Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, weekend, said the last eight years would be remembered by all as the worst in the history of Nigeria.
He said it was a period when a country that was flourishing under then-President Goodluck Jonathan was plunged into unimaginable poverty, insecurity, and generalmaladministration.
He maintained that never in the history of the country did Nigerians witness bad governance like they did in the last eight years.
The Governor who made the assertion during the commissioning of the headquarters of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, BSCVGs, in Makurdi said the President Muhammadu-led administration “took Nigeria from the top to bottom making life miserable for all Nigerians.
“I served under the then President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and we all saw how Nigeria flourished under that administration. We all knew what the prices of foods and services were at the time.
“We also know what our exchange rate was at the time and what it is today. I want Nigerians to do a simple comparison and you will realise how bad it has been under this government and how Nigeria has been taken several years backward by the Buhari government.
“The fact is that never in the history of Nigeria did we experience this kind of bad governance in the country.
“Corruption is so endemic in this government yet people who steal chicken are thrown into prison but people in government who are busy stealing the wealth of the people are walking free.
“The President recently apologised to Nigerians; we accept the apology but he must be told that he failed woefully and Nigerians are feeling the impact of that failure because we are all suffering.”
The Governor who also berated President Buhari for refusing to disarm armed Fulani herdsmen and branding them a terrorist organisation for masterminding the killings in the country said, “The President told us he is retiring to tend to his cattle, is it because he is returning to be a herder that he failed to deal decisively with herdsmen? That was unfair to Nigerians.”
Recalling that his government was denied several accruals because of his insistence on equity, fairness and justice, the Governor assured that he would continue to speak out against injustice in the country saying “like a former lawmaker would say, ‘if you talk you die, if you don’t talk you die. So for me it is better to talk and die because I will also speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored.”
The Governor who also commissioned the Benue Television complex as well as the remodelled Benue Government Complex, thanked Benue people for standing with him assuring that he would always stand with the people.
Earlier, Commander of the BSCVGs, Mr. Ayima Ajobi who commended the Governor for setting up the guards disclosed that “the state government has trained a total number of 1,574 BSCVGs personnel drawn from the pool of those who were recommended by the traditional rulers at the grassroots, profiled by the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services, DSS, and underwent a rigorous medical screening exercise.
“The command has unfortunately suffered casualty figure of nine of its trained personnel. Of these numbers, eight of them were killed in active service at their various duty locations while the last member died after a brief illness.”