Why Benue State Won’t Join The Protest -By Hassan Idris

On July 31, 2024, I was coming back from North Bank on a motorcycle, and around Tito Gate in Makurdi, I saw some people with placards, vehicles, and security on the street chanting, “Say no to protest in Benue State. Alia is working.” I was surprised. You’re protesting that people should not protest in Benue State. Isn’t that also a protest? Have Benue State indigenes and residents forgotten that peaceful protest is a fundamental human right in a democratic government? Why would people be protesting for others not to protest peacefully and exercise their fundamental human rights?

A lot of Benue people think that the protest is centered around destroying or destabilizing and painting a bad image of Rev. Alia’s administration. Nobody is spoiling his administration, and everyone in Benue State knows he’s actually working tirelessly and effortlessly. But our concern is the paraphernalia above: the federal government.

The Benue State governor may be getting it right: the flyover, roads, streetlights, payment of salaries, revival of non-functional structures, and all. But can he drop fuel prices? Can he bring back the price of a bag of rice to 22k or below? Can he reduce the dollar rate to what it was before Tinubu? This issue is deeper than Benue State. The protest is centered around the federal government and bringing about change. Not protesting in Benue State won’t reduce the cost of rice, fuel, and hardship. Can the Benue State government bring back subsidies, lower the dollar rate to the naira, or reduce hardship? Other states that came out to protest, was it that their various governors were not working towards the development of their states? I think the Benue State people can do better. Our problem is beyond Benue State.

Hassan Idris.