– By Endurance Edughu
Election seasons are interesting times in Edo. It is yet another election round in the State and the political landscape is expectedly filled with a cacophony of opportunists and merchants of pessimism and falsehoods, preying on the vulnerability of the populace with their narratives filled with lies, mistruths, vile and hatred.
In a most recent diatribe, another fly-by-night desperate pen pusher and self-acclaimed clergyman, Audu Micahel, attempted to denigrate the performance and success recorded in Edo State over the past seven and a half years under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki, while ridiculing the statement by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sustain the gains recorded over these years by the incumbent administration.
In the missive grossly lacking in facts and suffused with attention-seeking theatrics, the writer, to justify the dimwitted scribbling, turned a blind eye to the slew of attainments by the Obaseki-led government in the civil service, where the governor is running the most worker-friendly public service with workers earning at least N70, 000, the highest minimum wage in the country and discounted the achievements in the agriculture sector, where Obaseki is undertaking the most ambitious oil palm development programme in Africa, with over 70, 000 hectares of land allocated to investors.
In the education sector, it is an open secret that the governor has transformed the basic education sector, providing top-notch education to over 400,000 pupils who are now learning at par with their peers in advanced economies, while in the power sector, the government has established an independent electricity market, with the generation and distribution of 450MW from Azura and 95MW from Ossiomo Power.
It is, however, not surprising to see such a rambling from the faux, airheaded clergyman as he cannot see beyond his nose, which is why he and his ilk are incensed by the progress recorded in Edo in the last eight years.
As if that was not enough, Audu Michael in a desperate and futile attempt to tarnish the very cordial relationship between our revered monarch and the governor, attempted unsuccessfully to drag the highly exalted Royal Palace of the Oba of Benin into his brand of campaign of calumny and mudslinging.
It is instructive to note that the Royal Palace of the Benin Monarch has for decades remained insulated from partisan politics and all political actors must respect this neutral status. Audu and his ilk in the APC must be warned and guided by Edo sons and daughters, who know where to draw the line. We won’t continue to sit and fold our arms while he and his sponsors drag the Palace of the Benin Monarch into their dirty politics.
For whatever it is worth, Obaseki has run his race. His curtain is closing and amid the adversaries he had had to ward off in the last seven and half years, he emerged relatively unscathed. He’s got his second term, is superintending over the third fastest growing sub-national in the country with a slew of remarkable attainments that the majority of Edo people are aware of and have benefit from. His success trail is undeniable.
No gainsaying these attainments in education, arts, infrastructure, agriculture, education and manufacturing, among others that have continued to put traducers to shame will give him the upper hand again in September as the millions of Edo people whose lives he has improved will come out enmasse to reward him for standing with the people and championing the redistribution of resources from a few people with political access to the generality of Edo citizens. This will guarantee victory for the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
Edo people are wise and know that the PDP is the best choice for the sustained progress and prosperity of the State. They will not allow lies and propaganda by the fake clergymen like Rev Audu Michael to cloud their judgment and stop them from making informed decisions for a better future for themselves and their unborn children
On September 21, it is PDP or nothing and there is nothing the APC cannot do about it.
Edughu, writes from Benin City