Nigerian Concord Newspaper
In this exclusive interview with our reporter, a former Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation who is also a frontline governorship aspirant in Benue State, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaaa, SAN speaks on the areas of governance which he will prioritize as governor of the State in 2027. Excerpts:
You are being called upon to join the 2027 Governorship race. Sir, as Governor of Benue State, what are the things you would do differently?
Thank you very much. You are aware that INEC hasn’t lifted embargo for the contest for the seat but if my people call me to serve them, that will be a different thing which anyone will be proud of especially if the person has the experience to make positive changes in Governance. Benue state has gone into a very big crisis, political crisis, herders/farmers crisis, banditry and a lot like that which are affecting the state today. As a governor who wants to be successful, the first thing is to bring peace, ensure security and also unite the people of Benue State. One thing I will do differently is to make sure that it won’t be winner takes all for the political party that sponsors me because it’s good to run an all-inclusive government. Respecting the voices of the opposition will make me work harder as a governor. And as governor, I will make sure that the opposition aren’t left out in the administration. They too will have their roles to play to make the government work so it won’t be winner takes it all policy. So as governor, I will run an all-inclusive government and bring everyone on board, and this will assist me to totally eradicate insecurity in Benue state. There won’t be development if there is no peace and safety. I will make sure that every life that lives on the soil of Benue matters, and the glory of the State as the Food Basket of the Nation is returned to Benue.
How will you react to reports that some governors have not performed to expectations despite the huge allocations they do receive from the Federal Government. Will this change with you as Governor?
I am Mike Kaase Aondoakaaa and I don’t believe in the politics of comparing myself with any governor either former or serving. It’s for the electorates to judge the performance of the current governors in the country most especially in Benue state because all the allocations that have come are open to everybody in the state. I may become a witness that has an interest if I begin to judge him now so it’s better for the people that elected him to judge. But all I can say is that if I am governor of Benue State with the required resources available, I will be able to restore peace and security within a short period of time. With enough resources, one will be able to grow agriculture. My administration can go into partnership with the displaced farmers. Their farmlands and houses have been destroyed, and those lands are now vacant. As governor, we can develop those lands with an aim to effect a mechanized agriculture. With this, my administration will go into a mechanized farming in those areas that are volatile to attacks. I shall also create farm houses where the farmers who have been displaced will be staying instead of putting them in Makurdi. They will go to their ancestral areas and be living in those farm houses. Government will then enter into partnership with them, take over these lands , clear the lands for the farmers and ensure that mechanized farming is done there. We will create a mechanized farming for rice, sorghum, Ginger, millet and others like that. Government won’t turn these farmers to labourers. We will divide those lands we have cleared for them to cultivate and we will buy all the products. That is the only way one can bring peace. A government cannot say that it will take people to a place where their homes have been destroyed. You must first of all create homes for them and also create mechanized farming activities in the area. When you clear the lands that have been destroyed , it will be easy to see if any attacker is coming. Also, we will work on areas where their economies are weak as a result of attacks. Like in Guma, the economy is weak because of constant attacks. As governor, I will encourage the farmers there with grants to be able to go back to their farmlands. They will need money from the government for cultivation. We will also provide them enough security so that they won’t be farming under fears. It will be easy to channel security to protect them once you are able to create farm settlement for them. Since it’s a mechanized farming, the settlement will provide for a place where we can put tractors for them, and by the time you boost their economy, they should be able to defend themselves. I will make sure that i fight the insurgents so as to be able to restore peace and security back to the state. With my experience, no attacker will have the nerves to invade the lands of Benue State. Everyone living in Benue including livestock farmers must be adequately protected. The state belong to the people and they must be protected very well. A reasonable government should use all government apparatus to get justice if one life is lost. It’s not that people will be killed today, tomorrow and nothing will be done to get justice for them. To protect our people, we will make use of the Nigerian Police Act which our governors seem to have ignored. The Act has made provision where you can collaborate with the Nigerian Police to achieve Community Policing where government can recruit people in rural areas for community policing and they will be trained by the police . They will be within the people and should be able to provide security for the people. How can you say that you will return IDPs to their ancestral homes when you haven’t engaged the place? You must first of all build good farm houses for them like one bedroom, two bedrooms like that. It won’t be like their houses that were burnt down easily by their attackers because they were made of mud blocks and palm leaves. This is exactly the thing that is happening in Jigawa. I have traveled there to see it for myself and the governor has cleared all the lands that were destroyed by attackers and he is giving them to farmers. Farmers are so rich in Jigawa that they don’t even have time to visit any office to look for government works. This is also what a former governor of Nasarawa did. He engaged the farmers and made them livestock and mechanized farmers. Nasarawa is now more advanced in food production than Benue State that is called the Food Basket of the Nation.
What will you do with the existing Anti Open Grazing Law of the State as governor, considering allegations that the current governor at a point wanted to repeal the Law?
I heard during the last Legal Year from a learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria that the governor has amended the Law, using an Executive Order. He pressed further that the governor has no power to amend a Law passed by the State House of Assembly and duly signed by a governor, and I think he was talking what was legally correct. The only thing I have as factual evidence is that the enforcement of the law is not as when Former Governor Samuel Ortom was in office. Maybe the governor is doing his own enforcement in a different way. To answer your question, I will not only comply with the Law but I will make sure it is strengthened both in character and enforcement. There will be so much advocacy for our farmers. The Law is for the protection of everyone so we must uphold it. The only thing I will add is to have a Community Town hall Law and I will make sure that the people understand the law and no one will be allowed to joke with the Law. We will make sure that the Law protects all the farmers in Benue state. There will be inter community comittees where everyone that partakes in agriculture will be incorporated into the Town Hall Committees.
What will be the position of youths in your administration, sir?
I said it before. Our youths will be prepared for mechanized farming. They will be engaged very well by my administration. Apart from that, I will make sure that every community gets involved in sport activities. I will make sure that I identify every area that is attractive to the youths. I will encourage them to participate in mechanized farming.. I will give them grants to be able to participate well. I will give them lands cleared by the government for them to cultivate. I will develop sporting activities because footballing has now become the highest paid job. As a government, we will develop talents. We will turn them to productive activities. For instance, every Council Ward in Benue state will have teams for football, volleyball, basketball, badminton and other games. It will be the primary responsibility of local government heads to coordinate local government sports competitions. Then, we will have Inter local governments competitions for official talents that can be sponsored to sport academies outside Nigeria. We will be able to sponsor a good number of our youths who are into sports to sport academies in Europe every year, and within a short period, we will be harvesting a lot of benefits on them. Also, we will develop the entertainment industries because they are very productive in Nigeria now. If we can invest in that industry, our youths that are in the sector will uplift the image of the State just like their colleagues are doing in their various states across the country. We have a lot of them in Benue but there is no opportunity to have their songs heard. I will develop it. We will also develop the film industry just like it’s done in Kano where they now have the Hausa version of Nollywood. We will also create social recreational centers where people who are running businesses can work to help the state. If our youths are productive, there is no way anyone can use them for drugs job or for social vices. In the area of education, we will fish out talents among our youths and ensure that they are exposed to new areas like medicine, ICT and others like that across the world. We will send them to areas where they will be developed every year. More on sports, I will reintroduce all secondary school games as a way to engage our youths very well. For the tertiary institutions that we have in the state, the government can create a Forum in which they can compete socially. Lastly, I will restore Bursary. We will give scholarships to students from areas that have been affected by the farmers/herders clashes because they are stranded and cannot get quality education. We will give them scholarships at all levels to study in these areas.
You served under the administration of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and you have been dragged many times for the shortcomings of the administration. What is your experience, defending the administration?
Thank you. The more people talk about the administration of my boss, former President Yar’Adua, the more I think that he must have done some fantastic things that warrant his name to be mentioned in the media everytime. The administration was based on the Rule of Law. He never allowed sentiment. He did everything to favour Nigerians either you are Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo or whatever. No country can grow without the Rule of Law which the government worked with, and that is why I am always happy to defend him anytime his name is mentioned. I am proud working with him.