Between The Opposition And Government Apologists In Benue State

By Bemgba Iortyom.

In Benue State, the battle rages daily between the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) supporters and apologists of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled administration of Gov. Samuel Ortom, and this battle mostly takes place on the cyber space.

With rhetoric employed by both sides being largely acerbic and tactics getting more and more desperate and dirty, it is pertinent to pause and do some appraisal of what the value quotient of both sides is in terms of contribution to the progress of the government in power.

Some time last year, at a function with social media supporters of his government, Gov. Ortom had openly acknowledged having gained much from the activities of the opposition in the state, particularly revealing that it was from his arch-critic, Alh. Abubakar Tsav, that he got the idea to constitute a committee to implement his Amnesty programme. This is inspirte of the fact that the governor has lawyers, academicians and technocrats all milling around him on a dIly basis.

The opposition in the state can proudly beat their chest about having made numerous contributions to the performance of the ruling government such as calling its attention to the deplorable state of sanitation in the state capital and the deterioration of township roads, following which action was taken to address those issues raised.

Issues of the financial profligacy of the Ortom administration, including the vexatious bailout matter, and the rubber-stamp and conniving character of the state Assembly under the leadership of Terkimbi Ikyange, have also received intense attention from the opposition in the state, the impact of which is not in any way little.

But while the opposition could reel out such a retinue of achievements, it is left to be seen what the contributions of apologists of the ruling government has been during the same period, with possibly it's media officials laying claim to having done their job of holding official brief for government whenever required.

As for the social media supporters of the administration, they have largely been a mixed motley driven by one common motive; to make a living from praise-singing the administration, no matter what it does, and while they have been at it, they have also been prone to internal wrangling amongst themselves, which of course is characteristic with such a crowd of scrambling and desperate fellows.

So embarrassing has been their activities that Gov. Ortom's Media Adviser, Tahav Agerzua, only a few days back had to publicly distance the administration from their activities.

At this rate it has become inevitable to ask this question; what is the value of the Gurgur Japhet-led social media gang to the performance of the Ortom administration?

From Bemgba Iortyom, He writes from Makurdi Benue state.

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