Ortom: A Good Product To Sell In The Political Market

Chief Dr. Samuel Ortom

<< By Professor Ityavyar >>

On behalf of all members of the Policy and Strategy Committee, PASC, of the Ortom Governorship Organization, please allow me to thank His Excellency to be, Hon. Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom, Nyamikyume of Nzorov, for creating for us a credible platform for the unity, progress and development of Benue State.

We have in this committee a cream of the best intellectuals and professionals in Benue. We would not have gathered by ourselves without a purpose. But he has given us a purpose, passion and hope for a new life, and his gubernatorial aspiration has provided a therapeutic breeze to the rather stuffy politics of this state.

The legendary Margaret Mead once said that: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. We all agree that in Ortom we have a good product in the political market to sell.

Many sons and daughters of Benue, at home and abroad, those with or without party affiliations are eager to be associated with his aspirations.

Some members of this committee walked right to him and requested to join, some called DG, others Hon. Terwase Orbunde and some called me. This is indication of the wide acceptance and popularity of our candidate.

Ortom is a good product because he loves God; he loves the people and believes in truth as a veritable instrument of social and economic transformation.

A respected member of our committee from an opposition party walked up to me and said he wanted to work for Ortom. I reminded him that he was an intellectual ideologue of the opposition party. He said as far as Ortom is concerned, there are no party boundaries. All we need in our state and indeed country is a good person with Ortom’s credentials to be next governor and move Benue forward from the foundation ably laid by Rt. Hon. Dr. Gabriel Suswam.

Dr. Ortom is going to win the governorship easily because he is a good man. He is not manipulative. He is temperate. He does not have national and state based enemies, he is humane, focused, strategic, capable, experienced, and industrious and above all he genuinely loves his family.

As members of his Policy and Strategy Committee, we are privileged to share this moment with the man of destiny, and leader of men and women. Let us be fully committed to this task with passion. A few days ago some people expressed reservation when their names were published in the papers as members of this committee. Kenneth Blanchard once said: There is a big difference between interests and commitment. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.

I call on members to be totally committed to this task. Let us boldly identify with this cause and not look back. Let us resolve to bring an excellent blueprint that will be as good as or even better than Governor Suswam’s famous blueprint: Our Benue, Our Future.

Each of the 16 sub groups will be headed by a chairman and a secretary. You will notice that at least five chairs and secretaries have been appointed from each of the senatorial zones of the state. This is deliberate to reflect Ortom’s characteristic sense of equity. All the groups must do very thorough research. Every statistical data contained in the draft of the Blueprint must be verified. Let us aim at excellence right at this time. The work should be statistically driven and must have all the essential information needed for the governorship candidate to clearly sell his development agenda to the Benue electorates. Let us avoid sweeping generalizations.

Let us be innovative and creative in the design of our program. Let us remind ourselves that we are in the 21st century and our development agenda must reflect development strategies that are consistent with the times.

All the sectors and committees must use the same template and sub-headings. Good governance is an interesting game that involves people. By the grace of God, Dr. Ortom has involved all of us to come along with him in laying the foundation of good governance for Benue State. Let us move from criticisms to action.

Imagine we have formed government already. How will you want your sector to look like? What developments and innovations will you implement to make the people happy? All we are doing is about our people. Where chairs of sub-committees are absent, secretaries of the committees will be responsible for functioning of their groups. All committees must be gender responsive and make recommendations that are consistent with the times. Hopefully some of us will not only prepare a blueprint but will be part of the implementation. David Ambrose said: If you have the will to win you have half the success, if you don’t have, you have achieved half your failure. Finally let us agree with Corrie Ten Boom that the devil smiles when we make plans, he laughs when we get too busy but he trembles when we pray. Above all else, let’s pray that God will give us success in all we are doing.

Remarks by Professor Dennis Ityavyar, Chairman, Policy And Strategy Committee, PASC, of the Ortom Governorship, OGO, during the First Business meeting of the committee held at Smile View Hotel on June 21, 2014.