Governor Alia develops key sectors of Benue economy

Through Chiang Avese, Makurdi

The Benue State Governor, Rev. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, has moved governance away from the Benue political leadership which is synonymous with rejoicing over the hardships of the majority of the people.

Governor Alia’s numerous efforts towards people-oriented projects since assuming office indicate his clear shift away from the evils of the past that aimed to impoverish the masses of the society.

On Friday last week at the main auditorium of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Benue State University, on the occasion of the 7 billion naira handover and fund raising for the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, the governor handed over 2 billion naira for the upgrade of facilities and the establishment of a cancer treatment centre in the hospital to improve quality of services and curb foreign medical tourism by residents of the state.

In line with the promises he made to the people of the state during the election campaign, Governor Alia’s gesture underlines his loyalty to ensuring that any financial resources that come to the state are used for the common good.

The appointment by the BSUTH Governor of Dr. Stephen Hwande, a physician with an excellent private practice and extraordinary dedication, as Chief Medical Director, CMD, in October last year was seen as a certainty that the task would be accomplished.

In less than a year of Dr. Hwande’s tenure at BSUTH, the institution has been transformed from a near-defunct institution to a teaching hospital that is running smoothly and efficiently. According to the CMD, this is due to Governor Alia’s deliberate loyalty and support, which compensates the people of the state for bringing him to power.

During the foundation fundraising ceremony, Governor Alia decried the death rate due to cancer complications in the state and called for new approaches as well as collective efforts to enable the reduction of cancer cases to a minimum. He reiterated his administration’s determination to increase healthcare spending in the state budget to provide excellent and affordable services to the state’s residents.

Access to quality healthcare, and especially in other sectors of the state, as is the case with the Nigerian nation, was brought to its knees during the military’s incursions into political power. In addition to their rudeness in terms of wealth and materialism, they introduced incredible corrupt practices such as medical tourism, which served at the time and still serves as channels for the theft of the state’s community.

The judicious use of resources to improve the health sector which Governor Alia is now doing in Benue State should have been done both at the state and national levels long ago. Huge annual budgets are being spent on mundane and ridiculous areas that are keeping our people in good health and overall economic conditions worse than in 1976 when the state was created.

While our political leaders are happy to release statistics on medical emergencies that have unfortunately resulted in the deaths of thousands of our fellow citizens, the turnaround of affairs by Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia in Benue State is commendable.

Cancer is not a medical condition that our hospitals should not be able to treat after more than 60 years of independence. The human resources, as exemplified by Dr. Stephen Hwande in his First Fertility Hospital, to provide the best medical services are available, willing and ready to work. But in many cases, the material resources are lacking. We lack material resources because the previous leaders in the state refused to provide them, thinking selfishly that if they steal enough, they will go abroad to get all they need.

It is mentioned that those who had the opportunity to write their names in gold, instead of developing the state, stole catastrophic amounts of state funds to afford exclusive and exotic expenses, such as foreign medical tourism, education for their wards and their cronies, and the creation of business empires in other countries.

In view of Governor Alia’s resolve to fulfil her directive to the people of Benue State, BSUTH has in the last few months signed memoranda of understanding with the state government for the upgrading of hospital facilities and other health facilities across the state.

A fully equipped molecular laboratory capable of performing tests and research for the presence of Group B Streptococcus nucleic acid, Chlamydia trachomatis nucleic acid, Ureaplasma urealyticum nucleic acid, human mycoplasma nucleic acid and gonococcal nucleic acid has been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure 100% accuracy of test results and facilitate the work of doctors.

A molecular laboratory is a medical laboratory that specializes in detecting and analyzing genetic materials (DNA or RNA) and proteins to diagnose and monitor disease. It plays a key role in various fields, including cancer diagnosis and treatment, infectious disease detection and treatment, genetic testing and research.

With the above, Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia is giving back to the people what has been stolen from them since the creation of the state over 40 years ago. Not only in terms of health, but also in education, where public primary and secondary schools, previously deliberately neglected and almost extinct, have been renovated and made attractive again.

Just last week, the state higher education institutions’ boards, consisting of individuals of great originality, were inaugurated with a mandate to improve the status of instruction from what they will fulfill. During the inauguration, Governor Alia emphasized the observance of transparency and accountability in his address to the members in the conduct of their activities.

It is important to note that the rich of Benue Society, most of whom have become rich through the Benue people’s quota, should, without any ambiguity, contribute to the BSUTH N7 Billion Trust Fund and other such areas. Only then can they be seen as giving back to the society that gave them their state and national identity.

The industrialization of the agriculture sector in the state by Governor Alia is legendary. Farmers who were once spoken of with contempt because of the peasant nature of the sector, now happily pat themselves on the chest and declare, “I am a farmer,” because of the attention given to the agriculture sector.

Inputs and machinery that will help revolutionize the state’s agricultural sector to mechanize the status have been procured through determined efforts to acquire the necessary but currently lacking ones. The sector has been thrown open for investors to come and take advantage of the mild climate of the state to explore the available agricultural potential.

The answers to our food security lie with the Benue people who look to political leaders to give guidance as they are doing now. That this was not done earlier is unfortunately the managerial incompetence of successive leaders of all stripes.