Former senatorial candidate and Chairman, Governing Board of Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has faulted the recent article authored by Professor Sebastine T. Hon (SAN), in which the respected legal scholar launched a stinging critique of Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, following the latter’s recent media chat.

In a statement issued in Makurdi, Onjeh described Prof. Sebastine’s article as a disingenuous attempt to diminish an insightful and forward-looking engagement between the Governor and the people of Benue. He said it was deeply regrettable that out of the many crucial and constructive issues addressed by Governor Alia during his first official media chat, the learned professor chose to latch onto what he termed “a slight factual error regarding the dating of the ECOWAS Protocol on Transhumance,” in an apparent bid to undermine the entire presentation.

Onjeh noted that rather than recognize the Governor’s broader point about the effect of the ECOWAS Protocol on security in Nigeria’s border communities—including Benue—Prof. Sebastine Hon opted to vilify the Governor’s remarks while completely ignoring the core substance of his message. “That’s not what Benue needs right now,” Onjeh stated. “We need unity of purpose, not pedantic nitpicking by intellectuals who might be working at the behest of Governor Alia’s detractors.”

The APC chieftain further faulted the learned professor for suggesting that Governor Alia should have publicly disclosed security strategies for confronting the menace of herdsmen attacks. “A Professor of Law, who understands the dynamics of governance and national security, should not expect a sitting Governor to reveal sensitive security operations on live national television,” he said. “The information Governor Alia shared with the public is precisely what the public needed to know. Any deeper operational strategy rightly remains classified.”

Onjeh stressed that Governor Alia has already demonstrated resolute action in addressing insecurity, through measures such as the establishment of the Benue State Civil Protection Guards and the strengthening of the state’s collaboration with statutory security agencies. “Ordinarily, it is not likely that Governor Alia will respond to Prof. Hon’s ill-informed diatribe because it is totally lacking in substance. The governor likes to work diligently and quietly. In terms of tackling insecurity, a lot is going on behind the scenes, and the people will soon begin to feel the tangible results,” he affirmed.

Comrade Onjeh noted that even the journalists who presided over the media chat with Governor Alia testified that there has been an improvement in the security situation in Benue State. Building on this point, he stated, “A week ago when I was being interviewed on TVC News’ Beyond The Headlines, the host, Nifemi Oguntoye, started by stating that the security situation has improved in Benue State.” Tackling insecurity, Onjeh emphasized, is not a destination but a process. “If it was a destination, the immediate past administration in Benue State that made the loudest noise about insecurity would have ended it,” he stated.

Onjeh questioned why Prof. Hon did not intervene when, during the last administration, insecurity was at its peak in Benue State, occasioned by mass burials, massive displacements, and destruction of life and property. There is no shred of evidence anywhere to show that Prof. Hon came out to condemn the killings or the administration’s response to (or failure to curb) insecurity. “His letter,” Onjeh asserted, “has clear marks of political vendetta and brief-holding for Governor Alia’s detractors. Prof. Hon struggled to reduce the import of the Governor’s media chat. Ironically, his struggles only projected the Governor the more.” This, he stressed, is because the letter he wrote clearly showed that he has nothing concrete to say against Governor Alia and his administration.

According to Comrade Onjeh, rather than add value to the discourse, Prof. Hon’s piece served to distract and mislead. “It is apparent that Prof. Sebastine Hon has taken up the role of a megaphone for those who will never see anything good in the administration of Rev. Fr. Alia,” he stated. “But the facts on the ground speak for themselves. This Governor is delivering.” He further stated that 72 hours after Governor Alia chatted with the media, no one has come forward to controvert the assertions he made about the developmental strides his administration made in Benue State.

The statement went on to highlight some of the Governor’s landmark initiatives and interventions. These include the ongoing civil service reforms to clean up the payroll system and ensure only genuine workers are paid; the digitization of government processes; support for agriculture through the Benue State Durable Solutions for IDPs; the renovation and equipping of general hospitals and primary healthcare centres; the rehabilitation of schools; and a renewed push for infrastructural development across the state.

On the core issue raised by Prof. Hon, Onjeh clarified that the ECOWAS Protocol on Transhumance, as correctly noted by the professor, was formally adopted in 1998 through “Decision A/DEC.5/10/98.” However, Onjeh added that the broader point Governor Alia made remains valid: the emboldenment of cross-border herders and their violent incursions into Nigerian territory became more pronounced after the protocol’s adoption.

He noted that anyone who truly understands insecurity in Nigeria also has a thorough grasp of the problem’s international dimension. “Governor Alia has shown that he has an in-depth knowledge of the problem. Misplacing the dates of the promulgation of the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, as Prof. Hon alleged, is inconsequential, because the Governor got the date (1998) the protocol should have come into effect. We can say that the Governor scored more than half the mark on the issue of Transhumance protocol, which I hasten to add is less than 10% of the issues he discussed during his chat with the media,” Onjeh stated.

Onjeh went further to trace the historical evolution of the ECOWAS free movement framework, noting that the OAU (now African Union) indeed laid the ideological foundation for continental integration from its formation in 1963. He acknowledged that while ECOWAS was formally established by the Treaty of Lagos in 1975, its deeper protocols on the free movement of persons and livestock were progressively developed, culminating in the 1998 decision referenced in the protocol.

He explained that while the ECOWAS Protocol contains several conditions for transhumance, including the issuance of the ECOWAS International Transhumance Certificate, designated grazing routes, vaccination documentation, and identification papers—all of which Prof. Hon emphasized—Governor Alia’s fundamental argument was that these protocols are not being implemented. “The Governor has asked that the Federal Government initiate a review of the protocol because the reality in Nigeria today, especially in Benue State, is that it has become a dangerous tool for land grabbing under the guise of cross-border grazing,” he added.

Onjeh also reminded the public that the Governor cited data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), which confirms that about 500,000 people in Benue are currently displaced due to violent herdsmen attacks. “The Governor is not just speaking from a theoretical standpoint; he is living and leading through this crisis, and he has chosen the path of truth and constructive dialogue,” he said.

He urged critics to stop politicizing insecurity for cheap relevance and instead support the government’s efforts to restore peace and return the IDPs to their ancestral homes through sustainable resettlement programs.

In conclusion, Comrade Daniel Onjeh called on the people of Benue State to remain steadfast in their support for Governor Alia. “History will remember Fr. Alia as the Governor who confronted our security challenges with sincerity and boldness. No amount of elite distraction will derail this administration’s commitment to rebuilding our state,” he declared.