2015: I’ll return Benue to agriculture if elected – Tarzoor

<em>Rt. Hon. Terhemen Tarzoor is a former Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly and currently an aspirant on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform vying for the state’s governorship. In this interview with BODE OLAGOKE, he speaks on his plans for the state and the criticism trailing the purported screening of aspirants by the traditional council, among other issues

As a home grown person and having been involved in governance over a period of time, what specifically do you intend to bring to the table if elected?

Well, thank you very much. Every now and then, I’ve preached this issue of my strategic intent for the state. I’ve spoken far and wide at a good number of fora and I have always told them this is what I want to do. I want to promise and pledge solemnly that the state under my care and concern is not going to bite more than we can chew. In our consultations, we have chosen to pick just about five sectors which go by way of five point agenda and this forms the critical hub of our desire to take Benue to greater heights. In this five point agenda, we have considered agriculture, education, tourism, health, Pension Reforms with an addendum of two other sectors which are local government reforms as in traditional rulers basically. We want to pull the traditional institution out from the local government administration. Details of what I have said, is embedded in a critical engagement framework and I know that time is an enemy to us for now, I wouldn’t want to go much into the details but like recently, I unveiled every detail in each of the sectors considered.
For instance, agriculture is the only way out for our state. It is our own crude oil and so we have to go back to it. The people that gave us the food basket of the nation slogan before I was born, never made any mistake, so we have to check in on that and take comparative advantage of the natural endowment in this regard. Also in tourism, we are also endowed in that regard because of the natural features we have. We have the water bodies, we have the mountainous regions whereas other states don’t have these kind of blessings. So, we have to take comparative advantage also in this particular regard. In the area of health, we know that we want to strike a synergy that works; a synergy that brings together faith-based hospitals and government-owned hospitals, we want to see them working together and delivering health services to the teaming number of Benue people.
For education, we know that basically the bottom line of the crisis there has been infrastructure; we need to provide the capital project by way of constructing classroom blocks and hostels. That is what they need because the human management aspect of it are always regulated by trade union, by labour unions, which you cannot doctor but it’s a national concern, so all you need to do is to oblige to the counterpart engagement as they go on in that regard, respecting it where necessary.
In the area of sporting, I tell you that we look forward to seeing a Benue State Football Academy in existence. This we believe will give us the opportunity of exporting players baked in Benue. Of course, you know that is going to attract a fee, what that means is there will be increase in our income, and jobs will be created for our sporting youths.
Then, in the aspect of pension reforms, we have a good package for that, because we don’t have the old people’s home or the retired people’s home. In lieu of this, we must have to give them a good pension package so as to elongate their lives. Thank God, they are living in their various homes , so all we need to do is just package a good Pension Reforms for them, I have said grossly, I have spoken about virtually all the sectors, so that is what I intend to do.

I understand that you are one of the fore-runners in the forth coming governorship election, come 2015 in Benue State and there has been a lot of foul cry concerning aspirants, we hear today that the traditional rulers have done some screenings and endorsed this and that. Having gotten this opportunity to speak with you, what is the state of the race?

Well, I will tell you clearly that whether traditional rulers have done this or have done that, the fact remains that they are also stakeholders in the system. They are not aliens, they are sons of Benue and they also have their opinion on issues. Traditional rulers are said not to be involved in politicking, but that does not preclude them from advising. I say this with all sense of commitment because as a politician, if you visit any local government, the first point of call is to pay homage to the traditional ruler of that local government before you visit the party structure. This is to tell us that yes indeed, traditional rulers also have a stake in the system. So there is nothing wrong about them coming in, at a point to say okay this is our take on this matter, there is nothing bad about it. They ’ve said theirs, it’s left for politicians to subscribe to it or not but they have done their own advisory role. As a respecter of the traditional institution, one who is groomed in a traditional home because my late father was a traditional ruler, I know what it takes to be in that particular system. So, I tell you that my stake in this matter is that they have said their own mind about it and we thank God that we are privileged to be amongst the people that they had considered, so even on sentiment basis, we should appreciate what they have done and not criticize and not to condemn. If you see what is happening in Nasarawa, I know that the Emir of Nasarawa or so has called a meeting with the parliamentarians and the Executive, the governors and members of the State Assembly to mediate to look into the crisis because at the end of the day it is the state that suffers. Will you now conclude that the Emir is delving in to politics? No, I feel he is only trying to reduce acrimony in the political system.
There is nothing wrong about traditional rulers saying their own bit about the process. The most important thing is that we should respect them, we should see into it that they are custodians of our culture, so whatever they say, no matter how painful it is, I know they will not just wake up over night and say it, I know they must have gone through some internal findings before coming up with such positions, so I go with that.

What you have outlined is not entirely different from what is contained in the working document of the present administration, why do you think it was difficult for this government to excel in this regard?

If you say the present government has not excelled, I beg to disagree because every government has a focus and we want to believe that they have also excelled in the direction of their focus. Government cannot do everything overnight, the area of infrastructure, if you have been to Makurdi about 10 years ago and you are there now, you will agree with me that the government has done very well. However you look at it, you will see so many roads that hitherto were not accessible but today they are. We are believing that in their own focus, they have excelled in what they intended to do. I am coming in to also have my own focus even though building on what is on ground. I will also, in order to take the state to greater height build on my own focus and then drag the state forward and that is why I have these chosen these factors that I outlined earlier. So, to say that government has been able to move forward or this or that is now a relative assessment, because to you, you might feel it is not been possible or it is been difficult or it is not been doable. To those who are there, it has been excellent, so it is a relative issue but I tell you, I want to believe Government has tried immensely.

The road to becoming a governor could be thorny especially in our climes, How prepared are you for the race?