Female Guber Aspirant Emerges In Benue-Dr(Mrs) Rosaline Ada Chenge.

Dr. (Mrs.) Rosaline Ada Chenge is the first female Managing Director of the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority and any river basin development authority for that matter and the only female governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. She tells HENRY IYORKASE that she would industralise  Benue State's enormous agro-allied potentials by harnessing them into maximum productivity, if elected governor. Excerpts:

You are vying for the number one seat of the state come 2015 general election. Are you not aware that as an Idoma woman by birth, the Tiv people will find it difficult to concede power to you even as you are married to a Tiv?

Well, by the grace of God, I am not the one who is going for the office of governor of Benue State, but God Himself. I am aware that Benue has a peculiar case, as regards the Idoma and the Tiv nations that have lived together over the years. The Tiv and Idoma are one people that have never quarrelled; there have never been Idoma /Tiv crisis in terms of war. But, the power distribution politically, has been a problem to the elders of the Tiv and Idoma nations. Across the world, marriage has being one unique unifying force. And for 24 years, I have been married to a Tiv man. So, for the Idoma elders, it is like we are one, since they have their daughter in the Tiv's house and for the Tivs, it is a case of since we have your daughter in our house, we are one. This depicts the positions of most of the elders from the two tribes. They believe that if their daughter and their wife becomes the governor, there would be a lot of understanding of the inter-cultural differences.

I would give you a quick example of Idoma and Tiv differences in culture which by the grace of God, my understanding of the two cultures will bring a lot of clarity. The Idoma culture says if a woman dies, bury her in her father's house and the Tiv culture says if the woman dies, bury her in her husband's house. This culture is quite diversifying. The Tiv man and Idoma man sits together, having actually no quarrel but the difference is their upbringing that make them to be very far apart. And so the running force is Ada Chenge, born of Idoma parents and a full Tiv woman, she is what the elders want to have for the people of Benue State. By the grace of God, we are consulting and at the end of the consultation, when the PDP asks us to give the result of our consultations, we shall be able to do that.

In which areas do you wish to distinguish yourself if eventually given the mantle of leadership as governor of the state?

Well, as an engineer, I want to tell you that an industrialised Benue would be my priority. You know that we have abundant raw materials in the state that are laying waste; we would turn it into finished products. All over the world, we are aware that the value of raw materials is 10 times lower than the value of process products. If you want to buy processed food, you are going to pay much, much more than the raw materials. Benue is blessed and is called food basket of the nation, but we must process; we must change what we have for foreign currency to make Benue food sufficient as well as a place of opportunities.

But, there is the general belief that government is not a good manager of industry; how do you hope to attain such industrial growth?

Well, there is a major programme worldwide that is called public-private-partnership, PPP, which makes the government these days to be the regulator of industries while the private sector becomes the engine room. I believe with public–private-partnership, we can achieve set goals if properly put in place.

The issue of power supply has over the years been a stumbling block to industrial development in the state. How do you intend to eliminate this?

Lack of power can be tackled through public-privatepartnership. If you bring in people and dams are constructed and micro watts are generated, you will deal with the power problem. But because we are looking at power as one big source that must come from one place, that has been the problem. By the grace of God, I have Masters' degree in Production Engineering and the degree is not meant just to be accepted but to be practicalised.

Other governorship aspirants in the state are claiming that their zones are next in line to produce the next governor of the state, what gives you confidence that the Jeichira, where you come from has a genuine claim?

The Jeichira are not just laying claims, but the people are saying that by zoning, it is theirs because their zone had Moses Adasu as the governnor in Benue during the military era and his tenure was truncated by the military. And across the country, it was agreed that the zones that had governors that were truncated by the military be given the chance to finish their regime. Because M.K.O. Abiola won the presidential election, but was not sworn in, when Nigeria returned to democracy, without asking for any other tribe, the Yoruba nation was allowed to produce the next president, giving room for the emergence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

So, the Jeichira people are saying they should complete their original turn that was truncated by the military before the Minda will take their fresh turn. Even as we talk about unity, Benue is made up of three geopolitical zones and the Idoma as a whole zone, since the creation of the state, has not produced any governor. So, we too have the right. Therefore going by Zoning, I am completely the most favoured. The whole zone C is my own father's land which according to the Zone C tradition, the daughter's inheritance comes to her in the father's house. That is why we have the likes of Maria Akyulura, whose husband is Yoruba, emerging twice as House of Assembly member from Okpokwu Local Government Area; Ewakoye Galuwa, whose husband is Edo, elected Chairman of Agatu Local Government, and the former woman leader, Mrs. Abeda whose husband is a Vandeikya, becoming the state woman leader on zone ticket.

And for the Minda, I schooled at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi for both Bachelor's and Masters'; and became General Manager of Benue State Water Board in 2007 and now with Lower Benue in Makurdi. I live in Makurdi. I have been graciously awarded a street because of my achievements in Makurdi Local Government. I give water to the people of my street by citizenship, I am qualified and so I am most favourabled. And if you talk of zoning, women are saying we have never had it; I think I, as a woman, should benefit from the 35 per cent affirmative action. So I want to tell you that zoning is favourable to Ada Chenge come 2015.

Can you give a peep into the challenges confronting the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, LBRBDA?

First of all, I want you to know that river basins across the country are in-charge of all rural transformation agenda of Mr. President and by the grace of God; I was made the general manager of LBRBDA. Before then, I was the General Manager of Benue State Water Board where I was instrumental to the construction of the Greater Makurdi Water Works; the Katsina-Ala Water Works and the Otukpo Water Works.

When the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was made the president, he asked his ministers to go round the country and looked for hardworking Nigerians who will support him in the transformation of Nigeria. And that team was led by former Minister of Water Resources, Hajiya Milafia and the Permanent Secretary of Water Resources, Ambassador Ghali. They came to Benue and they went round the Greater Makurdi Water Works which was under construction by Dr. Gabriel Suswam's administration. And, when they asked his Excellency, the Governor of Benue State who was the brain behind the great work he was doing, he told then I was the one.

Again, when the 36 speakers of the Houses of Assembly from across the country came to Benue, they visited the site to assess that job, his Excellency again told them that the person behind such great work was no other person than Engr. Dr. (Mrs) Ada Chenge. So, it was the governor, by His grace, that nominated me for the federal appointment the president bestowed on me. And as we speak today, it was by His grace that I was made the first female Managing Director of one of the 12 river basin development authorities in Nigeria.