Benue 2011: Time for dedicated leadership

While various reasons have been adduced for this backwardness, what cannot be denied is the woeful level of leadership failure in the state and how it has contribueted in a large measure in further improverishing the state, putting it in the league of the nation’s poorest. But Benue State does not deserve this unenviable position. […]

While various reasons have been adduced for this backwardness, what cannot be denied is the woeful level of leadership failure in the state and how it has contribueted in a large measure in further improverishing the state, putting it in the league of the nation’s poorest. But Benue State does not deserve this unenviable position. As a matter of fact, it should have been ranked among the nation’s richest states if one takes cognisance of the fact that the state is highly blessed with one of the nation’s best agricultural lands and enjoys abundant rainfall and a weather pattern that is highly supportive of the growth of most major food and cash crops. It is almost a byword that virtually every Nigerian citizen, even those who have never visited the state at all, identify it as the food basket of the nation. The enterprising prowess of Benue people is also something that is well known and acknowledged widely. So, in a sense, it would not be out of place to say that the state is blessed with vast potentials, both human and material, which if properly harnessed, will aid in the rapid transformation of the state to the benfit of Benue people and the nation at large.

This dream of transformation by harnessing existing potentials could be said about practically all the 36 states in Nigeria. But just like Benue, the challenge is in finding the kind of credible leadership that would help guide such transformation with a visionary, honest and dedicated leadership. Now, let me state that while I am in agreement with most other commentators about the dearth of leadership in our nation and the rot it has engendered in our polity, I am not in agreement that the situation is not salvageable  and neither am I in agreement that our democracy has failed us irredeemably. At a time, I used to be pessimistic about the future of our nation until we began to see the likes of Babatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos State and Adams Oshiomole, the governor of Edo State. What stands these men out in the quality of leadership and service they render to their people is that they emerged as governors due largely to popular support of the people and they came prepared with a programme. My recent positive views were reinforced for the people of Benue State when I noticed the general spirit of disenchantment by the people with the poor leadership they have been served over the years and the clamour for change. More visible in this clamour is the name of a young, charismatic, intelligent and visionary politician in the person of Maxwell Ahule. My first contact with this young politician in a particular political gathering that took place recently in Benue left me with hopes and a great deal of expectations that finally Benue State is about to have its Obama.

I am not one to be bawled over by the empty promises of politicians, so the first time I came in contact with Maxwell Ahule I was eager to hear him out. The first thing about him that floored me and won me over is his humility and razor-sharp perception of why Benue State has failed to develop appreciatively over the years. Step by step, he outlined what the problems are and what needed to be done to salvage the situation. I was also hopeful of the visions he was articulating when  the people around said he is one candidate who is not relying on the powers of a godfather or even money to propel his campaign. His campaign and the unobtrusive manner he went about it should serve as an instruction in seeking leadership to our hapless politicians, who often will come with vast motorcades to political gatherings and hire thugs and make unnecessary noise to give the impression that they are popular. But as for Maxwell Ahule, his supporters are drawn from teachers and students, who are well-informed people, market men and women, who are enterprising and desirous of a better economy and members of various unions like the NURTW who basically make up the bulk of the civil society groups in the state. Among these groups of people, a basic refrain on their lips is the freshness and vision in the kind of leadership Maxwell Ahule would be bringing to the state if he is given the chance to be the next occupant of the Benue State Government House come 2011. Maxwell Ahule comes with the assurance of providing consistent democratic decision making in the state, a new dawn of societal reorientation, enhancement of the quality of life for all Benue people and the assurance of better food security and gainful employment for the youths. These are premised on creating a functional industrial and agricultural sector in Benue State, coupled with a sustained effort at infrastructural development. All these added together would guarantee a functional health and human services in the state that would include a well developed infrastructure for education, transportation, security and rural development.

Some of us in Benue are already aware of moves to buy him over and encourage him to abandon his ambition by politicians who are uncomfortable with his message and visibility. Politicians who want the stutus quo to remain because it is to their benefit. What I would like to say is to urge all citizens of Benue and the stakeholders in its future to please come together and join hands to ensure that only credible candidates get to leadership positions in the state at every level, down to the ward level and to be actively involved in our quest for change and better leadership. Only by so doing can we guarantee our future and those of our children.

Abena wrote from 25, Iyorchia Ayu Road, Makurdi