Before going into the nitty gritty of this essay, I would like to by way of preliminary remarks make something clear. I am, by conviction and heritage, a pan-Edo advocate. My love for all Edo tribes—Benin, Esan, Afemai, and others—is rooted in a deep sense of our shared history, bloodlines, and collective destiny. I believe in unity, equity, and the strength that comes from embracing our common ancestry. So this is not a call to division, but a call to justice; and justice begins with truth.
Today, I came across a heart-wrenching video on Facebook. A young man, freshly returned from abroad, was killed by officers of the Nigerian Customs Service on his way from Lagos to Benin. His only offence? Being a passenger in a commercial bus whose driver refused to pay a ₦5,000 bribe.
This tragedy is not an isolated incident, it is the latest symptom of the quiet siege on Edo South by federal security agencies.
For anyone who plies the Benin–Shagamu Expressway, the checkpoints on the Edo side are a familiar source of harassment and extortion. Men of the Nigerian Police set up endless illegal roadblocks, preying on motorists and passengers, especially the young and the vulnerable. Drivers and traders now calculate “settlement money” into their travel expenses—another hidden tax on a people already burdened.
Numerous Benin socio-political groups have expressed concern in private meetings, yet nothing concrete has been done to confront or halt this humiliation. A once-proud people are being ground down by daily indignities.
The socio-economic health of Edo South is under a coordinated onslaught. Not only are our roads unsafe and our youth criminalized, but federal institutions such as the EFCC and the police have turned Benin City into a theatre of aggressive profiling. Young men, many of them hardworking entrepreneurs, tech-savvy creatives, and honest traders, are harassed, extorted, and paraded as criminals without due process.
This blanket stigma against a rising generation of Edo South’s finest minds is unjust, unacceptable, and economically damaging. It has instilled fear, driven talent underground, and discouraged innovation.
At the same time, appointments by the APC-led federal and state governments have become glaringly lopsided. Under the leadership of Governor Monday Okpebholo from Edo Central and Senator Adams Oshiomhole from Edo North, Edo South has suffered unprecedented political sidelining. A region that contributes the lion’s share to the internally generated revenue (IGR) of Edo State ( over 70%) is consistently denied its fair stake in governance. Appointments, contracts, and federal presence are distributed in a manner that reflects deliberate marginalization, not by accident, but by design.
Let us speak facts: Edo South towers above the other two senatorial districts combined in population ( 58%), landmass (62%), economic input ( 70% of Edo GDP), educational institutions, cultural heritage, and global recognition. Benin City, the heartbeat of the state, is not just a state capital, it is a historical epicenter of the Edoid civilization. Furthermore, all oil producing areas in Edo State that account for Edo state federal allocation are in Edo south.
The city and its people connect ancestrally to Edo Central, Edo North, parts of Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Anambra, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, Enugu, Imo and beyond. Yet, this magnanimity has become our undoing. While we make room for all, others consolidate power, resources, and opportunities for themselves alone.
Look at Benue State. Since the creation of that state, the Tiv people have held the governorship without conceding to the Idoma or Igede and the other tribes; but in Edo, the Benin people have opened their doors wide, embracing every other group in peaceful coexistence, only to be sidelined when it comes to leadership and resource distribution.
It is time to ask the hard question: Who will speak for Edo South now?
All federal roads leading to our communities in Edo south—Ehor, Abudu, Ugo, Igbanke, Urhonigbe, Evboesi, Iguobazuwa, Okada, Ologbo—are in disgraceful, parlours conditions. Federal governments come and go, yet the arteries to the economic engine room of Edo State remain broken.
It should be stated clearly that the few infrastructure upgrades in Benin City by successive governments should not count as development for Edo South because Benin City belongs to all Edos. It is the state capital—a shared space and melting pot for every senatorial district. Claiming general improvements in Benin City as dividends for Edo South is both misleading and unjust. True development for Edo South must reach our towns, our villages, our people, beyond the capital city we all share and have equal stakes in.
Meanwhile, other leaders quietly channel state resources to their villages and local councils. Ambrose Alli built expansive road networks into the farmlands of his Emaudo and other parts of Ekpoma. Adams Oshiomhole transformed his hitherto unheralded Iyamho and other parts of Uzairue into modern enclaves. Monday Okpebholo is fixing every corner of his Udomi-Uwesan and other parts of Irrua—sometimes without publicity, often without apology.
When Samuel Ogbemudia was Military Governor of Midwest state and Bendel, he took the entire region of state of Bendel as his. There was no special treatment for Orhionmwon,then his ancestral local government, or Oredo where he resided. Afuze, Agenebode, Auchi, Igara, Irrua, Asaba, Ughelli, Sapele, Warri, Uromi etc had his attention. Same can be said about Godwin Obaseki and Lucky Igbinedion.
What about us?
Where are the signature projects in Orhionmwon and Uhunmwode? Where are the dualized roads in Iguobazuwa? Where are the job creation centres in Ugo or Evboesi? Where are the healthcare upgrades in Urhonigbe or the industrial hubs in Okada? Where are the road networks of Igbanke and Iguobazuwa ? Where is the agrarian industrialization of Ehor?
A region that gives so much in land, in culture, in human capital, and in resources must now demand to be seen, respected, and represented.
This is not merely about opposition politics. It is about justice, equity, and survival.
Edo South has always produced brilliant individuals and outstanding personalities but too many of our leaders have chosen parochialism over partnership, self-interest over service.
It is time to court a new crop of public servants who understand that representation is not about titles, it’s about results.
Edo South must rise beyond the present rudderlessness and recalibrate its compass.
It is time for voices to rise—from Ehor to Ugo, from Abudu to Okada—to say: enough is enough.
We are done watching in silence.
We are done celebrating crumbs while others feast.
We are done letting our sons be profiled and our daughters be denied.
We must take hold of our present so we can shape our future.
And for those still asking:
“Who will speak for Edo South now?” The answer is in the essay!
A searing essay by Daniel A. Noah Osa-Ogbegie, Esq.