Hyacinth Alia, a reverend father, has always been a household name in Benue. Famous for healing the sick and exorcising demons with a sprinkle of holy water, Alia’s name fast became a point of reference for testimonies.
So, when the clergy announced his decision to contest for the governorship seat in Benue under the All Progressive Congress (APC), the “Yes, father” mantra spread like wildfire throughout the north-central state. “Ignoring the mandate meant not to appreciate what God has done for the state as the food basket of the nation,” Alia said.
Despite the governorship candidate’s popularity in Benue, a lot of people do not know him other than his association with the Catholic Church. So, who is this cleric hoping to grab Benue from the grip of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Samuel Ortom, governor of the state?
Alia was born in Mbangur, Mbadede, Vandeikya LGA of Benue on May 14, 1966. Although he had his primary education at St. Francis primary school, Agidi, Mbatiav in Gboko LGA, Alia began his religious journey at the St. James Minor Seminary, Makurdi in 1983.
His tertiary education took him to St. Augustine’s Major Seminary, Jos, Plateau, for religious studies in 1987 and then he bagged a bachelor of arts degree in sacred theology in 1990 from an affiliate of Urbaniana University, Rome.
The people love Fr Alia, as he has been in their faces for the past 3 decades being a priest performing miracles, healing the sick, exorcising demons, solving problems that defied solutions right from his 20s. And even though the Establishment within the Church system fought him hard it never quite succeeded. People love the gallant survivor.
On the other hand, the terribly bad governors Benue has had in the past 24 years by their maladministration did the campaigning for him. The people desperately need to breathe and are eager for a clear departure from the 24 years of slavery. The person who, in their perception, best suits the job is Fr Alia.
Why a priest? First, Fr Alia reminds them of Very Reverend Father Moses Adasu, the trailblazing Third Republic governor of Benue, the first Roman Catholic priest to be so elected in Nigeria and one of the very few to hold electoral office in the world.
Second, being a priest, as governor, he cannot be as greedy, wasteful, callous, insensitive as his predecessor(s), the people reason. Being unmarried, he won’t have an annoying first lady dragging the spotlight with him and creating a parallel administration seeking relevance. For these reasons primarily, they put all their hopes and aspirations on him.
If history is anything to go by, I am sorry my Benue people may be mistaken, and if Fr Alia wins, they may need a reality check and manage their expectations.
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