Harnessing Benue's Economic Potentials

        
       THE WEALTH OF BENUE LIE FALLOW

Written: 07/07/2015

By: Jacup Ochulayi
Somewhere in the southern part of Benue state lie fallow in large commercial quantity tones of limestone, the raw material for producing cement. Ulayi is one of the nine (9) districts in Ado local government of Benue state, the area contribute immensely to the mineral, geographic, agriculture and overall potential of the state. Study shows that all this potentials and economic viability in the area and the state have not been effectively harnessed by successive government and the private investor, even as several unsuccessful attempts have been made toward that direction.
Couple of months ago I read an article on the BBC website titled : D.R Congo; cursed by its natural wealth, it was written by Dan Snow, a British historian and TV presenter , the opening paragraph of that article reads “ Democratic republic of Congo is potentially the most richest country on earth, but colonialism, slavery and corruption have turned it into one of the poorest"  Read here this article stroke me and also opened my eyes to imagine a lot  of things, it  also boosted my sense of pride as an African, a  Nigerian and an idoma son.
Days and weeks came by and I kept wondering in curiosity, I wanted to know how a person or people so rich in natural endowment yet made poor, by what? I asked myself, circumstances or lack of political will? I wondered on, then, I remembered underdevelopment, bad leadership and tribal conflict could be some of the factors.
The situation in the D.R Congo is not far fetch from what obtains in Benue state the acclaimed food basket of the nation, it is not just by name that it was given that slogan, but for its rich agricultural produces and potential, a warmth and hospitable people, strong and determined youth population, all this are just but a few positive attributes to mention about Benue state.
Food produce such as rice, Beans, cassava, orange, sweet potatoes, maize, soya beans, and millet are some of the commonly grown food in different parts of the state, it is amazing the large quantity of food cultivated / harvested in Benue state and transported to other parts of the country year after year, with no tangible economic returns to the state.
Geological evidence also shows large commercial quantity of limestone (cement) in Ulayi and if effectively utilized will generate revenue for the state, create jobs for the teaming youth population and open the area and the state at large to rural and urban development. Timely, is the fact that the federal government of Nigeria recently placed a ban on the importation of cement into the country, in a bid to encourage local production of the commodity, Talking about cement and limestone, it may also interest you to know that in the 90s, revenue from Gboko cement factory amount to a large portion of the state’s internally generated revenue IGR, before poor management made it fall into the hands of private ownership and the rest since remain history.
Reviving and building new agro and cottage industries, as well as supporting existing small and medium enterprises SMEs in the state is expedient and it will just be one good step in the right direction for the APC led government of Dr Samual Ortomin in the state, considering his wealth of experience as Nigeria’s immediate past minister of trade and investment, he and Dr Olusugun Aganga as senior minister at that time, held that position and Nigeria was able to attract over 1 billion dollar worth   of foreign direct investment into the country, the people of Benue state will not be asking for too much if such is replicated in the state.
Taking proactive steps in achieving this and other critical needs of the state will set Benue state on the path of socio economic self-sustainability, it will also provide employment for the teaming youth of the state who are almost at the brink of restiveness, such action will attract domestic and foreign investors, and most importantly, the state will begin to rip the full benefit of its potentials.
The Ulayi cement project has since remained a paper proposal yearning to see the light of day, which successive government and private investors have not been able execute. Opening the project to investors and giving the needed government support to see to its successful completion will just be one of the biggest selling points of this administration when it is counting its achievement in the coming years.