“It was equally noticeable that several prominent opposition figures and their representatives attended the memorial event. Against that backdrop, Utoo’s attempt to portray the gathering as politically neutral becomes difficult to sustain”.
BY TERSOO KULA
We woke up to yet another disappointing video from Franc Utoo, one that laid bare what appears to be his deep political and clannish bias. Given the extent of his exposure and travels, one would have expected him to rise above such narrow sentiments, and approach issues affecting Benue with greater objectivity.
Rather than offering a balanced assessment of the security challenges confronting the state, Utoo chose to position himself before a camera and pushed a narrative designed solely to discredit the administration of His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, while deliberately refusing to acknowledge any positive efforts made by the government.
He seems to believe that the people of Benue are too gullible to see through the emotional appeals and selective storytelling that characterize his commentary whenever he speaks on the state’s security situation.
Throughout his lengthy monologue, Utoo catalogued what he described as the failures of Governor Alia. Yet, despite the administration’s numerous interventions in addressing insecurity, he could not bring himself to acknowledge a single achievement. Such deliberate omission raises legitimate questions about the objectivity of his commentary.
What further exposed his political and clannish disposition was his attempt to portray former Governor Samuel Ortom as having handled insecurity more effectively than the current administration.
No objective observer of Benue’s recent history would make such a comparison. The Ortom administration witnessed some of the most frequent and devastating attacks in the state’s history, resulting in thousands of deaths, widespread displacement, and an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons living in camps across the state.
Apparently, Utoo would prefer Governor Alia to embrace media theatrics in addressing insecurity, much like the previous administration often did.
Governor Alia, however, has chosen a different path, one that emphasizes strategy, collaboration with security agencies, and practical interventions rather than daily media spectacles.
Benue people need only recall how flooding was handled under the previous administration. Whenever floods occurred, the former governor would appear before cameras in a raincoat and boots, walking through floodwaters while condemning the disaster. Those images made headlines, but they did little to provide lasting solutions.
The same pattern was evident in the management of insecurity. There were frequent press conferences, television appearances, and public outcries, yet the attacks persisted and communities continued to suffer. That is the approach Franc Utoo now appears to celebrate.
By contrast, Governor Hyacinth Alia has adopted a more measured approach. Just as his administration has taken concrete steps to mitigate perennial flooding, it has also implemented deliberate and practical measures to address insecurity.
While the challenge has not been completely eliminated, the administration has consistently pursued solutions beyond mere public relations.
Utoo also echoed the now-familiar social media narrative alleging that the governor “bows to the caliphate.” Such a claim is not only unfounded, but reflects the dangerous spread of propaganda over facts.
One would expect that someone with Utoo’s level of exposure would possess the intellectual discipline to distinguish misinformation from reality. Unfortunately, political prejudice often clouds objective judgment.
He further alleged that Governor Alia denied the existence of genocide in Benue State. That claim is false. The governor has never denied that innocent people are being killed. Rather, his position has consistently been that he cannot categorically describe the attacks as a targeted genocide against Christians in the absence of evidence supporting that specific characterization.
The unfortunate reality is that the attackers have killed people across communities without establishing a clear pattern of targeting only Christians. The governor’s position, therefore, has been one of caution in the use of terminology, not denial of the tragic loss of lives.
Franc Utoo went overboard in display of his vicious hatred against the Governor when he lied that persons associated with sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria sponsored Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia’s elections in 2023.
Nothing could be a more barefaced concoction than this. Benue people, both home and abroad crowd funded the Alia/Ode campaigns. The overwhelming goodwill later reflected in the voting where, for the very first time in the state’s history, a candidate won with a gap of over 200,000 votes.
Equally misleading was Utoo’s claim that the governor attempted to frustrate the Yelwata Memorial Mass by declaring a statewide sanitation exercise.
Had he taken the time to verify the facts, he would have realized that the sanitation exercise was scheduled from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., while the memorial Mass was fixed for 10:00 a.m. The journey from Makurdi to Yelwata takes less than 45 minutes. It is therefore difficult to understand how an exercise ending at 9:00 a.m. could have prevented attendance at an event scheduled to begin an hour later.
Utoo also sought to draw the Church and the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese into his political narrative. We will not follow him down that path. The Church should not be dragged into partisan political contests, and we therefore decline to comment on the actions or conduct of the Bishop.
Ironically, Utoo admitted that he only involved the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese in the Yelwata programme four days before the event. The obvious question is whether Governor Alia or senior officials of his administration were similarly invited or engaged.
It was equally noticeable that several prominent opposition figures and their representatives attended the memorial event. Against that backdrop, Utoo’s attempt to portray the gathering as politically neutral becomes difficult to sustain.
It is painful that Benue continues to battle persistent insecurity. It is even more unfortunate when individuals choose to weaponize that tragedy to advance partisan narratives instead of contributing constructively to the search for lasting solutions.
Franc Utoo should resist the temptation to exploit the pain and suffering of Benue people in pursuit of political or sectional objectives. The security challenges confronting our state are too grave to become instruments of political propaganda.
…Sir Tersoo Kula, is the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Benue State.
