By Terfa Naswem
Orvesen Terver Akase you were the Chief Press Secretary to the former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom while he was in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and you maintained your position when he defected to the Peoples Democratic party) on July 25, 2018. As his former Chief Press Secretary, and currently his Media Aide, I believe you have all the information required to enlighten me and redeem me and my cohorts from our ‘acute ignorance’ of Ortom’s heaven-on-earth governance and development in Benue State.
Like I said, I will be asking you, Bemgba Iortyom and cohorts a lot of questions about Ortom administration and your answers will go a long way to changing the notion many people and I have about Ortom.
The DAILY POST of September 10, 2015, with, the headline, “100 Days: Ortom Begs Benue People For Patience” written by Sylvester Ugwuanyi contained certain promises Ortom made to the good people of Benue State that he failed to fulfill of them.
Ortom promised to govern Benue State with the fear of God but as far as I know, the devil took over Benue State instead of God during his reign. Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous.
The fear of God for believers is to “respect” Him. While respect is defined in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. When we were children, our fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions on our part. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in a way that pleases Him which Ortom failed to do as he promised.
In paragraph 3 of the report, it reads, “Stressing that he is determined and has carried out proactive steps to complete projects and correct the wrongs in the state with boldness, he promised to rule the state well by imbibing virtues that would foster forgiveness, reconciliation, selflessness, integration and peace to enhance rapid development”.
In paragraph 5 of the report, it says, “….It…important to note that my administration has achieved meaningfully within the 100 days but I will rather appeal to the Benue people to be patient with me because I am committed to running government with the fear of God, forgiveness, fairness, selflessness, reconciliation and integration to enhance peace and development.”
From the two excerpts from the report, it is clear that Ortom failed in keeping his promises whom both of you portrayed as a sanctimonious being and the messiah Benue State had. I have the following pertinent questions that need pertinent answers:
(1) Ortom promised to rule Benue State with the fear of God. Did he act in Benue State with the fear of God? If yes, give me verifiable information on how he did it with the fear of God.
(2) Did Ortom correct the wrongs in the state at all? If yes, can you state them?
I want you Terver Akase, Bemgba Iortyom and cohorts to know that the accurate answers you will provide here will contribute to the conclusion that Ortom is the worst governor in Benue State history.
Both you and your cohorts have been criticizing the Executive Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia for failing to keep some of his promises when he is just 5 months in office while Ortom who spent 8 years couldn’t keep to any of the promises he made in his campaigns for first and second terms including his first 100 days in office.
Both you and your cohorts have one week to provide me and my cohorts with the answers we need because by Friday next week, another article will be written on another topic till it reaches 126 as stated earlier.
This is the best avenue for you all to change the narrative about Ortom because your silence will affirm the notion that Ortom remains the worst governor in Benue State history.