Benue State Governor, Fr. Hyacinth Alia, represents a new order of using public resources for the benefit of the majority, Mr Ferdinand Shinyi, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Strategic Communications, has said.
Fr. Alia was elected Governor in 2023, and less than two years into his first term, Mr. Shinyi says it is imperative for all to work to ensure that “this new order endures.”
According to Mr. Shinyi, “it will be a tragedy of immense proportions if Alia happens to be just a flash in the pan and we go back to Egypt soon after his departure.” He says he is already thinking of “a worthy successor who would succeed Alia in 2031 and ensure the survival of the new order.”
In a Facebook post on his account, Ferdinand Shinyi, the governor’s aide, wrote: “Governor Hyacinth Alia has released over one billion naira for the payment of arrears of salaries and other benefits of the staff of Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH). It’s heartwarming!
“This comes in the wake of a similar gesture extended to the academic staff of the Benue State University, whose 32-month arrears of Academic Earned Allowance was cleared by the Governor earlier this month.
“There are songs of joy on the lips of the beneficiaries as they go about their personal projects with a spring in their steps. New houses will be built. Debts will be repaid. Family needs will be taken care of, and new wives will be married. Indeed, development comes in different stripes.
“Amidst the ululations of joy in the camps of the beneficiaries, there are others who are asking, ‘what about us?’ To them, we say, the Governor sees and hears you; please be patient; it will soon be your turn. These things come in instalments. There is never enough money to settle outstanding claims in one fell swoop.
“Some people say the payment of salaries and pensions is not an achievement, that the man who pays workers and retirees is not doing anything out of the ordinary but only fulfilling a basic leadership responsibility. Well, payment of salaries never used to be an achievement until our leaders made it a problem by refusing to pay. So, in that context, the one who comes in and solves the problem has achieved something.
“Any governor who comes into office prioritizing the welfare of workers and retirees as Alia has done deserves a pat on the back for being honourable and just. He is doing what others have failed to do.
“The Benue story with regards to salaries and pensions was turning into a dirge as workers and their army of dependents mourned their truncated hopes and aspirations. People succumbed to avoidable deaths due to lack of proper medication. Marriages were terminated. People suffered the shame of being unable to meet basic obligations. Others went into crime. The litany of the aftershocks of salary-hoarding is long.
“There is nothing as debilitating as working hard with the expectation of payment yet ending up with nothing at the end of the day. How do we feel when someone promises us money that will take forever? The anxiety of waiting for a credit alert can heighten one’s blood pressure. Benue workers and their loved ones were dying in instalments before the coming of Alia. There was no guarantee that the next paycheck would come. They were regaled with tales by moonlight as to why salaries were not being paid while those in power played football with public resources. It was all doom and gloom.
“I said some time ago that the most vociferous campaigners for Alia’s re-election in 2027 would be civil servants and retirees. The sad memories of life in Egypt are still fresh in their minds, and they would stop at nothing to ensure they never return there.
“Take Alia out for 6 months today and bring in the average Benue politician as governor, and the person will still find a reason to owe salaries within those 6 months. They will always find a reason to divert money away from paying salaries; it’s in their blood.
“It’s not as if there are no moral Benue men or women to serve with sincerity besides Alia. They abound, but the problem is that they stand zero chance of winning the governorship with how politics is played in our clime. The powerbrokers don’t like the ‘colour of their eyes.’ Alia’s emergence was by the grace of Almighty God.
“Governor Alia represents a new order of using public resources for the benefit of the majority, and we all must work to ensure that this new order endures. As for me, I am already thinking of a worthy successor who would succeed Alia in 2031 and ensure the survival of the new order. It would be a tragedy of immense proportions if Alia were just a flash in the pan, and we went back to Egypt soon after his departure.
“May God help Benue state.”
