Edo state has been trending nowadays not for anything good per se, and it’s unfortunate that the state that pride itself with development in the past has now become the laughing stock in the realm of the media.

Succinctly, the reason is not farfetched than the political calculations ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial election scheduled for 2020.

The election fever has soaked the interest of political actors and titans in the oil-rich state, and the satisfaction of the loyalty of the incumbent Godwin Obaseki to the party that brought him into power started the separation of interest.

As we know from the accepted definition of democracy as government of the people, by the people and for the people, one can gather that people have the power to install government and government must work for people(masses).
The day the incumbent Governor Obaseki decided to shift the goal post and put his tent of loyalty somewhere else signifies the beginning of the political problem being experienced by the state, and the common man on the street bears the pain.

No person would believe that the relationship between the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adam Oshomole and his political son would go sour within the first tenure of Godwin Obaseki.
The name Godwin only appeared to the mind of the party when the former Govr. Adam Oshomole defied against all odd to ensure that Obaseki got the party ticket in 2016 as APC flag bearer against the wish of some faithful party members and loyalist.

In a democratic setting, no one can validly claim the ownership of victory; it takes the collective task to achieve success. All of them worked together to produce Obaseki’s victory at the poll, in fact, many party loyalists lost their lives in a bid to ensure the party winning at all cost.

Their lives were not insured rather were they compensated, simply because they believed in the road their political leaders went through to put Godwin at the Government house.

His only selling credential then was being the head of state economic team under Adam Oshiomole, and it won’t be out of place to say Obaseki rode on the gains, influence and achievements of his predecessor Adam Oshiomole to claim victory.

Everybody believed that Obaseki tenure is Adam’s third term agenda due to the energy and resources the former governor put to the campaign. He took him to the crook and crannies of the state, sold his candidacy for common man, re-assured them that he(Godwin) won’t abandon the ongoing projects and he would not deviate from the agenda of development and progressiveness, and he would put the interest of Edo State first above personal interest.

Less than 4 yrs, hope of the party man has been dashed, it was one day per political drama that has negatively affected the space of governance in the state, no single project started by Oshomole administration has been put to completion by Obaseki, and the much-celebrated gigantic medical tourism of the State commissioned by President Buhari at the end of Oshomole’s administration has not been put to use for the common man while many people believe the negligence of the governor aimed to spoil former governor image.

If there is a political fight between two different parties, the development will manifest because that is the only language common man understand, but political rivalry within the same party will affect development. The governor cannot do it alone, he needs the technical know-how and guidance of the State Executive Council who are made up of politicians to work together, but in a situation when they don’t trust where the loyalty of everyone lie, then governance would suffer.

It’s unbelievable that the duo belongs to the same political party but find it difficult to establish a common ground. Immediately Governor Godwin sensing getting the party ticket to fly for re-election in 2020 may be difficult under the cupboard of his former predecessor Adam Oshomole as the party National Chairman, the tougher the fight.

As they say, political problems require political solutions, the rate at which the fracas between Oshomole and his political son get messy daily need urgent party attention so as not to jeopardize the party winning in the forthcoming gubernatorial election.

The recent disruption of peace in the state due to the show of force between the two should be condemned by the good lover of peace and democracy in the country because peace enjoys in Edo state will also have a resultant effect on the masses.

What is happening signifies that the political actors only concern about their interest, either selfish or material you are entitled to decide.

The submissions of the governor that he cannot share the money of Edo state for few people cannot hold water, immediately the governor sensed of ‘Ambode Treatment’ he wants to fight all and to prove that he has the power to defend the masses (interest).

Someone should tell Mr. Governor that if you know you won’t be loyal why seeking for their assistance at the first instance?

No one became governor of the state in isolation; winning takes a collective effort of the party member, friends, associates and common man on the street.

The space on the air is enough for many birds to fly without experiencing any injury.

Taking from the saying that if we want to do something, we will find means of getting it done, but if we don’t want to do it, we find an excuse.

Even if we must prove how powerful we have become, not to the person who helped us to reach the top, and this point to the need for people to know that nothing lasts forever.

I will continue to say it that, loyalty is 100 percent not 99.9 per cent. Its either you are loyal or not. The means of bending corners to prove loyalty is wasting of time.

Comrade Adam should know that everybody wants loyalty, consistency and somebody who won’t quit which is not easy to get. Adam should swallow the humble pie and allow peace to reign, because Godwin won’t be governor forever and history would keep repeating itself.

Only Hope in God lasts forever.

Abiodun an ICT Expert and Public Affairs Analyst
writes from Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has just signed Executive Order 009 to end open defecation in the country by 2025.

The new order states, among others, “That by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation-free by 2025.

“That the National Open Defecation-Free (ODF) Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect.
“There is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called ‘Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.’

“The Secretariat is authorised on behalf of the President to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places, including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.

“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government shall cooperate with the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.

“The National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly shall enact legislation on the practice of open defecation, with appropriate sanctions and penalties.”

Ghana’s former President John Mahama on Tuesday appealed to the Nigerian government to open its land borders closed since August in order to allow resuming economic activities in West Africa, local media reported.

“With the signing of the joint border task force agreement between Nigeria and her neighbors, I will like to take this opportunity to appeal to Nigeria to open up her border so that economic activities can resume,” Mahama was quoted as saying by the Nigerian News Agency at an event in Nigeria’s Lagos.

The closure was having a significant impact on several small and medium businesses, Mahama added.
The Nigerian authorities on Aug. 22, suddenly closed the the busy Seme and Idiroko borders with Benin.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said the border was closed to stop smuggled rice from entering the country.

This has raised the price of local rice available in the country.

President Buhari has said that the over N1 trillion spent on the constituency projects of National Assembly members in the last 10 years has produced no results.

He said data collected from Nigerians in rural communities showed that they had not felt the impact of such projects. President Buhari spoke at the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Sector, which opened at the State House Conference Centre on Tuesday, November 19th in Abuja.

The event was organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.
“N1tn has been appropriated in the last 10 years for constituency projects, but the impact can hardly be seen,” he stated.

The President directed the ICPC to go after the contractors who collected funds for such projects and their collaborators in government.

The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), has told the governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson, to leave it out of the failure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its unpopular candidate, Senator Douye Diri, in the just-concluded November 16th governorship election.

The party was reacting to the alarm raised by Dickson, and reported by DAILY POST, that the Federal Government connived with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and used security agents to rig the election, which he described as a military coup against the nation’s democracy.

According to the state APC chairman, Mr. Jothan Amos, the PDP lost the election because it fielded an unpopular candidate for the election.

In a statement signed and sent on Wednesday to Equitynews.ng, Mr. Amos, said instead of preparing how to pay off the backlog of salaries and pension he owes civil servants and pensioners, Dickson has continued to display his arrogance and total disrespect for the people and elders of the state.

According to him, the APC won the election free and fair because they got the support of the people who were obviously tired of the tyrannical style of governance Dickson subjected them to in the last eight years.

He urged Bayelsans to ignore the comments of Dickson and remain steadfast, as the APC is more focused on drafting better policies and programs that would improve the lives of the people and the socio-economic development of the state for good.

He said, “the PDP lost the election because of the attitude of Dickson. The manner he insulted and disrespect the people of the state, especially elders, is unprecedented. He has insulted everybody in Bayelsa, including former president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

“If Dickson has insulted the likes of Dr. Goodluck who picked him from nowhere and made him governor, then nobody should be surprised that he is bracingly accusing the Presidency and the INEC of complicity when he knows that the right thing to do at this point is to head to the Election Petition Tribunal if at all he has a case.

“What happened in the just concluded election was the manifestation of the will of the people who wanted to be librated from the bondage Dickson subjected the to. They simply expressed the fact that they were tired of darkness, underdevelopment, non-payment of salaries, too many abandoned projects, dilapidated schools, insecurity and misappropriation of public funds.

“The people expressed their disappointment in the PDP led government at the polls, this was done without any form of financial inducements. If at all Dickson has learnt to receive wise cancel, I would suggest he rather start offsetting the many debt he owes Bayelsa civil servants and not to continue to make comments that would bridge the existing peace Bayelsans currently enjoy.

“He should start preparing his hand-over note because the battle is lost. In spite of the fact that he has failed to congratulate our governor-elect, Chief David Lyon, the people are happy about the way the election turned out. Go to the streets of Yenagoa, you would see people celebrating the victory of our party. And the APC is more focused on how to bring the needed change the people desire, and not to pay attention to hate speeches of Dickson.”