Blame the Tiv people for lack of development in Benue State

There is lack of development everywhere in the country but the situation in Benue State is more rotten and the Tiv people in the state should be blamed in view of the fact that they have been governing the state since its creation in 1976.

It is true that the past military governments also held sway in the administration of the state and therefore share part of the blame, but I must confess that the period of military rule was even better for the state than the so-called democracy, which has been in the hand of a team of robbers.

Let me exclude the late Governor Aper Aku and Rev. Father Moses Adasu from the list because during their tenures as governors of the state, they delivered the dividends of democracy to the people of the state and their legacies are sustaining the state now.

Sadly, the set of Tiv people now produced as leaders for the state have nothing reasonable to offer. They are only good at embezzling public funds meant for the development of the state, they lack leadership skills; they are incompetent and simply scammers.

Benue State produces the highest quantity of fruits with the best quality in the country but has no factory that converts the abundant fruit harvest into juice. The availability of the abundance fruits should have been seen as a business opportunity and equally, as an avenue to create jobs for the unemployed youths but the leaders in the state have a major problem when it comes to proper thinking, better initiative and execution of things that can bring development to the state.

More saddening is the fact that the Tiv that have been ruling the state for years as if it is their birth right cannot also boast of any meaningful development in their areas. Leadership should change hands in Benue or the state would one day go into extinction.

• Awunah Pius Terwase, a human rights, good governance crusader and public affairs commentator, wrote from Mpape, Abuja.