Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state has been commended by media the Freelance Journalists Federation (FJF) for what the group described as his modest achievements in office just under one year.
The group in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Comrade Joshua Abah highlighted the transformational pace of the Alia administration under just one year in office, noting that the governor has surpassed the expectations of ordinary people of the state who are accustomed to perennial bad governance in the past.
The group explained that as journalists, it was attracted to under-study the leadership model of governor Alia having observed that he is able to achieve a lot without much media fanfare.
“Just under one year in office, amidst glaring conspiracy theories against his leadership, the governor has remained undaunted and focused on his vision which is demonstrated in the prompt payment of salaries and pensions, urban and rural roads infrastructure, revival of health sector, education reforms as well as improved security among many other milestones.
“On the whole, as far as the conversation on transparency and accountability is concerned, governor Alia beats the rest of the governors based on our independent findings and must be commended. The establishment of Due Diligence Unit , quality assurance department and the overhauling of the civil service amongst many others stands the governor out in terms of commitment to the people.
“The Federation further applauds the Governor as the most proactive in terms of prioritizing civil servants welfare as shown in the last (12) months.
“We find the governor’s infrastructural drive across the state as too overwhelming given the scarce resources available and commend his sole resolve.”
FJF urged leaders of the state who are peeved by the governor’s political philosophy to focus on the masses to accept that times have changed and the people deserve the fruits of democracy especially under the current dispensation.
“With a governor that is committed to improving the lives of the ordinary Benue people, past and present leaders who made mistakes during their time should team up to support him so as to restore the many years of lost prosperity in the land of plenty,” the statement added.