The Governor of Benue State, Hyancinth Alia, has said he inherited a state capital that was in “total darkness” from his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, of the People’s Democratic party.
Alia stated this while addressing journalists at the Federal High Court, Abuja during its annual legal ceremony/conference.
“The capital city of Markudi was in total darkness, but it’s being transformed, and we have lightened up the city, so these are some of the strides we continue to make,” Alia said explaining that when he came in, his administration sent in some incentives to the very first group of National Youths Service Corp(NYSC) members in Benue, for the purpose of retaining them.
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“We started with the medical doctors, pumped up their incentives, so they can stay and not move to another place.
“We began with them and we now have a good pull of all Corp members seeking to come to Benue and this is the Benue of our dreams. So. There’s this incentive for them to have a feel of the very hospitable state of Nigeria so that they can have a good experience at the end of the day, even to come back and work in the state. So proud of what we have done so far,” Alia said.
Alia said irrespective of stiff opposition by politicians, the Benue people gave him hundred percent support “and since we came in, we are trying to do all it takes for them to continue to have a smile on their faces.”
The governor said, “Benue is a hub for agriculture, and within the last five months, we have tried to ensure that people get back to the farms and expect a lot of fruitful yields while we support them with farm inputs and I’m happy they were quite glad receiving all these.
“Even in the civil service, it almost collapsed, but its all coming back to life, because we have put in all the machineries and retraining in place to make it work again.”
He added that his government has started doing roads and so far it has constructed roads within the township of the city, about 15, 16 roads, with some nearing completion already.
“We are going to do more; once we are done within the limit of the city then we go all out there to the rural places. So we’re not going to stop at any point at all.
“Just barely two weeks ago, we bought and supplied 100 buses to cushion transportation, particularly this peak season of Christmas and going forward, so we continue to do this,” Alia said.
In education, he promised to take care of the final year students at the secondary school.
The governor added that he was proud of the Chief Judge of the FHC, Justice John Tsoho, describing him as “a worthy son of Benue, so we just came give him the support, to congratulate him and the system and to thank him for the work he’s been doing and the work the system is doing to keep Nigeria moving and to keep all of us happy.”
Regarding his victory at the Tribunal and Appeal Court, Alia said the judiciary is a special unit that has a specific mission to ensure that the law is maintained in society.