Special RepoRt on nIgeria’s BENUe s t A t e BENUE STATE: FACTS AND FIGURES Origin: Benue State derives its name from the River Benue, the second largest river in Nigeria and the most prominent geographical feature in the state Date of creation: February 1976 Characteristics: Rich agricultural region; full of rivers, breadbasket of Nigeria. Present Governor: Chief George Akume Population: 5 million Area: 34,059 sq. kms Capital: Makurdi Number of local government: 23 Traditional councils: Tiv Traditional Council, headed by the Tor Tiv; and Idoma Traditional Council, headed by the Och’Idoma. Location: Lies in the middle of the country and shares boundaries with Cameroon and five states namely, Nasarawa to the north, Taraba to the east, Cross River and Enugu to the south, and Kogi to the west Climate: A typical tropical climate with two seasons – rainy season from April to October in the range of 150-180 mm, and the dry season from November to March. Temperatures fluctuate between 23 degrees centigrade to 31 degrees centigrade in the year Main Towns: Makurdi (the state capital), Gboko, Katsina-Ala, Adikpo, Otukpo, Korinya, Tar, Vaneikya, Otukpa, Oju, Okpoga, Awajir, Agbede, Ikpayongo, and Zaki-Biam Rivers: Benue River and Katsina Ala Culture and tourism: A rich and diverse cultural heritage, which finds expression in colourful cloths, exotic masquerades, music and dances. Benue dances have won national and international acclaim, including the Swange and the Anuwowowo Main occupation: Farming Agricultural produce: Grains, rice, cassava, sorghum, soya beans, beniseed (sesame), groundnuts, tubers, fruits, and livestock Mineral resources: Limestone, kaolin, zinc, lead, coal, barites, gypsum, Feldspar and wolframite for making glass and electric bulbs, and salt Investment policies: Government has a liberal policy of encouraging investors through incentives and industrial layout, especially in the capital Makurdi, which is served with paved roads, water, electricity and telephone. Incentives: There is an initial five years tax exemption for new industries and government is also willing to go into partnership with investors (up to 15% shares). Industries: Benue Cement Company PLC, Taraku Mills, Benue Roof Tiles Company, Benue Breweries, Benue Burnt Bricks Company, Benro Packaging Company, AgroMillers Ltd, etc New Industries: Cement Company at Mbatyav, Fruit Juice Factory at Katsina Ala, Chief George Akume, Governor of Benue State Fertiliser Blending Plant in Makurdi, Furniture Factory and Plastic Factory. Special RepoRt on nIGERIA’s BENUe s t A t e Holding the middle ground for national stability Benue State was created in 1976 out of the old Benue Plateau State which itself was created in 1967. Today, Benue, the land of the great river, prides itself as being the bridge between the two oldest political zones in the country, the South and the North. Ben Asante reports. Governor George Akume has dramatically changed the face of Benue State. ne of the many characteristics of the people of Benue State period, he has taken agriculture and agro-industry to a higher level through is that they are among the best farmers in Nigeria. They are his Benue Advance Plan, and has thus increased the state’s contributions O also the people through whose land runs the country’s second to the national economy. According to Governor Akume, “most of the food largest river, the Benue River. Acclaimed for their prowess in agriculture produced through the hard work of our farmers is exported to feed other for centuries, they have succeeded in taming their plush and resourceful parts of the nation”. countryside and justifying their position as the breadbasket of the nation. The Benue people are also proud of the fact that they have earned The current state governor, Chief George Akume, was first voted into accolades as a people whose cultural forms are important elements in office six years ago and is now serving his second and final term. In that the rich heritage of a nation made up of a multiplicity of ethnic groups and cultures. Their unique locally woven native cloth that forms the main illustrious career that included time spent working in the federal civil component of the traditional costumes of the two major ethnic groups in service. the state, is a distinctive example of its rich cultural history. The black and He was a director in the State House under the last elected governor. white version of this cloth is associated with the Tiv people, and the brown When he stood for elections six years ago, he had been well prepared by and white version with the Idomas. These Benue cloths are among Nigeria’s his career for the position he sought through the ballot box. He has worked more easily identifiable national symbols. with notable politicians at both the state and federal levels, and was once an Although the hard working people of these two ethnic groups are aide to the current Federal Minister Iyorchia Ayu, one of the most influential regarded as members of Nigeria’s minority people, they form a substantial leaders from the Middle Belt. majority within Benue State. As minorities in the old Northern Region, Under Akume’s stewardship, Benue State retains a unique place within alongside their more numerous Hausa-Fulani neighbours, the people Nigeria as a bridge between the South and the North, and a symbol of the of Benue struggled zealously to maintain their religious faith and core determination of the minorities not to become second class citizens in their traditional and family values. own land. c They believe that their devotion to the Christian faith in particular played a large part in helping them to ward off invaders from further north in many battles. They became known for their bravery in these struggles and this is why they were considered particularly useful as military recruits by both the colonials and those who built the post-independence Nigerian Army. The Tiv are the largest single group among the so-called minorities who occupy this middle ground between the three generic regions of the Nigerian polity known as the North, the West, and the East. Their leaders were at the forefront of the struggle for autonomy for the Middle Belt. Even after his death, the late Joseph S. Tarka, the patriarch of that struggle, is regarded as the most important leader who made it possible for Benue and Plateau States, the core states of the Middle Belt, to come into existence. In fact, the first state created in the territory was the Benue Plateau State in 1967, and it was not until 1976 that Benue was created as a state on its own. Tarka, who was a popular national politician in the 1960s and 1970s, led a bitter struggle against the hegemony of Northern Muslim Hausa-Fulani rule as part of a wider struggle for minority rights. Some of his admirers describe this as a battle for “internal independence”. Tarka and his followers, through their agitation for minority rights, changed the country’s geo-political map permanently. The victory of this struggle largely paved the way for greater devolution of powers from the centre to the regions through the creation of states. The process has now benefited all other minorities throughout the nation of 120 million people. Echoes of the struggle for self-fulfillment and recognition for Nigeria’s many minorities are however still reverberating. One recent example of this is the increasing attempts to broker a convergence of the interests of the people of the Middle Belt and the oil-producing South-South political zone in an attempt to have the minorities produce the country’s next president in 2007. Governor Akume, the third democratically elected governor of Benue State’s rich culture is displayed in their distinctive Benue State, is highly regarded by the people because of his simple and traditional cloth, dance and music unassuming nature. He is a humble and selfless leader who seems to be always seeking to find ways to serve others even as he provides leadership. These are traits that appear to be ingrained in his family background. “Under Akume's His father was one of the pre-independence leaders of the Middle Belt Movement that spawned Joseph Tarka. stewardship, Benue State The family comes from the same town as Tarka, just 30 minutes drive from the state capital, Makurdi, with their family compounds sharing a retains a unique place common fence. within Nigeria as a bridge Tarka’s political influence is still strong throughout the state and the torch of self determination first lit by him has been passed from generation between the South and to generation since his death in the 1970s. the North, and a symbol of The first elected governor of the state, the late Aper Aku, a highly respected teacher, was a disciple of Tarka. The second democratically the determination of the elected governor, Reverend Moses Adasu who died recently, was also a minorities not to become custodian of the Tarka legacy, and Governor Akume’s links to the movement go back many years. second class citizens in Before entering politics, Akume was an accomplished civil servant their own land. ” who started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. He retired as a permanent secretary in Benue’s civil service in 1998, thus ending an Special RepoRt on nIGERIA’s BENUe s t A t e The breadbasket of Nigeria An investor’s haven The “bread basket of Nigeria” is open for business, and as an added incentive, the state government is pulling all the stops to make investors even more welcome. and the farmers who produce these crops have become so expert at their Say it in symbols – the breadbasket of Nigeria task that, with a little spur from investors, they will be able to expand their output even more.