Being a speech, abridged manifesto and notice of intent to contest the governorship election in Benue State in the 2023 General Elections delivered by Engr. Terver Atsar, Member, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE).
Background
Fellow Compatriots of Benue,
Terver Atsar is a compatriot with a dream for a better Benue because Benue deserves Better.
Terver Atsar was born to a young Primary School Teacher and his farming wife after the Nigerian Civil War, at a time when the Nation was struggling to recover from the devastating effects of the war. Things were hard, and for the poor couple, things were even harder. They lived on the rural plains of the Ushongo Hills and close to the banks of River Benue’s tributary, the Katsina Ala River. His village had no electricity, good road, portable water supply. The only Primary School was 2km away, the nearest provision store was 11km away, the nearest clinic was also 11km away and the nearest Secondary School was 20km away from him. Locked up in this jungle, he was ‘sentenced’ to a rudimentary life. To make matters worse, he partially lost his hearing ability (he was once described by his Principal in a bout of anger as “this deaf bush boy”). It was in the midst of all these challenges that he dreamt of a better life and began to pursue education. With his bush lantern, he read his way out of the jungle and graduated as a Chemical Engineer 25 years ago.
Over Four decades after his birth, nothing has changed even in his village. There is still no good road; electricity is privately generated by those who can afford generating sets, the nearest Primary school is still 2km away, the nearest Secondary school is now 2km away and privately owned, the nearest clinic is still 11km away. This is typical of most rural parts of Benue State that hosts majority of the people. It is a fact that Benue has not been able to realize her potentials despite being blessed with a vast array of natural resources and human capital.
After over 25 years of post-graduation experience – working in the challenging terrain, solving complex technical problems in the Oil and Gas Industry, Terver Atsar have dared to dream another dream. In this letter he shares his dream for a better Benue and the practical steps to realizing this dream. We invite you to dream along with him.
Terver Atsar has a dream – not in his sleep, but in his conscious mind that Benue would soon rise from her desolation and take her rightful place in the Nigerian project. He has a dream that Benue citizens would someday walk the streets of the world – tall, proud and confident with their heads high. The pride and confidence would not arise from vanity or arrogance, but from the genuine appreciation of their new homeland, transformed by true democratic governance, equal opportunities, integrity, probity and accountability, access to justice and social welfare. I see a Benue where equity, industry, productivity and creativity would boom and blossom, creating a healthy and happy population.
In pursuit of this dream, Terver Atsar does not believe in chance nor luck. He will undertake meticulous planning, deliberate and targeted actions that will push the levers and press the right buttons to set the engine of development running. The key enablers will be activated through conscious and concerted efforts by the government with the cooperation of the people. He believes that governance must move beyond rhetoric and cosmetic, knee-jerk reactive interventions to proactive decision making with specific blueprints designed with predefined and measurable outcomes in mind.
About Terver Atsar
Terver started his education at R.C.M Primary School, Ikpaikpam, Mbagwaza in 1977. He proceeded to the then Government Secondary School, Ushongo where he graduated in 1987 as the best graduating student of the year. He then attended the prestigious Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State where he graduated in 1995 as a Chemical Engineer.
Terver Atsar is an accomplished Environmental Specialist with over 25 years of post-graduation experience in the Oil and Gas Industry. A Member of the Waste Management Society of Nigeria, he holds a distinction in the National Educational Board for Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) of the UKs International General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health. He is a Specialist Member of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (UK) a Member of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE). He was formerly the General Manager of World Environmental Systems in Lagos. He founded and is the CEO of Envirogreen Technical Support Limited, MIMAX Emergency Support Services Gboko, MIMAX Restaurant Port Harcourt. He is a Safety Leader with Shell Petroleum Development Company Nig. Ltd. Based in Port Harcourt.
Terver is a resourceful and result oriented person with prolific writing and communication skills. As a Public Commentator, he has published over 500 Articles and commentaries on public policy in both mainstream and Social Media. He is an excellent team player and has worked in multidiscipline/multicultural work settings with exposure to both brown and green field environments. He is self-motivated, efficiently manages his own time and sets/ achieves stretch targets for self and others. He has demonstrated mastery at translating organizational goals to discrete activities necessary to attain such goals. He has a pleasant personality and can quickly adapt to new and challenging situations. His capacity and potential as a leader are not in doubt and he applies himself to learning / adapts to new trends and technologies. He focuses on the big picture while also paying attention to details. He has immense capacity for work and easily builds networks which he effectively utilizes in carrying out his work.
Terver is an exceptional leader whose dedication and passion for service to the people is legendary. Over the years, He co-founded Bethel City, a planned rural settlement in Mbakever, Mbagwaza district to facilitate infrastructural development and provided support for a motorized Borehole for water supply to Bethel City. He also constructed an Olympic-Sized Badminton Court and championed a Tree planting campaign to enhance the aesthetics of the City. He actively embarks on a career mentorship programme for secondary school children. He has given personal scholarship to support over 10 students in Ushongo LGA in Higher institutions. He takes community development seriously as indicated in some community development projects including street rehabilitation in Yandev, Gboko LGA, the upgrading of the Pulpit floor of NKST Lessel with Floor Tiles. He also built a 500-seater capacity Church Building in Mbakever community.
He is the Founder, Anti-Police Brutality Coalition among others. He also founded Mule-U-Tiv after a brief Stint as the Ag. President, Ate-U-Tiv. He is a member, Benue Concerned Professionals Group whose intellectual contributions helped defined policy agenda for the State Government. Terver is a communicant of the NKST Church and Married to Mrs. Patience Chiahemba. They have three beautiful daughters.
Building Confidence
The first thing Terver Atsar will do as Governor is to revive the confidence of the people in the leadership of the state. Repeated failures, unfulfilled promises, abandoned projects and unrealized dreams, has caused distrust between the people and government, and disdain for government and its policies. This means that the people cannot work in harmony with the government for common good. Rather, government policies and businesses are treated with levity, derision, abuse and abandonment. Rebuilding this confidence requires removing all the walls that stand between the people and the leaders. True democracy requires that the voice of the people is heard, and the aspirations of the people become the underlying philosophy for government policy. The people deserve inclusiveness and a sense of belonging. As a leader Terver Atsar would have no other business than the business of the people. The joy and happiness of the People will be the most important and singular purpose of his reign in government. There will be no marginalization of any sections of the state base on tribal, political, social or religious affiliations.
The new Benue of his dream will require mobilization and re-orientation of Benue citizens at the grassroots level to realize their potentials, recognize the opportunities around them, and be involved in determining their own fate, charting new courses for their lives and participating in their personal development and that of their environment.
Terver Atsar’s Agenda for a New Benue
Improved Agricultural Practices
As an agrarian state, it is natural to leverage on our rich soil and abundant labour to develop agriculture, where we have comparative advantage. The Agricultural industry alone has the potential to create a million jobs for Benue citizens within a year. It is important to assist the people to deepen their skills for profitable agriculture. We must move from subsistence and consumptive agricultural mindset to a value-added agricultural philosophy. This will positively revolutionize agriculture and help our thousands of small-scale farmers to become economically fruitful and compete effectively in the global marketplace. The key success factors for this objective include building of the enabling infrastructure(Feeder Roads, Irrigation systems, storage/preservation facilities, electricity supply, and processing facilities) targeted subsidies on farm inputs, structured and moderated marketing (both external and internal) to protect the farmers from loss and waste.
Produce Management & Processing.
The Benue farmer deserves reward for his labor. There is need to create a Produce Management Agency to buy directly from the farmers and control Price fluctuations. The company shall be incorporated as a Public-Private partnership by a group of interested investors & the State Produce Control Board. Huge warehouses would be built by the company in the major Markets across the 23 LGAs of the state. The company would then buy up produce directly from the farmers and store in the warehouses and then sell to external (including export) markets, ensuring that the State gets her taxes and the farmer also gets a fair deal of bargain for his produce. Prices would be regulated so that at any time, the value of the products to the farmer doesn’t go below certain (optimum) levels. For perishable produce like vegetables and fruits, Processing plants would be set up to add value and preserve them from the harvest period when they are abundant (and cheap) to the planting season when they become scarce and expensive.
Industrial Development
Benue state is blessed with abundant agricultural raw materials and solid minerals like Limestone, Kaolin, Limestone, Barytes, Gemstone and Gypsum. That can sustain a profitable industrial hub. We will build the following medium scale factories within the first three years of my administration.
1. A Gypsum and Cement Plant to produce Gypsum & Cement.
2. An Orange/Tomato processing Plant to produce Orange Juice Concentrate, Tomato paste and Juice
3. A Cassava Processing Plant to produce Garri and Starch.
These would be built through a Joint Venture Partnership with technical operators and private investors – with the Benue State Government holding equity and providing the necessary support to ensure their sustenance. This will equally ensure that Benue keys into the African Continental Free Trade (Area) Agreement and leverage on the huge African Market for export of her goods and services.
Quality Education
The Benue Child deserves quality education. No state can achieve sustainable development without a robust and structured educational system that is designed to bring out the intuitive capabilities in their citizens. Benue will not rise above the collective aptitude of her population. The current sorry state of our Primary Schools needs to be urgently addressed. Even the Bible says that if the foundation is destroyed, the righteous cannot help. I and my team will ensure that all dilapidated school infrastructure is renovated and where non-existent, new infrastructure will be built to ensure primary schools are beautifully landscaped and equipped. Comfortable furniture, teaching aids, and hygiene facilities will be provided to create conducive environment for learning.
Rural Development
Benue rural dwellers deserve a good quality of life. The Benue state of my dream is one in which living in the cities or villages would be a matter of choice. What this means is that people would not need to leave the villages to the urban centers before they could live good lives. To make rural -urban migration unattractive, we would enhance and implement aggressively, carefully planned, and appropriately packaged, rural transformation schedule, under an imaginative integrated rural development strategy, deliberate on improvements of rural dwelling: the restructuring of our settlement pattern, moving away from the scattered individual village settlement pattern, to the cluster of populations in settlement areas, to be designated as Rural Villages and Rural Towns; where essential infrastructural developments and provision of social services, will be enhanced for the benefit of rural dwellers.
Improved and Accessible Healthcare System
Benue citizens deserved an innovative health care delivery system which is universal and holistic, stressing: hygiene, sanitation and maternal healthcare. This is a right of the people and not a privilege. Benue Women deserve subsidized antenatal drugs to make them free for all pregnant women in the state who register at designated primary healthcare centers in each ward of the LGAs. Benue Children deserve free access to documented immunization which is accessible to all children at designated primary healthcare centers throughout the state. Each child would have an Immunization Dossier issued at the point of Birth which pre-plans all the required immunizations at each stage of development and strict adherence to the schedule is made mandatory.
Urban Renewal Programme
The major towns in the three senatorial Zones namely, Gboko, Oturkpo, Katsina Ala, Oju, and Ugbokolo will receive major upgrades in streets and drainage construction and rehabilitation. Specifically, Mkar Road will be dualized from Gboko to Ameradu. The roundabout on the Enugu road at Oturkpo will be reconstructed with all the link roads to the roundabout upgraded.
Security of Lives and Property
The security of lives and property of Benue citizens is top priority. No meaningful development can occur in the state of insecurity, fear and apprehension. The Thousands of children living in IDP camps are future leaders being wasted away. We will stake everything it takes to return these heroes to respectful and meaningful living.
Civil Service Reforms
Benue Civil Servants and Retirees deserve their salaries and pensions to be paid on time. It is evil and ungodly to withhold earned wages from workers. Even God frowned at this in the Holy books of Lev.19:13 and Jer. 22:13 amongst others. We will pay salaries, but the civil servants must also earn their salaries. They must work and produce results to justify their pay. We will carry out civil service reforms to bring out maximum productivity from the workers. Their productivity would become measurable and a merit-driven reward system would be put in place to reward only the deserving staff.
Youth Development
The Benue Youth is very disadvantaged in myriad of ways. Limited exposure, limited skills, limited support, limited patronage and limited sponsorship all mean that upcoming artistes, artists, footballers, e.t.c from our State are stunted and cannot go far in their chosen careers. We would ensure that structures of State are programmed to support every Benue Youth with a dream to fulfill his/her dreams.
Local Government Reforms
Local Governments in Benue State deserve their statutory allocations in order to carry out their statutory responsibilities to the people. The Benue of my dream is one in which Local Government autonomy is non-negotiable. The Local government authorities must be funded to live up to their responsibilities like Primary Healthcare, Market sanitation, Street and drainage maintenance, parks and gardens and Waste Management.
Indeed, Benue deserves better. Come 2023, Terver Atsar will work with you to make Benue Better.
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