Benue State University, Makurdi

Development Planning and Good Governance Delivery In Benue State: A Review of “Our Collective Vision for A Greater Benue”

Nyianshima Geoffrey Orvihi, Ph.D. and Prof. Eugene T Aliegba and Dr. Canice Esidene Erunke

Abstract

The high expectations and aspirations for good governance in Benue state following the return to democratic rule in 1999 have been largely unfulfilled. While there are many dimensions to the failure of democratic governance in Benue State and Nigeria at large, this paper focuses on the aspect of development planning with emphasis on the Ortom’s development blueprint, “Our Collective Vision for A Greater Benue” with the aim of highlighting its challenges and implications for good governance delivery in the state. The paper explains that the achievements of “Our Collective Vision for A Greater Benue” were far below the satisfaction of majority of the Benue people. The failure of the plan to impact positively on good governance delivery was largely as a result of its problematic nature – from the process of initiation, design to implementation. Among other specific factors, were the problems of lack of visionary and committed leadership as well as the absence of sustainable institutional framework to drive implementation. With the aid of elite theory, the paper argues that the failure of political leadership, particularly during the Samuel Ortoms’s Administration, to deliver the goals of dividends of democracy as enshrined in “Our Collective Vision for A Greater Benue” document can be attributed to the poor attitudes of political elite and the faulty process of leadership recruitment, among many other factors. Meanwhile, the paper recommends for new political orientation, change of attitude as well as visionary and committed leadership.

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