From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Thursday, applauded the decision of the southern governors to ban open grazing saying any Nigerian opposed to their position regarding the ban has a hidden agenda.
The Governor who stated this at Holy Ghost Parish Hall, during the ‘Media Week and Communications Day 2021′ organized by the Directorate of Social Communications, Catholic Diocese of Makurdi posited that his colleagues from the Southern part of the country had towed the right path towards addressing insecurity in Nigeria.
While stressing that open grazing was no longer feasible in the country due to development and population growth, Governor Ortom said Nigeria is a great country with great potentials and should, ordinarily, have no business with poverty if only there was guaranteed security for lives and property and the people are allowed to remain stable in their localities to explore opportunities in farming and other ventures.
The Governor thanked the Church and Muslims community in Benue State as well as residents and citizens of the state for remaining supportive of his administration.
He also commended the good reportage of government policies and programmes by the Directorate of Social Communication, Catholic Diocese of Makurdi and all the media groups in Benue, maintinaing that his administration would always welcome constructive criticism.
The Governor who hinted his administration’s plans to commence teaching of vernacular in schools in the next academic session, said children must be trained and supported to inculcate reading in them, even as he described communication as key in the society.
He described the removal of History from school curriculum in the country as an evil agenda saying those who did it must have done so to prevent younger generation from knowing the truth about their past.
“Removing the subject History from the country’s school curriculum is an evil agenda to prevent the young generation from knowing their past. Even if Nigeria won’t restore the study of history to the school curriculum, we in Benue will initiate a legislation to make history a compulsory subject in schools in the state.
“Our children need to know how their forefathers lived on this land hundreds of years ago. Our children need to know what took place at Ushongo Hills in 1804 and why this land and our people were not conquered till this day.”
On his part, Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Most Reverend Wilfred Anagbe explained that social communication was meant to uplift humanity and the society, stressing that it is a positive aspect of reality of life and not the other way round.
Bishop Anagbe who advocated for teaching of history and vernacular in primary and secondary schools in the State said language defines a man and so should not be allowed to go extinct.