Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State in this interview denies accusations that governors have become dictatorial in their states and explained how he has been able to maintain security in Benue among other issues. Excerpts:

 

You were given an award recently for provision of water to the people of your state, what is the real situation of water supply in Benue?

I was invited to the US for the purpose of an award. We went there and it was very successful; though it was nearly affected by Nigerian politics as the ACN wrote that, the award should be withdrawn, but in spite of that, the award was given to me, and even beyond that the state of Georgia gave me an honorary citizenship of Georgia and also an honorary Ambassador of the State of Georgia. So I think that is something I should cherish.

As regards the position of potable water, you know Benue is divided into three senatorial districts; the zone that suffers most from lack of water is zone ‘C’, because of the topography of the area. The water level is so low that before you can achieve it something extra ordinary has to be done. I felt something should be done in Otukpo which is the headquarters of that zone. The same thing with Katsina- Ala which is the headquarters of zone ‘A.’ luckily we have River Katsina-Ala that traverse the local government and then we have the state capital Makurdi which has the River benue.

To build three major water projects even for the federal government is not a mean task but I decided to brace myself up for the challenge and I built three major water projects; one for each of the senatorial districts and reticulation are ongoing in two of the projects.

Nigeria recently sent troops to Mali, how do you view the measure?

It’s a good and commendable development. I must commend President Goodluck Jonathan for that initiative it would go a long way in bringing stability to the region and even improve security in Nigeria because some of the insurgents in Nigeria have been found to have trained in Mali. Reports say some of the Malian rebels are running into Nigeria, I don’t know how far that is true, but if our borders remain as porous as they are, then we are going to have problems if they move into Nigeria and begin to train people here. So I think that beyond sending troops, we should also make sure that our borders are well manned and not allow these people to move into Nigeria. But I think we are going to have a respite. So the decision of the president to send troops to Mali is commendable and I think it is a decision that should be supported by all Nigerians.

There was a security issue in Benue involving a Boko Haram operative, what is the situation now?

I am somebody who applies myself seriously on the issue of security, you are aware that before I became governor, Benue was at the war front with virtually all its neighbouring states. We were in crisis with Nasarawa ,Taraba (which led to the Zaki Biam invasion), Cross Rivers and with Ebonyi States.

When I became governor I decided to engage these people personally, I visited the chief executives of these states, held meetings at the border and I have continued to do that; that is why you have not heard that Benue is having altercations with any of the states at the border in the last few years.

The issue we had was with the Fulani which is not peculiar to Benue, even in the far north we have Fulani having problems with the peasant farmers.

But among all the neighbouring states I made sure I put a stop to that. In Taraba, the Aku-uka in a very unusual manner, invited me in the presence of all prominent sons of Taraba and gave me a peace award in Wukari. That was very unusual because we have always been fighting. I visited the Aku-Uka myself and held meetings with governors of these border areas and so substantially, I was able to stop that.

We had more serious security challenges within the state when I became governor. What I did was to apply to then President Yar’Adua that I had a situation, so he allowed me to form a task force called ‘Operation Zenda’ which is in existence up till now. The task force has done quite a lot in addressing the issue of security that we had in Benue.
At the time I became governor you couldn’t stay outside beyond 7 pm as criminal elements were all over the place, but now Benue is one of the safest states in the country, you could stay out for 24 hours. It’s about the only state in the North now that has night life on a daily basis without any serious security breach.
That is not to say in terms of security we have eliminated all issues entirely, it is practically impossible for you to do that but, when you take a holistic look at the security situation, you will say that Benue state is one of the safest in the country. I’ve expended quite a lot of money, I bought four APCs for the police from Canada, and I have continued to buy Hi-lux  vans for the police and the military.
As I talk to you, there are requests for me to buy more so that we’ll continue to cover the state properly, so a lot of money goes in because I spend over 20 million every month on ‘Operation Zenda’ operatitves alone. Then we have the police who are within some flashpoints in Benue, that is a different amount we pay.
The Boko Haram kingpin that was traced to Benue was because of the watchful eyes of the security apparatus that we set up around the place. They were unable to arrest him but at least we heaved a sigh of relief because from the security report that was given to me, he had actually started recruiting people. Unfortunately, when I raised the issue that Boko Haram was sending threats to attack me, the media in Nigeria, just moved on me and said that I was being an alarmist. When they traced this major operative to Benue, nobody had written an apology. Some papers wrote editorials that I was seeking popularity. Now they tracked the man and nobody wrote to say we are sorry, we didn’t know you were talking from position of information.
When I raised the alarm, I expected the media to ask me, why are you saying this? But nobody asked me, but there were all kinds of comments against me. But they attacked the Emir of Kano.
I believe all of us now should be sincere in addressing security issues, that is the only way we can address this.
How much do you spend on security?
I spend a lot of money on security, a lot.
You went to see the governor of Enugu State, what is the situation?
I believe the Governor should be back in a few weeks. He spoke with one of your colleagues. He’s very okay and has been discharged from the hospital, I think it’s just for him to get himself ready and come back. I believe in about two weeks he should be back. He’s very healthy and told us the doctors said he’s now free to come back. He’s very okay. I was surprised when I read where some people were asking that how are they sure that the pictures we took with him were not arranged?
I don’t know why we have become so cynical. Somebody is genuinely sick, and he’s fully recovered. I think that other than wish him dead, we should pray for our leaders. It is unfortunate that we have decided to derogate leadership in this country. Once you derogate leadership in your society, you are derogating yourself.  We are losing our respect outside Nigeria, smaller countries just dismiss us with the wave of hand because we have no respect for leadership. In other countries they respect their leaders so other people have no option but to respect them.
They don’t respect us because leadership in this county is not respected. When I was invited for an award in America, it was people from Benue who wrote to those people saying that I was a thief that I have been arraigned for laundering N500 million. That is not true and I don’t know where they got that from. So how do you expect that those people would respect me if my people are saying that I am laundering money? So these are some of things affecting the country.
As governors’ forum we met to go to see our colleagues who were ill. One was involved in a plane crash, the forum had already sent people there, the governor of Cross Rivers is also sick in America, and then the governor of Enugu. What is wrong with a forum, sending a team to visit colleagues who are sick? I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I have no reason to tell Nigerians a lie if the governor was not well, but he has fully recovered, seeing him you wouldn’t even know he has been that sick because, he was very sick. The kind of sickness he had is not something anybody would wish for himself, but he is fully recovered.
The purpose of taking that picture was not to send to anybody, out of excitement; we felt we should take a photograph but somehow it found its way to the press and we have seen lots of comments that I think are unfortunate. But we did what we did out of concern for our colleague who happened to be the governor of Enugu and we would have done that for anybody.
There was pressure on you by some elders in Katsina Ala saying you should run for senate. What is your reaction?
Elders in my senatorial zone invited me for a reception and they now said they wanted me to go the Senate. That is what the people wish, but what I wish may be different from what the people wish. I’ve spent eight years in the National Assembly by the grace of God I am spending eight years as governor; don’t you think that I can do something else? It’s possible that I’ll want to do something else. Even If the people say that I have represented them well all these years and want me in another position after I finish this one, I think it is premature, because Benue is the most difficult state to govern, and I have been able to govern for six years and I have two more years to go. Let them allow me concentrate on the act of governance then in 2014 if I decide I want to go to the senate, then I will let them know but now, I don’t think I am interested in anything other than concentrating on the mandate I have been given.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has come under attack from various stakeholders like Prof. Aminu and Chief Clark, who alleged that governors have becoming so dictatorial that they now pressure the president to do their bidding, what is your reaction?
I find the comments of some of our leaders regarding the governors’ forum very unfortunate. These are well respected leaders who have held positions in the past. I know the criticism that Jibril Aminu went through when he was minister of petroleum, and ordinarily, I would have expected that a highly respected Nigerian and leader like that should be cautious making statements on a collective leadership that represents the entire country because the governors represent the entire country. We are the eyes and spokespersons of the people in our various states and those states make up what is Nigeria.
When you derogate the president you are derogating the entire country. So I think leaders should be cautious in what they say especially those who have been in positions and who are respected and whose views would be taken seriously. If I represent a state and I feel very strongly that my state is being shortchanged in the sharing formula, I should say so, because in the first place, I was elected to articulate and represent the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state, so I should talk about it. That is not to say I am opposing the status quo. As you very well know, in the governors’ forum people say these are those of us that are close to Jonathan, so I don’t think the collective forum would oppose anything the president is doing. But there are issues that must be addressed in a federal system, that is not to say that the forum is opposing one person. Even in America where they have practiced democracy for centuries, there are issues that are continuous and you expect that we won’t raise issues of federalism? It is a complex system which issues need to be addressed as you understand them and move forward. And so issues raised by the governors’ forum are issues that affect the people we represent.
No person in his right frame of mind would go out and begin to attack the president in a manner that these people are saying. When people have problems with the governors in their states, instead of them to address it as such, they now generalize and say it is the whole forum. Of course we understand the issues in Adamawa State, so I believe that the elder statesman Jibril Aminu if he has a problem with the governor in his state; should address that issue as a local problem in Adamawa. The issues in Adamawa do not affect Benue. I have the distinguished Senate President from Benue, we relate, I give him his due respect, we cooperate among ourselves, so how does an issue in Adamawa become an issue in Benue that there would be that general statement that governors are a hindrance to the president. They just want to create and artificial problem between the governors and the president.
We don’t have problems with the president, we totally support what he is doing and we believe that the only way we can move forward is to raise issues that can help the government and the country and that is what has happened. We are not opposing what the president is doing. It is in the imagination of the people that are saying it. And if individually they are people who have problems with their governors they should say so and stop making general statement that the governors’ forum has become in a problem to the country, if it is becoming a problem to the country then let us cancel the position of governor and then maybe we can pick some of these elders to preside over these states otherwise I think we should be cautious in what we are saying about our country especially at that level.