By Amos Aar
SPECIAL Adviser to Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase, has given a number of reasons why the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, always commission infrastructural projects in Benue State.
Wike on Monday, December 12, 2022 commissioned the Benue Geographic Information Service (BENGIS) instead of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fielding questions on Radio Benue during a one-hour phone-in programme, “Issues of the Moment” which highlighted the benefits of BENGIS, Akase had stated that Governor Wike remembers Benue State in her trying times.
“Nyesom Wike was recently awarded by Mr President as Mr Infrastructure. That’s not the word the president used but the title. So, he takes the lead, Governor Ortom his friend, Benue is a friend of Rivers State and Governor Ortom has also done very well in terms of infrastructure and if you have somebody who has been awarded by Mr President himself in infrastructure, then that person deserves to commission any project in any part of this country.
“Nyeson Wike has stood with Benue people in times of joy and in times of sorrow. Remember, he was here when Benue came under attack and when flood came, he was here, when a major market in Benue was burnt, Nyeson Wike sent assistance. The issue of attacks, the issue of flood, at a time he sent N200 million to support the IDPs and the flood as well.
“Nyeson Wike is a Chieftaincy titleholder in Benue, he is the Igyuve I Tiv 2. So, if you have such a friend who is there for you when you are rejoicing and even when you are in sorrow, he is there for you, such a person deserves to come to Benue as many times as his schedule permits to commission projects,” Akase explained.
On whether BENGIS will be sustained after Ortom’s administration, Akase said BENGIS is a good project hence successive administrations will sustain it, saying “it is not a white programme” because it borders on land which is crucial in human life having to do with shelter which is one of the three basic needs of life apart from food and clothing.
Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals, Hon. Bernard Unenge, added that BENGIS will not be discarded by the next administration because it generates revenue which every government is interested in.
Other benefits of BENGIS according to Hon. Unenge include switching from analogue to digital way of operating in the ministry of Lands, Survey and Solid where all processes and application for land title will be based on ICT programme. It will also enable people to obtain soft loans
Project Manager, Mario Bajouk said the digitization of land administration in the state will also help to avoid duplicate allocations and land titles will be secured. He further stated that the digital system will make the processing of C of O easier and faster.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, TPL Steven Adah, said their staff have been trained adequately to handle digital operations.
Adah disclosed that the Ministry of Lands Survey and Solid Minerals has already moved from analogue to digital system and they have been processing land titles digitally.
Unenge corroborated Adah, saying that Ministry already started digital operation in the temporary office and the temporary office was giving all the services that needed to be given in land administration, only that it was at a smaller scale. “Now that we are moving into the BENGIS service center, we are moving into a bigger space where we are going to have a lot of hands working to ensure that the processes move faster”.
Some callers on the programme including Emeka Onyogwu, Dennis Ejogah and elder Mbaukaan expressed worry that BENGIS was not extended to rural areas. However, the Commissioner, Hon. Bernard Unenge said, all the 23 local government areas in Benue State have been captured and that other towns that are not local government headquarters but have developed have also been captured.
