By Queen Kunde
Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has challenged stakeholders at the Benue Twenty Thirty-Five Summit to come up with practical solutions that will protect the people and create better opportunities for them.
Governor Alia gave the charge on Monday while declaring open the three-day Benue 2035 Economic Transformation, Capital Formation and Prosperity Summit in Makurdi, the state capital.
The summit, organised by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited in partnership with Hudson Global, is seeking to build a five-billion-dollar investment platform to drive economic growth and prosperity in the state.
Held at Rev. Father Alia Hall, SEMA, Makurdi, the summit is themed “From Potential to Prosperity.”
Governor Alia said Benue has the people, land and natural resources needed to become a prosperous state, but warned that potential alone would not change lives.
He said the state must turn its resources into investments, businesses, jobs and better living conditions for its people.
According to him, his administration is focused on creating an environment where farmers, businesses and families can thrive through better security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, investment opportunities, jobs and strong institutions.
The governor described the summit as more than another meeting, saying it must produce decisions and strategies that can be implemented and measured.
“This must not be another report that ends up on a shelf,” Alia told participants, urging them to think boldly, challenge old assumptions and identify solutions that can deliver real results.
He identified governance and execution, security and justice, capital formation, fiscal sustainability, agriculture, infrastructure, power, logistics, human capital, technology, artificial intelligence and productivity as key areas requiring urgent attention.
Alia stressed that the issues were closely connected, noting that farmers could not produce effectively without security, while businesses could not grow without infrastructure and reliable power.
He therefore urged delegates to focus on solutions that would both protect the people and provide genuine pathways to better lives.
Earlier, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited, Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, said the summit was designed to bring key stakeholders together to shape the future of Benue.
Asemakaha said the gathering was about “hope,” the future of Benue’s children and the prosperity of the state.
He warned that Benue must grow its economy faster than its population, pointing to the rising number of graduates from tertiary institutions.
He said fourteen thousand eight hundred and two graduates were produced in two thousand and twenty-four, while the figure increased to sixteen thousand two hundred graduates in two thousand and twenty-five.
This, he said, was happening in a state with an estimated population of about seven point three million people and more than thirty-four thousand square kilometres of largely underutilised land.
Asemakaha said the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited’s role was to provide the platform, while participants must contribute ideas and commit themselves to building a stronger economy for Benue.
Also speaking, Hudson Global Chief Executive Officer, Prince Tom Isehohi, praised Governor Alia’s administration and promised that his organisation would work with the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited to attract the funding needed to support the state’s development plans.
Isehohi shared his personal journey of leaving Nigeria at the age of seventeen and later working on Wall Street, where, according to him, a mentor challenged him to raise one billion dollars.
He said the SASI model would be used throughout the summit to give participants strategic tools and produce a blueprint that the state government can implement.
He said participants would identify five critical areas capable of transforming Benue into a competitive and prosperous economy.
Isehohi also projected that within the next two years, a company capable of generating two billion dollars would be built in the state.
He expressed confidence that Governor Alia had the right people to drive the process, while adding that the SASI programme would also support efforts to make Benue one of Nigeria’s most secure states.
The 3-day summit has brought together government officials, captains of industry, traditional rulers, investors, business leaders, development partners, experts and other stakeholders to develop practical strategies for the economic transformation of Benue.