was handed over to the third democratically elected Governor of the State, George Akume.

It was from Akume’s administration in Benue state that the current uninterrupted democratic journey in Nigeria can be said to have begun. The newly introduced democratic norms, principles, and party culture in the country found their roots in the state during Akume’s time. Akume encouraged, promoted and deepened political consciousness among the people and elevated politics to an art. Many people now began to see politics as a profession or a vocation of some sort. In terms of governance, the highlights of the Akume administration were its welfarist disposition that manifested in its attention to personal financial, health, business and other needs of citizens and the commencement of the construction of Benue State University Teaching Hospital. The health institution was completed and commissioned by his successor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, the fourth executive Governor of the state.

Between 2007 and 2015, Benue State, under the leadership of Suswam, witnessed accelerated infrastructural development, particularly Makurdi township roads and other roads across the length and breadth of the state. He built the Makurdi International Market, a new Governor’s lodge and a new Banquet Hall and renovated and refurnished the state secretariat and other government offices across board. He also built and completed the Greater Makurdi Water works for which his predecessor had laid the foundation, installed street lights in the state capital as well as gave rural electrification a major boost. Because of these facilities, political commentators describe the Suswam administration as transformational.

Governor Ortom, the incumbent governor, is building on the foundation of his predecessors. Unlike his former peers, Ortom assumed leadership of the state on May, 29, 2015 in the face of unprecedented security obstacle. Fulani herdsmen had been attacking the state right from the time of his predecessor, Suswam. The attacks became more persistent after Ortom assumed the mantle of leadership. The Governor moved quickly by introducing the Ranches Establishment and Prohibition of Open Grazing law. The Benue State Livestock Guard was established under the law to monitor, implement and enforce the law. Apart from reducing the incidence of herdsmen attacks drastically in the state, the law has become a model which other states are adopting in trying to tackle similar security challenges.

In addition to securing peace in the state, Governor Ortom also embarked on massive road construction in urban centres, including Makurdi, Otukpo, Gboko and Katsina-Ala, to enhance economic and social activities. He also established new government institutions to deal with some specific challenges being faced by the government and people of the state. These include the Benue State Pensions Commission to solve the persistent problem of payment of pensions, the Benue State Health Insurance Scheme to make health care services accessible and affordable to the people, Benue state Sports Lottery Board to promote sports development and boost government revenue.

In the whole, it can be said that Benue state has witnessed significant development in all spheres of life under 16 governors in the last 45 years. In education, the state which had no tertiary institution at inception now has one private and three government universities, four government-owned Colleges of Education as well as other private COEs, many government private and government-owned polytechnics as well as secondary and primary schools in all nooks and crannies of the state.

In the health sector, the state, with only one General hospital at its creation, now has two tertiary health institutions, namely the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, and the Benue state University Teaching Hospital; a general hospital in each of the 23 local government areas of the state and Primary Healthcare Centres in the remotest communities across the state. Electricity has also been extended to all local government headquarters and numerous rural communities all over the state.

At inception were Makurdi, the state capital; Gboko and Otukpo were were glorified towns. Today these towns, along with others like Katsina-Ala, Vandeikya, Oju, etc, have metamorphosed into sprawling urban centres with both positive and negative features of big cities such as dualized roads, street lights as well as traffic hold-ups and criminality.

In sports and culture, Benue state has excelled and won numerous laurels at national and international events. At the cultural level, Benue State has excelled beyond measure. On December 12 2019, The United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO inscribed the Tiv Kwagh-Hir performance on the representative list of intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is the fifth of Nigeria’s inscription on the UNESCO’s Representative list.

Unfortunately, however, the state has retrogressed in the area of industrialization. Almost all of the manufacturing industries and service companies set up by the first two civilian administrations of Aper Aku and Moses Adasu have collapsed with hardly any new ones established either by government or private investors. Notable one among the collapsed or moribund companies are the Lobi Bank, Benue Breweries, Taraku Oil Mills, Benue Burnt Bricks, Benue Bottling Company, etc. The business environment in the state also seems to be worsening as a lot of private enterprises in the state have been closing shop or struggling to survive. Recently Governor Ortom called on private entrepreneurs to take advantage of the window being created for private/public partnership to resuscitate these collapsed industries.

Similarly, in Benue state, officially tagged the food basket of the nation, the agricultural sector has been incapable of driving the state’s industrialization and socio-economic development generally in spite of provision of incentives, inputs and modern implements by government. Arable farming still remains predominantly at peasantry and subsistence level. To address this problem, the present government has entered into collaboration with Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture to provide loan facilities to farmers who may wish to go into large scale farming.

In spite of the underperformance of these sectors, there can be no doubt that, overall, Benue state has recorded tremendous development in its 45 years of existence. What is debatable, however, is whether the state would have done better or whether the pace of development is commensurate with the resources available to it. It is also arguable whether the level of its development higher or lower than that of its peers or the states created after it.

As Benue state marks its 45th birthday, it is 45 hearty cheers to a state that is still a work-in-progress.

By James Uloko

Special Adviser on Information and Orientation to Governor of Benue State.