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From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, swore in Chairmen of the 18 Local Government Councils who were elected at last Saturday Local Government polls amid protest against the outcome of the election conducted by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC).
At the event, Obaseki said his administration would create alternate roads since the federal government could not fix its roads in the state to ensure smooth movement of goods and services across the state, but cautioned that the roads, when constructed, would be barricaded and restricted for use.
He, therefore, called for the cooperation of the new chairmen to achieve this, just as he urged them to focus on the environment and sanitation, saying that was an area he has not been happy about in the performance of his administration.
“Today we are in a crisis in our country, what is hurting Edo the most is the advantage we have in terms of our location of being at the core of the country and therefore being connected with a lot of roads owned by the federal government. The federal government as you know today lacks the capacity to manage itself not to talk about rebuilding its roads so it could take a while if ever for them to be able to build those roads.
“We fortunately have other connections so our priority with you should be to design and work with the state government to build alternative state roads. Infrastructure is important, we should be able to move our people with their goods and their services so that we can have development and when we build those roads, they will be barricaded and restricted for use.
“The other area we will need to collaborate with you is in the area of the environment and sanitation. We’ve done so much in the last six, seven years but one area I am not proud of is in terms of our sanitation and environment. This is an area we share together. I want to implore you to make this a priority for us because the environment is a big issue in the world today”, the governor pleaded.
He told the Chairmen that they were carefully selected by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and elected by the people and that he does not doubt their competence to collaborate with the state government to bring good governance to the people.
“I campaigned with all of you around the local government so I wasn’t surprised that you won. What amazed me, which I didn’t realize was the love and support which our people have for the PDP. Don’t let them down”, Obaseki said.
He disclosed that 52 secondary schools have been selected to test run digital education where students would learn using computers all through.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the Chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, Tajudeen Suleiman, a Lawyer, promised to collaborate with the Obaseki administration, adding that with them in the councils, the governor would produce his successor for the PDP come 2024.
