MAKURDI, BENIN/ABUJA — Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia is facing intense criticism following the launch of the 2026 Fertilizer and Farm Inputs Distribution Exercise, with critics and agrarian stakeholders labeling the highly publicized 51% price subsidy a wasteful political gimmick.
The administration proudly announced a price crash to ₦28,000 per bag across the 23 Local Government Areas, but frustrated local communities point out that the intervention is entirely useless because rampant insecurity has completely chased farmers away from their ancestral lands and homes.
The Fertilizer Fallacy: Input Without Access
Agrarian experts and local cooperative societies have described the fertilizer distribution as an expensive public relations stunt that ignores the brutal reality on the ground. Thousands of Benue farmers cannot utilize agricultural inputs because their fields have been converted into active war zones by armed non-state actors.
“Providing subsidized fertilizer to farmers who cannot access their fields is a complete waste of public funds,” said a representative from an agricultural advocacy group in Makurdi. “The governor is putting the cart before the horse. You cannot cultivate crops in an active combat zone. Our people do not need cheap fertilizer; they need the security to step onto their lands without being slaughtered.”
The disconnect has become even more apparent following reports that armed Fulani herdsmen have occupied the vast Adiga Forest between Ado and Okpokwu LGAs, boldly renaming the territory “Sambisa Forest.” With criminal syndicates controlling large swathes of the state’s fertile belts, the agricultural flag-off is being viewed as a calculated distraction from the total collapse of local security.
The IDP Crisis: Living in Squalor While Government Spends on Gimmicks
The failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration under Governor Alia is further exposed by the deplorable, sub-human conditions within the state’s various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
Rather than channeling state resources into adequately maintaining these crowded shelters or funding aggressive security operations to return citizens to their homes, the administration has been accused of gross negligence:
- Acute Deprivation: Displaced families across the camps face severe starvation, zero access to clean drinking water, and a total lack of basic medical care.
- Squalid Infrastructure: The camps remain heavily congested, leaving vulnerable women and children exposed to outbreaks of preventable diseases and harsh weather elements.
Critics maintain that Governor Alia has performed profoundly below expectations since taking office. Despite his background and promises of compassion, his alignment with the central APC leadership has not yielded any tactical relief for the state. Instead, his tenure has overseen a worsening security slide, leaving citizens trapped in a cycle of displacement while the government prioritizes flashy, superficial handouts.
Communities Reject Propaganda for True Security
As public anger boils over across the Middle Belt, the Alia administration is being urged to drop its media-driven interventions and face its constitutional duties.
With the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) sustaining an indefinite strike over school safety and mothers nationwide protesting the impunity of armed gangs, Benue stakeholders are demanding an immediate audit of the state’s security budgets. Community leaders maintain that until the state government clears out the newly established forest enclaves and provides a transparent framework to safely return the displaced population to their villages, any spending on farm inputs remains a wasteful misuse of public funds meant to deceive the electorate.
INEC has remained defiant, stating that it will not compromise the biometric and operational schedule of the general election cycle for internal party inefficiencies. Law enforcement personnel have reinforced security parameters around the commission’s data processing centers to prevent any unauthorized electronic uploads or physical disruptions from disgruntled political actors as the legal battle moves to the Court of Appeal.
