Despite the  avalanche of political discontent among some elements of the political class, the first hundred days of the second term of Governor Gabriel Suswam has been characterised by a subdued peace

By Peter Duru

Arguably, the ongoing litigation at the Benue State governorship Election Petition Tribunal may be said to have been the greatest challenge to have confronted Governor Gabriel Suswam in his first 100 days of his second tenure.

His two major opponents in the last election, Prof. Steven Ugbah of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and Prof. Daniel Sarror of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP are yet to give him the ease he has so much craved for.

The challenge by the two parties has helped to raise tension in the state to the discomfort of the Governor. The unease of the Governor is fueled by the level of propaganda in the air especially among the political class.

Never in Benue’s political history have the people been so exposed to the toxicity of propaganda that has been unleashed on the citizenry.

Nevertheless, within the last one hundred days of the present administration remarkable progress have been made in some sectors notably in the area of security.

This perhaps remains one of the greatest achievements of the administration considering the drastic reduction in criminal activities and inter communal conflicts that were hitherto common features in parts of the state. It is to the credit of the administration that the usual ugly and high incidents of crime that characterized post electioneering periods in the state were effectively checked and nipped in the board.

The state has witnessed drop in crime levels within this period and the secret to this achievement perhaps was drawn from the recent support that the government gave to the police in the form of donation of more than one hundred well equipped security patrol vans.

Even Governor Suswam’s ardent critics have conceded to the fact that he has done exceedingly well in ensuring peace and very low crime rates in the various towns and villages.

Speaking recently on the security situation in the state, Suswam said, “The security of the lives and property of the people is very dear to me and that is why I personally oversee the issues of security in the state without recourse to delegating that responsibility; and that accounts for the huge success we have recorded in that area thus far”.

Another glaring landmark achievement of the administration in the last one hundred days is the massive construction of roads in all the major towns in the state. On assumption of office on May 29th 2011, the Suswam administration embarked on a multi billion Naira construction and surfacing of township roads in the entire state and this is being done alongside ongoing work on several other road projects spread across the length and breadth of the state.