Former Benue State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Hon. Michael Oglegba, has said the state is ?counting the cost of change? under the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

In a statement titled ?Benue ? The Cost of Change?, Oglegba assessed the government?s performance since its inauguration on May 29, 2023, outlining the challenges it met on assumption of office and some of the measures taken to address them.

According to him, when Governor Alia took over, civil servants were owed between 12 and 24 months? salaries, pensioners were owed 48 months, and enrolment in public primary schools had declined to about 19,000 pupils.

He added that the state ranked among the poorest in key development indicators, while insecurity, poor infrastructure, and depleted finances further worsened the situation.

According to the statement, ?Time really flies. It?s now over two years since Rev. Fr. Alia took over the leadership of Benue State. It?s not uncommon to hear people ask why there seems to be a confluence of the secular and the sacred in Benue. The state is deeply religious, with adherents split between the Catholic Church and other denominations. When in trouble, the people of Benue seek the sacred to solve regular problems, hence the emergence of Fr. Moses Adasu as governor, and now Fr. Alia.

?On May 29, 2023, Benue had reached an all-time low. Civil servants were owed between 12 to 24 months? salaries, pensioners 48 months. Children had abandoned public primary schools, with records showing only 19,000 pupils in attendance. When states were rated, Benue was the poorest on most major indices of development: capital expenditure, public infrastructure, fiscal responsibility, debt sustainability ratio, IGR growth, unemployment, child/maternal mortality, etc.

?Benue, the food basket of the nation, was bleeding from incessant killings and a failure of governance at all levels. Insecurity was central to this abysmal performance of our dear state. On average, about 90% of government releases were for recurrent expenditure. The result was a discouraged population, a state littered with IDP camps, and widespread poverty. When Fr. Alia took office on May 29, 2023, three days after the federal allocation was received in the state, he met an empty treasury.

?The above paints the picture of the situation the Fr. Alia administration had to contend with from day one. He had campaigned on the promise of settling salary arrears, bringing accountability and good governance back, and prioritizing agriculture and infrastructure.

?Fr. Alia has paid 10 months? arrears for salaries and 12 for pensioners. More than 30 new roads have been constructed in Makurdi town, and over 300 km are under construction all over the state. The minimum wage in Benue is among the highest in the country, and the state secretariat as well as other offices have been renovated.

?The teaching hospital is gradually becoming the reference hospital for the region, while general hospitals are being renovated and doctors recruited through the newly introduced students? bond scheme. Thousands of primary school teachers were recently recruited, and the new University of Agriculture, Ihugh, has taken off. Boards have been constituted for all other tertiary institutions.

?The underpass in Makurdi, as well as Gboko, will soon be commissioned, while construction on Otukpo will soon begin. The roads under construction in Zone C total 130 km. Otukpo Water Works will pump water for the first time in years this week after exhaustive maintenance and reticulation to the streets.

?The 50% subsidy on fertilizer and all agricultural inputs has greatly improved output and created much-needed jobs, even as BIPC has been repositioned to invest heavily in cottage industries and other investment opportunities. It is heartwarming to know that the new brewery will be operational in the coming weeks. The governor created BENIPA, a one-stop shop for investors, and implemented several strategies to improve the ease of doing business.

?Save for the recent uptick in insecurity, the mayhem had comparatively reduced. The use of kinetic and non-kinetic measures to tackle insecurity, as is currently being implemented, will definitely provide further answers to this hydra-headed problem.

?Change comes at a cost, especially when it?s wholesome and widespread. Rev. Fr. Alia is committed to change, which invariably means beneficiaries of the old order won?t be happy. The good news is that the common man will experience governance, and wealth will become common to all. This is democracy at work.? (Daily Sun)

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