Gabriel Suswam, governor of Benue State, explains why the state has seen a lot more development under his administration than others before it

When Gabriel Suswam, the governor of Benue State assumed office on May 29, 2007, his priority was to develop the state and avoid politicking as a priority.  He identified politicking as the major factor militating against the development of the state since its creation. Suswam recalled that apart from the adminisration of Aper Aku, the first executive governor of Benue State, and the past military governors, no other government succeeded in developing the state due to politicking.

    Suswam, while celebrating his 45th birthday recently, explained that his administration was able to provide dividends of democracy to the people of the state because of the wise decision he took to shun politicking. 

He also said he had been able to tackle the problem of insecurity in the state.This was  as a result of his determination to change things for the better. According to Suswam, the security situation in the state before his coming into office was really worrisome. People were afraid to go out in the night because of the fear of armed robbery attacks. After receiving an approval from the president to form a security outfit, the state government formed operation Zenda. The outfit is made up of the police, army, airforce and the State Security Service, SSS. These efforts have paid off handsomely.

The state is now secure. Night life is back.All cases of kidnapping in the state were resolved without ransom while all the kidnappers were arrested. Benue is the only state where this has happened, according to the governor.

The present administration of Suswan is also tackling the problem of infrastructure decay in the state. It has  mobilised some contractors for the construction of some roads in Makurdi, the state capital and in the rural areas. The administration is also constructing some major roads in Otukpo and  Agatu local government areas.These are roads that had been abandoned for many years. The government is using well-known and reputable contractors to guarantee performance.

In order to live according to its name as the food basket of the nation, farming is being facilitated through government support. It is doing this through the provision of modern farming tools. The administration believes that if the farmers were provided with modern farming implements, the state would gradually move from subsistence agriculture to mechanised farming. The state has a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with the governor of Iowa, a state in the US, to encourage farming in Benue State. Under the MOU, the state is to send some of the youths to the US for three-months training on mechanised  farming. Suswam said the first set of the youths trained came back after spending three months while the second batch just left Nigeria a few days ago.

To solve the problem of inadequate supply of potable water in the state, a 100,000 litres capacity water treatment plant is being built in Makurdi. Similar water treatment plants are also under construction in Katsina-Ala and Otukpo. The state government is also determined to provide quality health services to the people of the state.

All the eleven general hospitals in the state have been renovated and provided with medical equipment by the Suswam administration. The hospitals are now in a better position to offer scanning services and all other basic and specialised services to patients in the state. Primary schools are also being comprehensively renovated. About one billion Naira has already been committed to the project through the  State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB.

Apart from the renovation of primary schools, the state is worried that many of the students that go to secondary schools in Benue State are running from science subjects. In a bid to correct the situation, about 30 secondary schools have been converted into pure science secondary schools, to encourage science education.

Suswam also reacted to the failed People’s Democratic Party, PDP, state congresses in Anambra State.He was the leader of the party’s committee mandated to conduct the elections. He said he did everything possible to make the exercise a success. He explained that he had agreed with the candidates vying for PDP gubernatorial ticket in the state for the use of non- indigenes of Anambra State for the exercise. The logistics of moving the people from Benue State to conduct the congress election were borne by his state. He said it was unfortunate that some people were insinuating that he had a secret agenda. “I had no agenda other than to conduct a credible congress election,” but his efforts were thwarted by the desperation of the candidates.