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MARCH 12, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 22

A Late Marriage

**Governor George Akume**

Barely two months to the end of the current administration, President Olusegun Obasanjo visits Benue State, on a fence-mending mission
By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
For the first time in the about eight-year reign of President Olusegun Obasanjo, he has made the Benue State Governor, Dr. George Akume to walk shoulder high. Indeed, the last visit of the President to the state has in no small measure constituted a source of pride to the Benue State Government.
The Source gathered and as announced by the state government on the state radio, the president was to pay a one-day visit to the state. The planned one-day visit would have benefited the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate far more than the state governor, Akume. But the security report to the presidency changed the initial arrangement in favour of a two-day visit.
The security report, The Source learnt, was hinged on the fact that the people of the state would decamp en masse to other political parties. This was because a lot of people were aggrieved following the conduct of the gubernatorial primaries which saw the emergence of Gabriel Suswam as the party’s candidate. The aggrieved top PDP members had threatened to dump the party. Having gotten the information in time, President Obasanjo in a surprise move changed the programme to a two-day visit so as to seat on a round table with the aggrieved party members. This, analysts, said was meant to promise them appointments to enable them fully participate and work for the eventual victory of the PDP in the state.
On the appointed day, the venue of the occasion, IBB Square, was filled to capacity. However, not everybody in attendance believed that President Obasanjo would come, as critics of the government had poisoned most peoples’ minds that the president would not come and that since he was not in love with the state and would at most send a representative, or come only to flag-off the presidential campaign in the state. But by exactly 5.30pm when the party faithfuls were all seemingly tired, President Obasanjo arrived the venue of the ceremony.
Speaking at the occasion, the President told the gathering that he had made the visit a two-day affair and that after the flag-off of the campaigns (presidential), he would meet with some party chieftains and commission projects executed by the state government the following day.
As for the presidential campaigns, President Obasanjo said that by May 29, another person would be putting on his shoes and enjoined the people to dispel the rumour that he (Obasanjo) does not love Benue State, saying, “Those telling you such stories are liars. We have programmes.”
He observed that the people of the state are behind the government in the state and would vote overwhelming for all PDP candidates.
President Obasanjo urged the people to remain in the mainstream of politics, saying, what his administration hates was evil and warned politicians against it.
The president told Benue people that the much desired and awaited 330 KVA line (national grid), would soon be a thing of the past. According to him, a contract had already been awarded to connect Makurdi, the state capital, from Calabar to Jos. The president also said he had given instructions on the Greater Makurdi Water Works and as such work would commence soon. The water project for which the state government has paid its counterpart fund of about N800 million is designed to combat the perennial water problem in the state capital.
The President did not hesitate to commend Governor Akume for the people-oriented projects he had executed. He said the governor had done a wonderful job in the area of education and agriculture, saying “what he has done is wonderful in a state regarded as the food basket of the nation … I have seen something different from what I was told.’’
While presenting the presidential flag-bearer, the National Chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, acknowledged the fact that Benue had remained peaceful and according to him, peace is the secret of progress. He singled out old political war horse, Paul Unongo, as the person who has brought peace to Benue politics. Ali, conversely, did not hesitate to name Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the bad egg in Benue politics. “He was a three-time minister and he failed, three times. He also failed as senate president”, the PDP national chairman said. According to him, until Ayu comes back to beg, his people would remain politically irrelevant.
Addressing the crowd, the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua, revealed that the spirit of the late J. S. Tarka was still alive in the state. Yar’Adura said that he was impressed by the peoples support for President Obasanjo to continue with the great work of the reforms and Yar’Adua opined that PDP would make the country one of the 20 great nations in the world before long. “Nigeria must be great,” he emphasised and urged Benue people to continue with the support of the president’s policies, stressing that he would continue with the good works of Obasanjo.
Also speaking, Wantaregh Unongo, whom the national leadership of the party ascribed as the leader of politics in Benue erased any doubt that there was opposition politics in Benue State. He told party faithfuls that he was the leader of the only strong opposition party, which was the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, but had since dumped it for the good work of the President Obasanjo administration.
Unongo debunked claims by critics of the state government critics that the people of the state did not like President Obasanjo, and vice versa. He told the people that the Federal Government had started addressing the electricity problem of the state and the problem of water was also being addressed. This, according to Unongo, was a show of love for the state by the president. He emphasised also, that those who had left the PDP were thieves and according to him, “President Obasanjo does not like thieves” so they found no place in PDP. Unong assured that Benue was intact for the PDP.
Other speakers included former national chairman of the PDP, Chief Barnabas Gemade, Chief Isaac Shaahu, General Geoffrey Ejiga (rtd.), Chief Abu King Shuluwa and Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd.), who all lauded the administration of President Obasanjo and gave the presidential candidate the assurance that Benue would remain PDP, contending that the victory of all PDP candidates needed no negotiation.
The proud host of the president, Governor Akume who described the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party as a dream team, said they had been doing well in their various states and expressed the hope that they would do more.
Commenting on federal presence in the state, Akume said that President Obasanjo had fulfilled his promises. He also said that everybody in Benue was in PDP. “In Benue, we eat and drink PDP”, the governor said . The PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state, Suswam, ended by reaffirming that Benue people would continue to support the candidature of Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua and the entire candidates of the party.
When the president’s visit entered the second, Governor Akume led him to several projects sites for commissioning and inspection. Projects inspected by the president, which work was nearing completion were the fruit juice factory and Benue State University Teaching Hospital projects. The president also commissioned the Fertilizer Blending Plant, Cassava Processing Factory – both located at the state industrial layout.
The president also commissioned BSU College of Health Sciences, as well as Judges Quarters.
Before commissioning the College of Health Sciences, the state governor had revealed the government’s decision to name the college after Obasanjo, who on his part expressed delight for the projects executed by the Akume-led government in the state.
According to President Obasanjo, the cassava processing and the fertilizer blending plant were important projects for a state like Benue, which is an acclaimed food basket of the nation. These projects, Obasanjo stressed, would also provide employment for the people of the state.
Speaking with journalists after the president had successfully commissioned the projects, the spokesman of the government, Cletus Akwaya, said the visit has put to an end rumours that were going round, as the true position of things has been exposed not just to Benue people but to Nigerians at large. He said that the state government earmarked about 20 projects for commissioning but due to the tight schedule of the president, only a few were commissioned. According to him, President Obasanjo had himself given testimonies that Governor Akume had performed. With the said performance, Akwaya said the critics of the state government had been pushed into a pool of shame.