Those who massacred our people are walking the streets free – Orbunde, Chief of Staff to Gov Ortom
Incessant conflicts between local farmers and herdsmen arising from cows destruction of farms were getting out of hand. Whereas our people are predominantly farmers, government tried unsuccessfully to stem the killings triggered by the conflicts which at a point became almost a daily occurrence. You will recall the Agatu massacre,and the killings in Guma, Gwer West, Tarka, Buruku Logo local government areas and even Makurdi, the state capital. The situation became so bad that the people had to cry out to government to enact a law that will check wild grazing in the state and we were left with no option than to send a bill to the state House of Assembly. The bill went through public hearing where inputs were made by all stakeholders including herdsmen before it was passed by the Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ortom in May 2017.Thereafter government gave six months’ grace to allow for the sensitization of the people on the provisions of the law. So on November 1, 2017, the law came into effect. So popular was the law that, for the first time since the advent of democratic governance in the country, the people of Benue, irrespective of socio-political, religious and cultural differences, came out to align with a government in power. That is how the Benue grazing came into being. And like the governor has also said, the law is a win-win situation for farmers and herders alike. The law is out to protect farmers and herders. The law provides for the protection of herdsmen and their cattle because it has provisions for punishment for anyone caught rustling cattle while livestock breeders are forbidden from moving from one place to the other with their livestock. So it is not as if the law singled out herdsmen, it applies to everyone in Benue. Secondly, the law was not intended to chase anyone out of Benue nor was it targeted at any specific group. It was enacted for the good of all. Despite the law coming into force, we just witnessed the killing of scores of people in six communities in Logo and Guma. Would you say the purpose of enacting the law has been defeated? The purpose of the law has not been defeated. You will recall that that when the law was made, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, for reasons best known to them, threatened to resist the legislation and even allegedly threatened to invade the state. I think they just made good their threat and that is what you saw on New Year’s Day and the following day when defenseless women, innocent children and the aged were murdered in cold blood in the two local government areas. It is sad. You will recall that Governor Samuel Ortom had repeatedly called on the Federal Government to arrest the leadership of the group after reports were received about meetings held to actualize their plans and nothing was done. We are sad that the Federal Government failed to do the needful after the entire state cried for protection. We have not done anything wrong by making a law to protect lives and property. It is sad and heartrending. But I can assure you that the law has come to stay, no amount of intimidation will stop the implementation because it is for the good of all. All we ask is that the Federal Government should support us to ensure the success of the law because it is crucial for peace in our state. Secondly, the Federal Government should ensure the immediate arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore because nobody is above the law. They issued a threat and bloodbath took place in Benue. Are they supposed to walk the streets free? That is the question that is begging for answer. So, how have you impacted positively on the administration as Chief of Staff? I believe in Samuel Ortom.I believe in his vision because I know the man. I didn’t know him as governor, we have known each other since 1988; so we have come a long way. That is why I put in the little that I can to make sure that his vision sees the light of the day. So having seen so many things as his Chief of Staff, once there is an opportunity, I put in my best based on my deep conviction about the man, his person, his ideas and his vision. What are the things you can point at that you have helped the administration to achieve over the past two years? What the governor has done, the first and the most critical thing that he has addressed, is believability. When Ortom speaks, he has no reason to deceive you. He is not speaking to impress you. The man is himself, so he has brought credibility to governance. Secondly, the man has been able to bring his deep faith in God and applied it to find solution to the problems of humanity. He came in and realized that for any government, security of lives and property is the first thing. He initiated the Amnesty Programme using the carrot and stick approach. Following his appeal to those holding arms illegally in the state, over 800 assorted weapons and 4,000 rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Then he assisted some of those young men who submitted their weapons by putting them on monthly stipend in realization of the fact that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. This happened before he moved to the stick approach. . Meanwhile, over 80% of the population of Benue is involved in agriculture. And so if you affect agriculture, you affect a large number of the population. So adding value to agriculture became something that was paramount to him and that’s what he has been driving. The man wants to increase production because he realized that land will never increase in quantity but human beings will increase in number. So if you want to feed a growing population, you must have a solution to making sure that you produce more food by adding value to what is produced, by conserving what is produced, by processing what is produced and that is what the governor has been doing. Then he has been able to weave together the diverse personalities in the state and has reduced tension in the polity by making sure that he accords respect and recognition to those that deserve it. He has provided stability in governance – transparency. Do you have any ambition to run for elective office? My assignment as a politician is to always provide service where they are needed. So if there is an opportunity and I am called upon, why not? Your principal has heeded the calls to run forsecond term. Will you stick with him as Chief of Staff or run for Benue North East senatorial election if the opportunity beckons? First of all, I am one of those who support Ortom for second term and I have no other reason not to keep supporting him. So I am for his second term unreservedly. What happens if I am called upon to go and give service? First let me say that it is true that my people in Kwande and Ushongo Local Government Areas, that bloc is agitating for the Senate slot and is for good reason because that is how our politics is run. The Sankera axis under Professor Daniel Saor did eight years, the Jechira axis under Col. Joseph Akaagerger did four years and Chief Senator Gemade is doing his second term of eight years. So you are talking about 12 years in Jechira and eight years in Sankera. This is what informs the agitation for the Senate slot by Kwande because we are like the people who decide who becomes a senator, so why are we going to be denied the slot?. That’s the agitation. Your question is, what happens if I am called upon to run for the senatorial election? Of course that is going on and where we are now is too early for me to comment and the reason is the full picture has not fully unfolded. But ask of whether I am available, as a politician, I can tell you that it is dangerous not to be available for service because if you do that, you become obsolete. But when we get there, we will take that decision. You said you and Ortom have known each other since 1988 and, since then, as politicians, you have not had any issues weighty enough to cause problems between the two of you? One credit we must give to Governor Samuel Ortom is his ability to sustain friendship. He tells you about the humility of his origin, and he has never ever forgotten a friend. I happen to be a beneficiary of that virtue because when I was wedding in 1990, he was in Pepsi and his assignment was to supply drinks, he was the person who brought drinks for my wedding. At a time, you also nurtured a governorship ambition and how were you able to concede to Ortom when he came to inform you that God told him you would anchor his governorship bid? No, that didn’t arise. When he talked to me in 1995, I had no idea. I mean I am not as fortunate as he is to know in 1992 that I would be governor. No! In the course of politicking, in reaction to political developments, that was what brought up my governorship ambition. So as a politician, strategic timing and action is very important. I want to let you know that immediately after that race, both the presidency and the national PDP had to find a way to bring us back into the PDP because we created a major crack in the party, so that is why we were brought back. If you remember it was after I was brought back as the state executive member of the party that we went ahead to win elections. So there was no conflict at any point in time between what Ortom sought to do and my contesting for governor at all. As Chief of Staff , are you bothered about the issue of non-payment of salary to workers in the State; if you are, what is government doing to solve the problem as soon as possible? I am concerned about the delay in payment of salary to workers. But I am glad you are asking this question because there is light at the end of the tunnel after the governor had spent sleepless nights to consult widely on this problem; so I can tell you that we are close to the end of the issue. We took time to do biometrics in the system to reduce the wage bill, but we discovered that whereas we were not recruiting, people were retiring and some were even dying but the wage bill was not going down. That is why the governor in his wisdom declared state of emergency on the issue of salary and subsequently set up the Abouno Committee which I am part of. We found out that the N7.8b per month wage bill was not sustainable. But the first thing we discovered was ten different names, one bank account. We may hover around N4.5b monthly wage bill. We have just one or two outstanding issues which we will soon resolve and, as you know, the last stakeholders meeting gave us a vote of confidence and an encouragement to go on and arrest this monster of unpaid salary. After a state of emergency was declared on payment of salary, capital projects were put on hold across the state. How soon are we expecting a return to site by heavy duty machines considering the fact that electioneering campaigns and serious politicking starts in 2018? You will realize that when we made a recovery of about N4.5b from one of the banks, it was money for bond which was intended for some of these projects you are talking about and some of those contractors went back to site. The summary of what I am saying is that once we arrest this monster, capital projects will go back. The Governor wants to provide the window for projects funds. If you have maybe N5b or N6b at the end of the month and your monthly wage bill is N4.5b, you have either N500m or N1b to play around with, the Ortom that I know, the next thing you will see is that infrastructural development will take off in high steam especially within the first quarter of the year until rains come because we are aware of the fact that roads construction are best handled during dry season, so we will have to make hey while the Sun shines. So government will return to those projects as soon as we start making some savings from the wage bill, it could be February, it could be March.
Incessant conflicts between local farmers and herdsmen arising from cows destruction of farms were getting out of hand. Whereas our people are predominantly farmers, government tried unsuccessfully to stem the killings triggered by the conflicts which at a point became almost a daily occurrence. You will recall the Agatu massacre,and the killings in Guma, Gwer West, Tarka, Buruku Logo local government areas and even Makurdi, the state capital. The situation became so bad that the people had to cry out to government to enact a law that will check wild grazing in the state and we were left with no option than to send a bill to the state House of Assembly. The bill went through public hearing where inputs were made by all stakeholders including herdsmen before it was passed by the Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ortom in May 2017.Thereafter government gave six months’ grace to allow for the sensitization of the people on the provisions of the law. So on November 1, 2017, the law came into effect. So popular was the law that, for the first time since the advent of democratic governance in the country, the people of Benue, irrespective of socio-political, religious and cultural differences, came out to align with a government in power. That is how the Benue grazing came into being. And like the governor has also said, the law is a win-win situation for farmers and herders alike. The law is out to protect farmers and herders. The law provides for the protection of herdsmen and their cattle because it has provisions for punishment for anyone caught rustling cattle while livestock breeders are forbidden from moving from one place to the other with their livestock. So it is not as if the law singled out herdsmen, it applies to everyone in Benue. Secondly, the law was not intended to chase anyone out of Benue nor was it targeted at any specific group. It was enacted for the good of all. Despite the law coming into force, we just witnessed the killing of scores of people in six communities in Logo and Guma. Would you say the purpose of enacting the law has been defeated? The purpose of the law has not been defeated. You will recall that that when the law was made, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, for reasons best known to them, threatened to resist the legislation and even allegedly threatened to invade the state. I think they just made good their threat and that is what you saw on New Year’s Day and the following day when defenseless women, innocent children and the aged were murdered in cold blood in the two local government areas. It is sad. You will recall that Governor Samuel Ortom had repeatedly called on the Federal Government to arrest the leadership of the group after reports were received about meetings held to actualize their plans and nothing was done. We are sad that the Federal Government failed to do the needful after the entire state cried for protection. We have not done anything wrong by making a law to protect lives and property. It is sad and heartrending. But I can assure you that the law has come to stay, no amount of intimidation will stop the implementation because it is for the good of all. All we ask is that the Federal Government should support us to ensure the success of the law because it is crucial for peace in our state. Secondly, the Federal Government should ensure the immediate arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore because nobody is above the law. They issued a threat and bloodbath took place in Benue. Are they supposed to walk the streets free? That is the question that is begging for answer. So, how have you impacted positively on the administration as Chief of Staff? I believe in Samuel Ortom.I believe in his vision because I know the man. I didn’t know him as governor, we have known each other since 1988; so we have come a long way. That is why I put in the little that I can to make sure that his vision sees the light of the day. So having seen so many things as his Chief of Staff, once there is an opportunity, I put in my best based on my deep conviction about the man, his person, his ideas and his vision. What are the things you can point at that you have helped the administration to achieve over the past two years? What the governor has done, the first and the most critical thing that he has addressed, is believability. When Ortom speaks, he has no reason to deceive you. He is not speaking to impress you. The man is himself, so he has brought credibility to governance. Secondly, the man has been able to bring his deep faith in God and applied it to find solution to the problems of humanity. He came in and realized that for any government, security of lives and property is the first thing. He initiated the Amnesty Programme using the carrot and stick approach. Following his appeal to those holding arms illegally in the state, over 800 assorted weapons and 4,000 rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Then he assisted some of those young men who submitted their weapons by putting them on monthly stipend in realization of the fact that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. This happened before he moved to the stick approach. . Meanwhile, over 80% of the population of Benue is involved in agriculture. And so if you affect agriculture, you affect a large number of the population. So adding value to agriculture became something that was paramount to him and that’s what he has been driving. The man wants to increase production because he realized that land will never increase in quantity but human beings will increase in number. So if you want to feed a growing population, you must have a solution to making sure that you produce more food by adding value to what is produced, by conserving what is produced, by processing what is produced and that is what the governor has been doing. Then he has been able to weave together the diverse personalities in the state and has reduced tension in the polity by making sure that he accords respect and recognition to those that deserve it. He has provided stability in governance – transparency. Do you have any ambition to run for elective office? My assignment as a politician is to always provide service where they are needed. So if there is an opportunity and I am called upon, why not? Your principal has heeded the calls to run forsecond term. Will you stick with him as Chief of Staff or run for Benue North East senatorial election if the opportunity beckons? First of all, I am one of those who support Ortom for second term and I have no other reason not to keep supporting him. So I am for his second term unreservedly. What happens if I am called upon to go and give service? First let me say that it is true that my people in Kwande and Ushongo Local Government Areas, that bloc is agitating for the Senate slot and is for good reason because that is how our politics is run. The Sankera axis under Professor Daniel Saor did eight years, the Jechira axis under Col. Joseph Akaagerger did four years and Chief Senator Gemade is doing his second term of eight years. So you are talking about 12 years in Jechira and eight years in Sankera. This is what informs the agitation for the Senate slot by Kwande because we are like the people who decide who becomes a senator, so why are we going to be denied the slot?. That’s the agitation. Your question is, what happens if I am called upon to run for the senatorial election? Of course that is going on and where we are now is too early for me to comment and the reason is the full picture has not fully unfolded. But ask of whether I am available, as a politician, I can tell you that it is dangerous not to be available for service because if you do that, you become obsolete. But when we get there, we will take that decision. You said you and Ortom have known each other since 1988 and, since then, as politicians, you have not had any issues weighty enough to cause problems between the two of you? One credit we must give to Governor Samuel Ortom is his ability to sustain friendship. He tells you about the humility of his origin, and he has never ever forgotten a friend. I happen to be a beneficiary of that virtue because when I was wedding in 1990, he was in Pepsi and his assignment was to supply drinks, he was the person who brought drinks for my wedding. At a time, you also nurtured a governorship ambition and how were you able to concede to Ortom when he came to inform you that God told him you would anchor his governorship bid? No, that didn’t arise. When he talked to me in 1995, I had no idea. I mean I am not as fortunate as he is to know in 1992 that I would be governor. No! In the course of politicking, in reaction to political developments, that was what brought up my governorship ambition. So as a politician, strategic timing and action is very important. I want to let you know that immediately after that race, both the presidency and the national PDP had to find a way to bring us back into the PDP because we created a major crack in the party, so that is why we were brought back. If you remember it was after I was brought back as the state executive member of the party that we went ahead to win elections. So there was no conflict at any point in time between what Ortom sought to do and my contesting for governor at all. As Chief of Staff , are you bothered about the issue of non-payment of salary to workers in the State; if you are, what is government doing to solve the problem as soon as possible? I am concerned about the delay in payment of salary to workers. But I am glad you are asking this question because there is light at the end of the tunnel after the governor had spent sleepless nights to consult widely on this problem; so I can tell you that we are close to the end of the issue. We took time to do biometrics in the system to reduce the wage bill, but we discovered that whereas we were not recruiting, people were retiring and some were even dying but the wage bill was not going down. That is why the governor in his wisdom declared state of emergency on the issue of salary and subsequently set up the Abouno Committee which I am part of. We found out that the N7.8b per month wage bill was not sustainable. But the first thing we discovered was ten different names, one bank account. We may hover around N4.5b monthly wage bill. We have just one or two outstanding issues which we will soon resolve and, as you know, the last stakeholders meeting gave us a vote of confidence and an encouragement to go on and arrest this monster of unpaid salary. After a state of emergency was declared on payment of salary, capital projects were put on hold across the state. How soon are we expecting a return to site by heavy duty machines considering the fact that electioneering campaigns and serious politicking starts in 2018? You will realize that when we made a recovery of about N4.5b from one of the banks, it was money for bond which was intended for some of these projects you are talking about and some of those contractors went back to site. The summary of what I am saying is that once we arrest this monster, capital projects will go back. The Governor wants to provide the window for projects funds. If you have maybe N5b or N6b at the end of the month and your monthly wage bill is N4.5b, you have either N500m or N1b to play around with, the Ortom that I know, the next thing you will see is that infrastructural development will take off in high steam especially within the first quarter of the year until rains come because we are aware of the fact that roads construction are best handled during dry season, so we will have to make hey while the Sun shines. So government will return to those projects as soon as we start making some savings from the wage bill, it could be February, it could be March.
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