The state of Edo is again without doubt in the global spotlight as many of our people go to the polls to elect their governor, a man that would oversee the affairs of the state in the next four years.
Last night however afforded us the opportunity via live debate to watch the two main governorship contenders on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress. The matters brought up for discussion are real issues on the front burner of the Obaseki-Shaibu administration and these are in deed inherited problems from his predecessor which border on insecurity, unemployment, education, health, agriculture and food security to mention but a few.
We shall in the course of this short piece examine these issues in turn raised in the debate to see if the incumbent administration has fared well or not.
For starters, in the area of insecurity before Obaseki mounted the saddle, our people suffered from too many problems and these range from our individual complexity to frustration factor. Edo State, if we need reminding, was caught in an appalling web of insecurity which spoke volumes for crimes of varying degrees particularly violent ones such as armed robbery, kidnapping, hooliganism and the like as the lions and the tigers held sway under the active connivance and protection of certain state actors.
However, as luck would have it to say the former have not be tamed by the security measures put in place by the no-nonsense indefatigable duo – Obaseki and Shuiabu – would be an understatement. It is not in dispute that security of lives and property has been restored as our people now sleep with two eyes closed which is a far cry from what obtained in the not too distant past.
Obaseki in the course of the historic debate did expressly and aptly remind Edo people and other viewers around the world of these measures which is an open secret. Hence in the area of insecurity which was on the ascending order of magnitude I think the Obaseki administration deserves a pat on the back which his major opponent, I dare say, would have appreciated and commended by brushing their political differences aside.
One issue that also featured prominently in that debate was human trafficking which his opponent alleged has spiked double digits. This again is not true, in fact it is none other than terminological inexactitudes. Far from what he alleged it has actually reduced to which we are all living witnesses.
In my interview with
Vanguard newspapers in the second quarter of last year I made a scanty reference to the daily episodes of Mediterranean deaths which informed my interest and desire to join the Edo State governorship race. Many Nigerians of Edo State extraction were daily trafficked and shipped through and over the Mediterranean to Europe but this, I dare say, has drastically reduced thanks to the untiring efforts via a series of diplomatic engagements particularly with the authorities of the countries on the north of the Mediterranean by the incumbent administration which could be likened to the Shawshank Redemption – a bestseller movie with proper planning, design and management that has produced amazing results!
Frankly, I see a mass Hegira home of our people in foreign lands on the horizon resulting from the redemption agenda being vigorously pursued and implemented by the Obaseki administration which is in sync with my visions and ideals to regenerate Edo State as a gubernatorial hopeful.
Reckless pursuit of personal aggrandizement via maddening desperation to get Edo State plum job being exhibited by Obaseki’s major opponent is foreign to my nature and therefore nauseating.
The welfare of our people transcends every other personal ambition and it is only proper to throw in the towel and voice one’s solidarity, support and advise where and when necessary as the person at the helm leads convincingly in the right direction in stead of reducing oneself to an unrepentant irritant to the government of the day – a piece of advice for the leader of the lions and the tigers!
Obaseki’s agricultural concept and initiative – a deviation from Nigeria’s medieval agricultural template marks him out as a competent technocrat and administrator. This without doubt has repositioned Edo State in the path of self-sufficiency in food production. I had a swell time during my recent 3-weeks stay in Edo State before moving my teeming supporters at a low-keyed ceremony somewhere in Egor and Oredo Local Government Areas in Benin City, the Edo State capital, to support the Obaseki-Shaibu ticket after collapsing my structures.
Noteworthy during my stay in Benin City are the fresh foods I enjoyed with relish at a comparative low cost unlike Lagos State my so-called spiritual home where the cost of foodstuffs is increasingly becoming prohibitive. That is more than enough for one to contemplate a relocation home as the various economic policies formulated and being painstakingly implemented by the incumbent government is rapidly transforming our state to the proverbial lost city of El-Doraldo!
Health, Education and sports also featured in the historic debate. The Obaseki’s administration performance in these sectors can not be dismissed with a trivial hand. It is not in dispute that his major opponent refused to acknowledge the feats recorded by Obsseki in these key sectors which ought not to be after all. Caesar was ne’er so much your enemy – put differently my dear pastor fondly called POI, Obaseki was ne’er so much your enemy if I may borrow a re-phrased hackneyed quotation from Shakespeare. I say yet again, the welfare of our people comes first; it is therefore advisable under the existing circumstances to let well alone as Obaseki like a Trojan works tirelessly expanding our coast via creation of every enabling environment for businesses and institutions to flourish and we see his efforts yielding fruitful dividends.
Last year, the reforms and innovations carried out by Governor Obaseki in the education sector gave him an award by the Nigerian Union of Teachers as the most education-friendly governor in Nigeria and this he achieved by dint of hardwork via quality learning through technology, teachers and students motivation. Did his opponent have to contest this incontrovertible fact that gave the governor a deserving award yet he did. What a crying blunder!
In sports the Obaseki-Shaibu administratoion made a giant stride. Today Edo has regained its lost glory as
traditional number one destination in sports. During my visit to the Government House in Benin City on invitation by the Deputy Governor, His Excellency Rt Hon Philip Shiabu in February this year he did expressly tell me the measures put in put in place by the incumbent administration that revived sports in the state and true to his claims Edo State again is now a force to reckon with in the area of sports – the hosting right granted the state after the on-the-spot assessment of the facilities on the ground is a testimony to this fact!
Has there been dearth of nurses, doctors and other health workers in Edo State under Governor Obaseki’s administration? Frankly, I haven’t heard of it. Our health facilities in Edo State competes with the best anywhere under the sun with well-trained health personnel being churned out yearly from the prestigious University of Benin. This should not have been in contention by his main opponent because we have the facts and figures on the ground how the governor has performed exceedingly well in this regard.
Frankly, what the leader of the lions and the tigers should have done is to applaud the giant strides made by his major opponent and promise to build on that if voted to power in stead of his incessant diatribes and unwarranted attacks on the incumbent governor of our state who repeatedly and consistently whispered endearments, “my brother”, “my brother”, to his opponent. My maternal uncle, may God rest his soul, before going the way of all flesh once reminded me of the grave dangers inherent in trying to achieve anything by violence and I have learnt to live by that caution to this day.
His hostile disposition, repeated debilitating flaws at the debate and many others were where the lions and tigers got it wrong.
Iyoha John Darlington is an Edo State governorship candidate on the platform of the relisted Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN).
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