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From Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin, Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, yesterday, took a swipe at the political class, who he accused of reneging on their promises and abandoning the electorate after elections.
The monarch who spoke when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited his palace in Benin City, Edo State, appealed to the political class to harness the country’s resources for the benefit of citizens.
“Like the businessman will say, ‘customers are kings’, in election, the electorate are supposed to be kings, but that is not what we have in Nigeria. We have leaders who get to office, enrich themselves and forget the electorate, whereas without the electorate, nobody can occupy any political office, especially elected office. Some of these politicians use all kinds of tactics to get the votes of the electorate and at the end of the day, abandon the electorate.
“I want to appeal to politicians to make this country great because Nigeria is blessed with great human and natural resources, but Nigeria is still in a bad state. We want to be able to stay in Nigeria and enjoy the good things of life, not in Dubai or in the US. Now we are even running to Ghana; we should change all these, Nigeria should be a destination point,” the Benin monarch said.
He told Osinbajo who was in the state to meet with delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the party’s presidential primary scheduled for the end of May, that he remains an admirer of his eloquence and commended him for his respect for culture and tradition.
He commended the Federal Government under President Muhamadu Buhari for ensuring that stolen artefacts were returned to their original owners.
Osinbajo told the Oba that President Buhari has exposed him enough to critical decisions and programmes about Nigeria which have equipped him with the capacity to lead the country.
The VP was also in Asaba, Delta State to meet statutory delegates. At the palace of the Asagba of Asaba, Obi (Prof.) Chike Edozien, he said his desire is to serve Nigeria with everything he has, and ensure the country occupied its pride of place that has become its manifest destiny.
He explained that he took the decision to contest with all “sense of responsibility having served as vice president and occasionally as acting president in the past seven years.
According to him, the position has exposed him to every part of the country and their peculiar challenges, noting that he was offering himself for genuine service to the nation.
