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From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has called for sincere collaboration between the North-Central Development Commission (NCDC) and the Benue State government.
The governor stated this at the Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday while playing host to the Board and Management of the commission, led by Barr. Cosmos Akighir and Dr Cyril Tseenyil.
Alia said his administration’s priority is to ensure insecurity is reduced to the barest minimum and that people living in IDP camps are finally resettled, adding, “We have done a lot to ensure we have peace in the state. We have drastically reduced the number of local governments that were gravely infested by insecurity.
“Already, there is relative peace in other larger parts of the state. But security is like a monster. Cut the tail, and another part of the body will spring up. Cut the hand, and you see another part of the body developing to cause havoc, but we are resolute that our people must go back to their ancestral homes. The people of Benue State deserve peace to continue to feed the nation.”
Alia said Benue also requires about N242 billion for road construction across all the 23 local government areas of the state.
He stated that even after the federal government worked hard to address inflation in the country to ensure there was stability in the value of the naira, the recurrent world disorder has brought back inflation, causing more challenges for the country’s currency, and that no matter the amount in one’s proposal, there was need to demand more to meet the needs of the people.
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The governor, who noted that no amount of budgetary estimation would be enough because of many years of neglect, said his administration is willing to collaborate with any organisation that would help the state address its rural challenges, especially insecurity and food insecurity.
He solicited collaboration in agriculture, employment and infrastructure in the rural areas, saying, “The agriculture value chain must be on the front burner to create overreach on the demands.”
The governor called on the Board and Management of the commission to try their best to be apolitical, adding that once politics is introduced into a very sensitive commission like theirs, the main aim is defeated.
Chairman of the commission, Cosmos Akighir, said Benue State was strategically located within the North Central because of its richness in mineral deposits and fertile land for agriculture, especially food production, saying the essence of the visit was to see how they could partner with the state government for enhanced development within the North Central and Benue in particular.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mr Cyril Tsenyil, said the mandate of the commission was the conceiving, planning and implementation of projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the states in the region, saying the visit was to obtain first-hand information about the needs and expectations of the people of the region from the commission.
He stated that the services the commission would be providing to the region include health care, education, transportation, road networks, industrialisation, agriculture, employment, housing and urban development, electricity, telecommunications and water supply, as well as the promotion of inclusive development, among others.
Tor Jechira, Chief Edward Ujege, who spoke on behalf of the traditional rulers, called on the commission to focus more on restoring peace in the affected communities and facilitating the return of IDPs to their ancestral homes and the establishment of skills acquisition centres to train the youth to acquire jobs for themselves.
