SUYI AYODELE writes on the aftermath of the Edo State governorship election that returned Godwin Obaseki to the state Government House and what the people expect of him this second time.
In the history of election in Edo State, the September 19, 2020 governorship election will remain a reference point for years to come. The rhetoric, the mudslinging and the character assassination, especially between the two major political parties: the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressive Congress, APC, all combined to make the election peculiar.
The electioneering campaigns dwelled little or nothing on issues, ideas and ideals of what difference (s) the two gladiators, Governor Godwin Obaseki of the PDP and his arch rival Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, would bring to bear as they canvassed for votes.
The language employed was most intemperate, the attitudinal disposition very combative and the delivery of projectiles ambulant; gravitating towards anarchy.
But like the literary dues ex machina, forces bigger than the gladiators intervened and against all projections and expectations, the poll went smoothly and earlier than expected, the results trickled in and a winner emerged.
The reelection of Governor Obaseki may be a topic for future symposium, apology to the maverick legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. That the governor earned a second term, almost seamlessly, beating Ize-Iyamu and his APC, to an embarrassing second position, is a testimony to the fact that when the people decide to move, there is no stopping them.
To a larger extent, in the midst of the confused political situation that threw up Obaseki as a candidate of the PDP in the nerve snapping election, the governor had maintained at different forums, that his achievements in his first term would do the magic for him.
Top on the list of what the governor relied on to win a come back to the Dennis Osadebey Avenue seat of power, is the total extinction of street urchins as revenue collectors for the state. Known as ‘agbero’ or ‘egbeweja’ in the Edo street lingo before the coming of Obaseki as governor in 2016, those street revenue collectors were in their illiteracy best. Unfortunately, while little or nothing was said to have been remitted to the common purse, the boys became fabulously rich. The situation was such that one of them hosted an expensive party to celebrate his first billion and even bought two lion cubs as pets.
Less than six months after assuming office in 2016, Obaseki moved against the street revenue collectors. He automated revenue generation in the state through high wire technology that ensures that every kobo collected as revenue is paid into the government covers.
The simple implication of that was that the government became richer and was able to attend to issues that are beneficial to the generality of the people such as prompt and regular payment of salaries and pensions and infrastructural development and transformation of some moribund state’s assets and facilities.
Obaseki projected that achievement in the course of his reelection campaigns and now that he has won a second term, the people expect a complete eradication of the system in which individuals benefit at the expense of the state.
Iyobosa Aisojie, a textile dealer in New Benin market, while sharing her expectations from Obaseki’s second term with Sunday Tribune, said that her day will be made, she sees no ‘agbero’ on the streets again.
She speaks:”When things happen well, you cannot remember how it was before. We were in hell when those agbero were collecting revenue from us. No record, no receipt, they just collected money and move to the next shop. Now, the revenue people from tax office come, give you paper and you go to the bank to pay. You pay once and nobody comes back to you everyday to ask you to pay. Now that the governor has won, he should drive all of them away. We don’t want ‘agbero’ in our state again”.
Iyobosa is not alone. For Osazuwa Odion, a commercial bus driver, Governor Obaseki, in his second term, should not allow the ‘agbero’ to come back. “How person go dey pay N1,700 daily for people wey no dey do anything? How much we dey make sef? Na so we dey pay am and we support the governor because he chase them away. Dem show small during the election and we know say na because of election. Election don finish and we no see them again. Make the governor no let them come back for life”
Another strong point Obaseki pushed while asking for the people’s mandate for another four years was the various Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) he signed with various organisations to make them to come to the state and invest.
As a matter of campaign mudslinging, he was tagged “MOU Governor”, while the campaign lasted. At the Channels TV debate, which held days before the election, the issue of MOU was one of the points of attack on the governor’s achievements by his opponent.
While the governor maintained that the MOUs had started bearing fruits and listed the independent power plant and Edo Refinery as parts of the gains of the government-private initiatives, his opponent would now have any of that.
Speaking on what the governor should do in his second term, Samuel Igbinoba Idemudia, a banker with one of the new generation banks, said he expects the governor to consolidate on the past MOUs before going for new ones.
“We cannot deny the fact that no economy grows without the private sector playing a big part. I can appreciate why many people don’t see the benefits of government-private driven economy because we are largely illiterate in this part of the world. I will however, want to see a situation where all the past MOUs are implemented before the governor embarks on getting new ones. He should consolidate on the ones he has. Let them take off and then source for new ones. Edo State stands the chance to be a leading state if all the economic blueprints of this government are implemented”, he said.
Dickson Obayuwana, a graduate of Economics, University of Benin, who teaches in a private secondary school, also shared the same view.
“The governor has done well in his first term by attracting investors to the state. That is the way to go. But now, he should make the investors bring in the money and set up so that the promised jobs and booming economic activities will materialise. The refinery for instance, is a giant one and if we have five of such, not necessarily refineries, the state will be good enough,: he said.
But for Aigbe Davidson, a computer technologist, the governor should pay more attention “to two things in his second term. One, he should get the power system working. Once he can fix the power problems in the state, especially with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), the economy will thrive.
“The second area I expect the governor to pay attention to is road. I mean roads that lead to commercial centres. Let him fix the inter roads so that farmers can bring their farm produce to the cities and towns and let him make the Ekenwan Road to Gelegele which he started before the campaign, a priority. If you have good road to Gelegele and the port there is developed, Obaseki will be remembered for good”, Aigbe submitted.
From the political class, the greatest problem, which led to the exit of the governor from the APC, stemmed from the claim that shortly after he won his first election, Obaseki, unlike his predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, abandoned the political class and refused to patronise them.
Having served as head of the economic team of Oshiomhole for eight years, Obaseki, on assumption of office, closed his eyes against those things his predecessor used to do. Matter got to a point that the Government House, which used to be a beehive of activities, became desolate, with only those who work there and those with serious business to transact only show up.
His administrative philosophy was that politicians should go to their party’s Secretariat and not the Government House. The immediate implication of this was the free cash ceased to flow and there was anguish and pains. The displaced politicians waited for the opportune time to teach the governor a lesson and he was taught a bitter lesson as he was swept off by the broom, the symbol of the APC, such that he had to seek refuge under the umbrella, the PDP.
Now in his second term, what are the expectations from the political class?
Many respondents, probably for fear of being labelled ‘cash and carry politicians,’ chose to talk to Sunday Tribune anonymously.
One of such respondents, a former commissioner in the state, said “truth be told, it will be totally insane if anyone says the governor should just go and pack money and give it to politicians. No, that is not the point. What we are asking the governor to do is to look at our direction too”.
“Nobody wins an election alone. You need people; you need structures. Those who made themselves available and also give you their platforms deserve to be patronised. You cannot abandon people down home and begin to give contracts to outsiders. That is not good and that is what we are asking him to do. Take care of this who worked for your success; sustain the platforms and the structures you used to get to power. I don’t think that is too much to ask, especially when you remember that the governor was a dark horse or the darkest horse, if you like, when he contested in 2016. Now that he won in PDP, will he say he did it all alone? If he did not look in the direction of the people in PDP who made his second term possible, he will have the same problem,” he said.
For Henry Idahagbon, a former Attorney General of the state, a chairman of Egor Local Government Area and one of the leaders of the Edo Progressive Movement, (EPM), the APC pressure group which sent the governor packing from the party, the second term “is a second chance for him (Obaseki) to right the wrongs of the past. If he did that, good for him and if he doesn’t, posterity may not be kind to him.”
But Chris Agbowanegbe, a former Commissioner for Agriculture, is optimistic that Obaseki will surpass his first term achievements.
“The man is set. I know he will continue with the good work that he is doing. The construction of the secretariat building is on and I am sure that he will complete it. He will also complete the new High Court project for the judiciary and judges’ residential quarters. He is also building a housing project. We want him to complete it so that many Edo people will be able to own their houses”, he enthused.
According to him, “We are also aware that even before the election, he had prepared 100 streets for asphalting. Now that the election is over, he will start massive road construction in Benin. He is also willing to do the Benin-Abraka Road, which is the major complaint of Orhionmwon people The opposition party used the bad state of the road against him during the campaign. He is willing to establish hospitals in the area”.
From the civil service and pensioners, the bulk of Obaseki’s foot soldiers, who ensured that he defeated Ize-Iyamu even in Orhiomwon, the governor should carry on with the prompt payment of salaries and pensions.
Elder David Osarunmwese, a retiree, said that “Obaseki has done well so far in paying our pension. He should please look into the cases of those whose entitlements and retirement benefits have not been paid and pay them. He will leave a good legacy if he improves on taking care of the senior citizens, who laboured in the past.”
Joel Erhumwunse, a civil servant, said that “unfortunately, payment of salaries is now considered as an achievement, but what do you do when you know that your mates in other states are owed up to six months and more? The governor should continue and ensure that in his second term, promotion of those who are due are not delayed unduly.”
The governor, no doubt, has a lot to do to meet the expectations of the people who reposed their confidence in him and turned him from being ‘a political lizard’ to a ‘political lion’.
In his victory speech after the result was announced, he promised to do more to Make Edo Great Again (MEGA). Time will tell how well he lives by that vow.
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