Ortom: ‘Better Is The End Of A Thing Than Its Beginning Thereof’

BY TITUS FOGA

Barely few months after he assumed office as Governor of BENUE state, it became clear that both critics and the opposition were not going to give Governor Samuel Ortom a chance.

The opposition perpetually fuelled criticisms that kept growing, and so strong that judging from views on the streets and social joints, it became obvious that Benue people were not impressed with his take off of governance.

Though he recorded some significant achievements at that early stage, his critics and the opposition at that time went to market and unequivocally scored him very low in terms of, firstly, his inability to give special attention to workers’ welfare; and secondly, slow action on improving the general infrastructural of the state.

However, others who felt the Governor was not fairly adjudged, pointed out that he took over the reigns of the state with months of unpaid salaries, and first of all had to grapple with the setback before taking off properly.

Also, just like other previous administrations accordingly declared in the past, Ortom as well took over when some very critical infrastructure were lagging or in the state of decay and desperately needed attention.

Therefore, the criticisms against the Governor and his administration, justifiable or not, may be as a result of the fact that his arrival at the seat of power of the north central state was heralded with overwhelming enthusiasm, with the masses having very high expectations.

Meanwhile, the Governor on his part, probably much aware of the expectations on him, and how impatient the masses were becoming, made it as a policy to occasionally call stakeholders’ meeting in order to keep them updated about the state of affairs and his efforts in fixing the odds in the face of numerous daunting challenges.

During those meetings, he was consistent in giving hope and assurances to the people by quoting from the Bible the saying that “…better is the end of a thing than its beginning thereof…”

He later, after defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shortly before 2019 general polls publicly apologised to the Benue people for his slow start.

He further confessed that some entanglements including overbearing influence of a godfather in his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state actually retarded his take off pace.

The Governor, probably, in order to keep to his promise of ending it better than he started, negotiated and got the nod from stakeholders on how best to tackle the salaries/wages issues. He, in agreement with the labour unions in the state, worked out arrangements for consistent updating of salaries of workers.

Since then, the arrangement seems to be working perfectly. At the moment, salaries of workers are observed to be paid as at and when due, a development that has continue to impress the workforce across the state.

In the area of infrastructural development, the governor is observed to have improved tremendously too.

Many communities across the state have seen electricity stepped down in their localities. No fewer than 50 communities are currently enjoying electricity courtesy of the Ortom’s administration.

The massive renovation and construction of new structures in primary schools across the state is one area that even critics of the administration are observed to quietly appreciate.

Again, township roads in Gboko, Makurdi and Otukpo are observed to be receiving aggressive attention.

Already, major roads within Gboko including Captain Dawn’s road; Shaahu road; St. John-Gyado Hotel-GRA ring road amongst others have been rehabilitated and reconstructed to completion.

Similarly, the about 15km Terwase Agbadu-Yaikyor and Tse-Poor-Apir roads in the state capital are completed.

Rural roads linking Makurdi and Guma; Utange-Mbayegh-Mbagwaza, NASME-Yogbo-Udei ring road etc have been awarded and already under construction.

Commenting on the development, a political analyst, James Pever said he was overwhelmed by the turn of events, saying he had earlier given up on the Governor.

He however wondered why it took the Governor too long to start what the people expected right from the time he assumed office.

A retired Director at the ministry of Health and Human Services, Mrs. Pauline Ugese while hailing the current development, charged Governor Ortom to sustain the tempo, adding amongst other things that if only half of the projects started by the Governor are completed, he will surely be remembered as one of the best Governors the state has produced.