GOV. ORTOM RECEIVES AWARD FOR EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP IN DEFENCE OF BENUE.{PHOTOS}.

     Governor Samuel Ortom yesterday at the Nicon Luxury Hotel Abuja, was presented with an 'Award of Exemplary Leadership In Defence of Benue' by the Conference of Benue Journalists, CBJ.

The group hinged the award on the enactment of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law and its implementation and the Governor's firm positon despite threats to his life and political ambition.

President of the CBJ, Mr. Terfa Ifer speaking before the presentation of the award, lamented the spate of killings and displacement of farmers by armed herdsmen across Nigeria especially in Benue State.

He stated that as food basket of the nation, Benue must be safe for farmers to produce enough food for local consumption and export.

Governor Ortom while receiving the award, tasked Nigerian leaders on truth and the need to speak out against the ills in the country.

Dedicating the award to the over 180,000 Internally Displaced Persons in various camps across the state, Governor Ortom urged the media to continue to be a voice for the voiceless, stressing that their efforts attracted both national and international support for the IDPs.

He stated that ranching remains the best solution to farmers and herders crisis, saying it has come to stay in Benue and that over 200 suspects had been arrested with about 49 convictions so far made in connection with the law.

Guest lecturer at the occasion, Professor Zacharys Gundu, who spoke on the topic: "Fulani Herdsmen Impunity and the National Question," described the menace of herders as one of the most destabilising factors in Nigeria after Boko Haram.

He stated that having failed to change the narrative, the Fulani oligarchy had infiltrated the ranks of some Nigerians affected by their activities to achieve their 'diabolical acts'.

Professor Gundu commended Governor Ortom's approach to proffering a lasting solution to the herders invasion of the state, saying Benue is the patrimony of its people and nobody should be allowed to sit in Abuja and decide who rules the state as Governor.In separate goodwill messages, Senator JKN Waku and Dr. Cletus Akwaya, described the ranching law of Benue as a child of necessity, saying Nigerians should support the cause in order to nip in the bud, the lingering farmers and herders crisis.More photos below.