An All Progressives Congress chieftain in Benue State, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, has declared that Governor Hyacinth Alia’s development projects across the state will make him memorable to generations of Benue people. Ogenyi made the declaration during an interview on Idoma Television’s *The Conversation*, where he highlighted projects executed by the Alia administration, particularly in Benue South Senatorial District. According to him, the governor’s interventions in roads, water, healthcare, education and industrial development have changed his initial perception of Alia.
Ogenyi, who contested the Benue governorship election in 2019, said he did not believe in Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia’s capacity at first. He did not support him during the primary elections and only backed him as the candidate of his party during the governorship poll. Even after that, he still doubted his ability to deliver. After two years in office, he said, the governor proved him wrong. One of the issues that changed his assessment was Alia’s intervention in flood control. Previous administrations had regularly battled flooding in the state, particularly in Makurdi. Ogenyi said the Alia administration constructed drainage channels and redirected water into River Benue. “Benue used to flood yearly,” he said, adding that after the first year of Alia’s administration, “the second year, no flood. Third year, no flood.” He insisted it was not magic: the governor consciously constructed drainage areas, channelled the waters to River Benue, and Benue is no longer flooding.
On roads, Ogenyi said the governor had demonstrated even distribution of infrastructure across the state. In Benue South, where he comes from, the government is constructing a 42-kilometre road from Igumale to Agila, which he said is 80 per cent complete. He also mentioned the Obagaji–Okokolo–Agagbe road, which he said was approaching completion, as well as the Oju–Awajir road, which cuts across communities in the zone. Other roads approved by the state government include the Igumale–Agila road and roads around Ogbadibo and Ugbokolo linking communities towards the Otukpo–Enugu axis. He added that the government had embarked on five-kilometre road projects in each of the nine local government areas of Benue South. He also cited road construction in communities that previously became inaccessible during the rainy season, saying residents of some communities had to push vehicles through mud before the intervention. “The governor has already solved that problem,” he said. In Guma Local Government Area, he added, residents had acknowledged the impact of road construction on access to farms and communities.
Explaining his earlier statement that Benue would not forget Alia in 100 years, Ogenyi said the governor had brought potable water to communities that previously had no access to it. “When a governor has given water, for example, to a place that has never seen water since the existence of that community… so now they have running water,” he said. “That water will last even more than 100 years. And the people will continue to remember the governor.” He particularly highlighted the rehabilitation of the Otobi Waterworks, saying the state government provided N1.57 billion in counterpart funding to facilitate the release of funds for the project because residents of Otukpo had faced prolonged water shortages. He added that the government was also working on the Adoka Dam in Otukpo, which he said would help resupply water to Otukpo and surrounding communities. “These people, in the next even 200 years, will not forget the achievement of Governor Hyacinth Alia,” he said.
Ogenyi also listed primary healthcare development among the administration’s interventions in Zone C, including projects in Ogbadibo and Oju, while the government was rehabilitating and renovating primary and secondary schools across the state. He claimed the administration had modernised schools and moved them away from dependence on chalkboards, and cited the recruitment of about 10,000 teachers, with additional recruitment expected, as part of efforts to strengthen the education sector.
On the question of projects initiated by Alia as opposed to those inherited from previous administrations, Ogenyi said government was a continuous process and that abandoned projects should not be allowed to waste public resources. He argued, however, that several of the major projects associated with the current administration were conceived and initiated by Alia. These include the dualisation of Makurdi Township Road towards the cargo airport and Gboko, street lighting in Makurdi, a juice concentrate factory, a nail production factory and a brewery. He also mentioned a fertiliser blending plant and the revival of Taraku Mills, saying the juice concentrate factory was started and completed by the governor.
Asked what he would tell a Benue South voter who wanted to know why Alia should be supported in 2027, Ogenyi pointed to the governor’s record on infrastructure, healthcare, roads, water, pensions and social programmes. “When you have a government that pays pension, does infrastructure, like healthcare, road network… and the other social investment, water is life, that is bringing water, electricity and all of that. Do you need anybody to convince you to vote for the government? You will naturally be mobilised to vote for the government,” he said.
