Garlands For Ortom @59
Garlands For Ortom @59
BY MICHAEL TUNJI
A grassroots politician with deep connections that often unsettles his political opponent remains the unchanging trade mark of Governor Samuel Ioraer Ortom of Benue state. Unlike his predecessors, the footprints of the former Minister of State, Trade and Investments, cannot be wished away. He walked against the tide of massive opposition against his re-election but coasted home to victory. He did not only survive the plotting of his political adversaries to secure a comeback, he made nonsense of his opponents’ empty threats and walked through the mines of treachery to defeat his political rivals who had vowed to teach him a bitter lesson for daring to turn his back on the party that brought him to the corridors of power in 2015.
Early in his political career, Ortom had discovered that complete reliance on people forms the fulcrum of surviving political intrigues. Since power flows from the ballot in a democracy, the first rule is to be at home with the electorate at all times. While deep insight and effective strategies may play various roles, one should never wave away the support of the grassroots. When politicians abandon the people, they sooner or later fade into oblivion. Such has never been the case with the Guma-born politician.
For those who thought wresting power from Ortom in 2019 could be an easy walk in the park; they are still licking their wounds in secret. They should have to wait for another election year to try their luck on new hands. Since assuming power in 2015, he has not left anyone in doubt that he had come with a mission. His focus: engendering growth in the development of the state and improving the welfare of the citizens remain his mission in governance. For a state whose public servants were owed several months of salaries and pensions, the former Minister had rolled his sleeves to bring back smiles to public workers whose sense of hope was deeply enmeshed in irrevocable despair and hopelessness. In no times, he walked up to the staircase of hope by uplifting the cheerless disposition of civil servants through ensuring prompt payment of salaries and pensions.
He would later turn his attention to the incessant bloodshed for which the state was notoriously known for. Unlike his predecessors that avoided a headlong combat to stop the ceaseless bloodbaths, Ortom made no pretense as to where the solution lies. In an unprecedented manner that dealt a deadly blow to crises involved herders and farmers, he passed a law prohibiting open grazing. Those opposed to the law ran to Abuja to have the law changed, but the deed had been done and there was no going back. Despite protests against the law, those opposed to it still have a long way to walk in repealing it.
Unlike the current trend where present leaders engage in blaming their predecessors for the woes of the state, the Benue state governor wasted no time to hit the ground running to upturn the clouds of startling hesitancies. He facilitated the graduation of no fewer than 200 medical students from the Benue State University and embarked on aggressive construction of rural roads in a bid to attract investments and development. If the ‘Food Basket of the Nation’ were to play its roles effectively, the need to construct new roads to transport agricultural products to where they were mostly needed was imperative.
Ortom is credited to have embarked on reforms of the traditional system in the state by creating several new first class and lower stools in order to bring governance closer to the people. Apart from reaching out to Middle State states for collaboration and sustaining the tempo for peaceful resolution of challenges confronting them, the governor has consistently ensured that voices of minorities are not silenced the voice of the minorities is not silenced. His strides and advocacy recall to memory the indomitable spirits of great Middle Belt leaders like Chief J. Tarka, Chief Solomon Lar, Mr. Aper Aku, among many others of blessed memory. Little wonder that the Middle Belt Forum under the leadership of Dr Pogu Bitrus has extolled him for his uncommon dedication to the struggles of minorities and rallying others for the evolvement of a just system where all shall be free.
Those close to Ortom are not shocked at the manner he has broadened vistas of development and now providing a towering beacon of hope and inspiration for the citizens of the state. Apart from drawing from experience of the past, Ortom remains the incredible story of doggedness founded on the public good. Unlike others, who were born with silver spoon, Ortom walked up to his present enviable position through sheer devotion to duties and intervention of divine powers.
Born April 23, 1961 in Guma Local Government Area of Benue state, he got enrolled into the St. John’s Primary School, Gboko, in 1970 and later moved to St. Catherine’s Primary School, Makurdi, in 1974. He would cut sh0rt his education due to his father’s retirement that made payment of his school fees a herculean task after spending just two years at the Idah Secondary Commercial College, Idah, now in Kogi State.
With the hope of acquiring education crashing at sunrise, the young Samuel would later become a professional driver after obtaining his driver’s license. He was not yet through as he obtained both the General Certificate of Education and a Diploma in Salesmanship from the National School of Salesmanship, Manchester. Ortom also obtained the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) Certificate in 1995 and a Diploma in Journalism in 1998 from the Ahmadu Bello University. He later obtained the Advanced Diploma in Personnel Management (2001) and a Master of Public Administration (2004) from the Benue State University, Makurdi.
Ortom’s political imprints on the nation’s footprint are unassailable in several parties, including the National Centre Party of Nigeria where he served as the State Publicity Secretary. He was also the State Treasurer of the All People’s Party (APP) and the State Secretary as well as State Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was the Director of Operations of the PDP gubernatorial campaign in Benue State (2007) and also served as the Director of Administration and Logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization (2011). He was the PDP National Auditor when former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him Minister of State, Trade and Investments in 2011. He defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contested the governorship poll in April 2015 and won.
He was the Proprietor and Chairman of Oracle Business Limited, the parent company of Goshen Water that was involved in the production of bottled and sachet water; Oracle Oil Mills, Oracle Printing Press and Oracle Farms Limited which handles mechanized farming and animal husbandry. He served as Chairman of Capital Prints Limited that handles commercial printing, publishing and documentation, among others. Ortom also served as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).
Reputed for his philanthropy activities through the establishment of Oracle Business Limited Foundation, Governor Ortom would later set aside funds in St. Theresa’s Hospital, Makurdi and Rahama Hospital, Gboko Road, Makurdi, for the treatment of hernia and snakebites at no cost. The Foundation has also been involved in reaching out to prison inmates as well as paying fines of many who could not pay, among others.
As Ortom turned 59 on Thursday April 23, his magic wand in dazzling opponents and providing development strides for his people is yet to wane. No better person is fit for 59 garlands than Ortom who has never wavered in providing untainted leadership and creating new vistas for human development.
Tunji, a public commentator, wrote this peace from Abuja
