Benue: Father Alia’s Misplaced Priorities

An Opinion By Timothy Enietan-Matthews

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Benue State on Wednesday, June 12, 2025, it was, in theory, a gesture of national solidarity—an attempt to mourn with a state reeling from the latest massacre in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area, where over 200 innocent lives were wiped out by suspected armed herdsmen. But beyond the optics and photo ops, the events surrounding the visit and the actions of Governor Hyacinth Alia paint a troubling portrait of misplaced priorities, political desperation, and an utter failure of moral and administrative responsibility.

Instead of using the President’s visit as an opportunity to showcase the urgency of the security crisis Benue faces, Governor Alia chose pageantry over principle. The declaration of a public holiday in the state—on a weekday no less—smacked of sycophancy and administrative triviality. Rather than mourning the dead and amplifying the cries of the bereaved, the government orchestrated a show of loyalty, which included parading school children in the rain to welcome a President under whose watch the blood of Benue indigenes continues to flow.

It was a scene both heartbreaking and enraging—young children, soaked to the skin, waving flags as dignitaries in bulletproof convoys sped past them toward a town hall meeting filled with pre-screened sympathizers. The same children who endure dilapidated classrooms, poor nutrition, and the trauma of violence in their communities were turned into props for a political spectacle. Their welfare was secondary; the optics were everything.

What makes this charade even more infuriating is the backdrop against which it occurred: repeated and systemic massacres of Benue residents by marauding armed herdsmen. From Guma to Logo, Ukum to Agatu, entire communities have been decimated. Thousands have died, many more displaced, and yet the only constant seems to be the government’s paralysis in the face of terror. The people of Benue are not merely victims of violence—they are victims of silence, of abandonment, and now, of performative governance.

Governor Hyacinth Alia, a Catholic priest-turned-politician, has in recent times sparked outrage for his opposition to community self-defence initiatives. In a state where security forces are outgunned and under-resourced, his consistent condemnation of any form of civilian self-defence reflects a troubling detachment from reality. When people are butchered in their sleep and security is a distant mirage, what moral ground does a leader stand on to demand passivity? Is the state not duty-bound to protect its people—or at least not stand in their way when they seek to protect themselves?

Alia’s refusal to champion the security rights of his people has raised suspicions of complicity or, at best, cowardice. How does a man of God, entrusted with the leadership of one of Nigeria’s most terrorized states, justify inaction while corpses pile up and survivors are left in IDP camps with little more than prayers and promises?

And what of President Tinubu? His visit, while symbolically important, was devoid of new solutions or bold policy shifts. There was no concrete commitment to military reinforcements, no emergency relief package for the affected communities, and certainly no roadmap to end the decade-long farmer-herder conflict. Instead, the visit felt like a poorly-scripted campaign rerun—emotive speeches, tightly-controlled access, and zero accountability.

The suffering in Benue is no longer just a humanitarian crisis; it is a political indictment. It indicts a federal government that treats mass killings as routine, and it damns a state government more concerned with applause than action. Father Alia’s allegiance to political correctness and federal approval seems to have eclipsed his calling to protect the flock entrusted to him.

Benue deserves more than symbolic gestures. It deserves real security, honest leadership, and a governor who understands that human lives are not mere numbers in a condolence speech—or background scenery for presidential fanfare. If Governor Alia cannot speak for the dead, defend the living, or challenge the powers that enable this carnage, then it is not just his priorities that are misplaced—it is his entire moral compass.