Governor Samuel Ortom said this while answering questions during an interview
Governor Samuel Ortom has said that he is willing to die for the people of Benue state.
Ortom said this while answering questions during an interview with Premium Times.
The Benue Governor revealed that his problem started when he passed the anti-grazing bill into law.
He also explained in the interview, what led to his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Read excerpts of Governor Ortomâ€
s interview with Premium Times below:
Do you mean that all the problems youâ€ve had so far originated from the passage of the grazing law?
It is, according to them, a result of the impunity from Miyetti Allah. We have called for their arrest and nobody arrested them up till today.
That is a problem. With all the provocative utterances they have given inciting the people, including claiming to have been responsible for the killing that has been taking place, giving reasons that their cattle were rustled and all that.
 They canâ€t be killing innocent people. How can a four-year-old go to rustle cattle? How can a 75-year-old man go to rustle cattle?
How can a pregnant woman who is about to deliver go to rustle cattle? Youâ€ll come and kill them. We are against any criminal. We are not supporting any criminal in the state.
If you want attack them and kill them I have no business with that. But when you come to kill innocent people, that is the point and the main reason why this problem has persisted is as a result of the impunity that has been going on.
These people are not apprehended and as I keep saying in any given society the rule of law must be observed, we must respect it, we must observe the rule.
It is the law that regulates the activities of human beings. If anybody decides to take the law into their hands then we cannot live together in that society.
I am aware you visited the president a number of times. At what point did you become so frustrated and helpless that you had to start thinking about exiting the party that brought you to power?
tom: Well, we have discussed several times. But the issue of exiting the party that brought me to power is as a result of non-integration properly into the partyâ€s system.
As you are aware, I was a member of PDP until the dying minute when I was frustrated out of PDP so I was looking for another platform and of course APC invited me and felt that due to my popularity, they were sure if we teamed up together we could make it and I also bought into it.
We went there, but the leadership did not allow room for integration and so that has been the point. It is like here in Benue State, because all politics is local, the senator who said he is the leader of the party took control and doesnâ€t want input from outside.
So my supporters and myself were left out and when we tried to insist that look we have to be integrated, I was given a red card. That I am not needed, and everywhere he went, he demonized me, saying all kinds of things.
As governor how come it was difficult for you to take control?
You see, I told you I came in when structures of the party were alreadly in place. I had no hold on that. I came in like that so the same people were there.
I had wanted a process where we can integrate and make sure that we were all stakeholders. That was rebuked and I reported it but the thing continued.
I said well I cannot continue in this manner. There were always major disagreements. When we were talking about prohibition of open grazing he (Senator Akume) was against it.
He said the people in Abuja are too powerful. That they are too powerful and that if I donâ€t rescind that decision to sign the law the people from Abuja would move against me
He said that?
Yes he told me that and I said no there is no way I can do this. I am representing the Benue people and so if I betray the trust that they had in me by electing me governor by not doing their bidding, by becoming afraid somewhere, I mean that is not leadership.
As a leader let me do what I believe to be right. Even if I die, let it be on record that Ortom was killed because of his people. I have chosen to stay with the people and to walk with them.
 If they crucify me today, if anything happens to me today, everyone will know that it is because I have chosen to stay with the people.
So like Jesus Christ you are ready to lay down your life for your people?
Of course I have said it. What else will I do? Whichever way you do one day you will die. But if you die for a just cause, it is okay. Jesus died so many years ago for a just cause but heâ€s a hero. Just like Abiola was recently recognised as a winner of June 12 in Nigeria.
That is what I am saying because all these cattle that we are talking about here in Nigeria that are creating so much panic and problems and killings and destruction and all that are not a lot. We are talking about just 20 million cattle. In India, there over 270 million cattle but they ranch. In Brazil, there are over 300 million but they ranch their cattle.
You donâ€t see them moving about the way you see it in Nigeria. In America, there are over 100 million cattle but they are surviving. In fact go to the states of America you donâ€t see any cattle. It is only here that even at the airport and offices you see cattle.
Even in Kenya, you donâ€t see cattle moving the way they do here. So ranching is global best practice in animal husbandry. So trying to set a pace by doing something new is a difficult task. One day people will understand.
Governor Samuel Ortom recently slammed the Federal Government for allegedly refusing to arrest the leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) despite their un-guarded utterances.
Samuel Ortom: I am ready to die for the people of Benue – Governor
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