Edo: Gov Obaseki’s tenure complete disaster, says Adaze, former Information Commissioner
By Daniel Kanu
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Andrew Emwanta Adaze, has rated Governor Godwin Obaseki’s tenure as a disaster.
Adaze who is a former Commissioner for Information in Edo State and the Convener of the Edo Generation X Movement said that Obaseki following his poor outing as Edo State governor does not deserve to produce a successor.
The former commissioner who spoke with a select group of journalists in Lagos, explained Governor Obaseki’s leadership failure and why the forthcoming Edo governorship election will be an inter-generational contest.
He also revealed the Generation X Movement strategy in the coming Edo election, among other things. Excerpt:
What are the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the Edo 2024 governorship election?
I think the people of Edo are being hoodwinked to think that Obaseki as a governor has performed to the extent of producing a successor. In terms of the three indicators of a growing economy, you ask yourself what is the state of our local economy. A situation where virtually all the contracts are given to foreigners, is that smart? You want to organize an event like Alaghodaro and you took the printing jobs to Lagos. You need people to advise you as consultants and you bring the majority if not all of them from Lagos. All the consultants that operated in the Ministry of Communication and Orientation were from Lagos. The consultants were even competing with me as Commissioner. You saw all kinds of bogus amounts that they brought for projects that will involve Edo taxpayers’ money. There was the issue of huge capital flight. Under Obaseki, the local economy didn’t improve at all. That is one. Then what of the health care system? I emphasize this because when you work in a place and you fall sick, you must use the healthcare system. The only standing hospital that we can point at that meets modern standards is the one at the beginning of Sapele Road. Adams Oshiomhole built and equipped it. The ultra-modern hospital, which was initially shut down by Obaseki, was later given to private individuals to manage. In terms of healthcare, I’ll score this government 10 per cent. They have performed abysmally in that area. Today, we now talk of a road network without drainage and walkways. As we speak, Benin City has the best network of bad roads. You go to Okhoro, Ewah Road, Medical Stores and other erosion-prone areas, there’s nothing to write home about. Even within the GRA, when it rains you need a speed boat to get to your destination. Is it Ekenwan Road that was started over four years ago, or Evboutubu, Mechanic Road, or Uwelu in Egor? All these roads are in a terrible state. So, what can this government now showcase? Is it in the education sector? Private schools are closing because of excessive taxation. In fact, it is even a mind statement to say that Governor Obaseki performed abysmally in all indicators of development. His tenure is a complete disaster.
Why do you say that?
The Governor didn’t build schools, but spent the last seven years organizing seminars on what he calls Edo Best. During Oshiomhole’s time, we were talking of the Red Roof Revolution. How many schools have teachers as we speak? There are many communities in my local government without teachers. They’ve very limited teachers. You see where a teacher is teaching both junior and senior secondary school students simultaneously. Which school in this state meets national standards? I went to Annunciation Catholic College Irrua, which the Old Boys Association now funds the school after the Edo State government under Obaseki abandoned it. So for me, I don’t think this governor has performed well to say he wants to produce a successor. Besides, Asue Ighodalo was part of his government from the start as a Chief Economic Adviser. Is there any project in Edo Central that Asue Ighodalo can beat his chest that he has attracted to his senatorial district? What economic benefits did Edo Central people gain under this present government he is serving as Chairman of Alaghodaro? So talk is cheap. Unlike Asue, our APC candidate has touched the lives of Edo people in many communities within his senatorial district. Schools there have been impacted positively by him. During the time of the Red Roof revolution of Oshiomhole, he empowered young people with instructional materials. They talk about the fact that he is building boreholes. There is no water in Edo Central and you know that is a major challenge for them there. When the Edo Central security network Atalakpa was formed, he was a major contributor. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate was offered a place on the board of trustees, but he rejected it. And I challenge him to list any significant contribution he has made towards the security network of the people of Edo Central, where they are still having kidnapping issues and all that. Senator Okpebholo prevailed on Mr President for work to start on the Benin Auchi road leading to Okenne. As I speak to you, work on that road has commenced in earnest. So, the incoming APC government in Edo State, by the grace of God, will give a human face to governance. We will give serious respect to our traditional rulers and institutions. We won’t compete with the Oba of Benin, because this is a kingdom that has existed for centuries. Even before Nigeria became a country, the Benin Kingdom had existed. So, you have to give great respect to our traditional institution. Instead of competing with them, we’ll collaborate with them. Our APC candidate as a Deacon of the Winners Chapel Church enjoys the support of the majority of religious leaders in Edo State. So, the Edo people will give the APC 18 over 18 votes at the governorship election this September.
So, how will your candidate achieve the cultural renaissance you seem to boast of?
Our candidate, if elected, will enhance the prestige of our traditional rulers by inaugurating the Edo Traditional Rulers Council, headed by the Oba of Benin, to see how we can strengthen and showcase our rich cultural heritage. I say this because there’s no better way to market tourism than the culture of the people, which is also reflected in traditional treasures like the Benin artefacts. At this juncture, I must commend the Swedish government for agreeing to return 39 of the stolen artefacts to the Oba of Benin. Sometime last year, under President Buhari, the Federal Government had given full custody of the artefacts to the Oba of Benin through a gazette that was issued on the 23rd of March 2023. Therefore, it was a complete misnomer for the governor to be struggling with ownership or the custody of the stolen Benin artefacts with the Oba. The stolen Benin artefacts are cultural property protected under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property of 1954. Under this international law, which has provisions that form part of what international law scholars describe as jus cogens of erga omnes character, only the Nigerian state can enter into negotiations with foreign countries for the return of cultural property like the stolen Benin artefacts acquired from conquest during an armed conflict.
Why are you criticizing the actions of the governor?
The role of the present Edo governor in the stolen artefacts conundrum was nothing more than that of a meddlesome interloper, who at the expense of Edo taxpayers, engaged in an unholy search of the proverbial Golden Fleece. Having failed in that search, he then decided to build a private museum with his Lagos business partners, to immortalize their failed mission to Europe and America. I must quickly pay tribute to the APC Federal Government for resolving with finality the ownership dispute over both the recovered and yet-to-be-recovered stolen Benin artefacts. So, based on this resolution of the ownership question, the incoming Edo State government of APC will collaborate with the Oba of Benin to see how these artefacts can be fully returned to the Oba of Benin. The incoming APC government of Edo State intends to fully support the Oba in building his Royal Museum that Obaseki and his band of technocrats from Lagos are now competing with him over. Why will you be using public funds to build a private museum in a place where a public hospital was once situated before it was demolished, just like they are doing with Alaghodaro? Does it make sense to establish a private company that will run a private museum that is publicly funded? For me, nothing can be more treacherous and dubious than that. I can assure Edo people that the incoming APC government in Edo State will return that place to the status quo.
Is it true that zoning this ticket to Edo Central is partly the reason you are supporting Monday Okpebholo as the candidate of APC?
Not essentially because he is an Esan man. My political philosophy on the topic is that instead of talking about zoning, we should talk about the three Cs: Capacity, Competence, and Character. I’m happy that the PDP and APC eventually zoned their tickets to Edo Central. I supported the APC candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo, because of his capacity to communicate with the people, without the aid of an interpreter. His capacity to bring people together, because I took time to study his character and his story of people-centred development. Particularly, of how he sponsored the sinking of boreholes in his community and others. Why, because he comes from a very humble background. He once said that while growing up, after the death of his mum, he went with his older sister to fetch water from the stream in a neighbouring community. The sister mistakenly ingested some washing soda-infested water, which led to her death at a tender age. At a very young age, Senator Okpebholo imagined what it was like at that time for them to have travelled a long distance to fetch water. When he became privileged, though not yet a Senator, he put a borehole in his village. He also did the same in the neighbouring community where he went to fetch water and lost his older sister so that young people there would not go through the harrowing experience of travelling long distances to get water.
And you cannot compare the water from a stream to that from a borehole, especially in a place like Edo Central where the water table is very low. So, as a person, I think it’s not for us to argue that it is the turn of Edo Central to produce a governor, but it is also imperative for us to elect a person that has capacity. Someone who understands what the people want. A proper homeboy. Someone who can communicate in the local dialect and can talk to his people without an interpreter. When the PDP candidate went to flag off his governorship aspiration in his community, he went with an interpreter, reminding us of that old system when the colonial masters at that time used an interpreter in communicating with our people. That was the drama we saw of a governorship hopeful, talking in Queen’s English to his people and an interpreter, in turn, interpreting what he is saying to them. Is that not reverse colonialism? That is an act of total disconnect with the people and the height of political dissonance. If as a candidate in France, you cannot communicate with the French men and women in their mother tongue, French, then there’s a big problem. If as an Esan man, you cannot communicate with your people in Esan, it means that those of us from Edo South will find it hard to understand you. So,
