A former Edo Commissioner for Agriculture, Sir Chris Agbonwanegbe, has declared Governor Godwin Obaseki as the best performing governor in the history of the state, noting that he has discharged himself creditably in almost all areas of developments but lamented that most of his achievements are not acknowledged in the public space.
Agbonwanegbe, who served under the former Governor of the State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, made this disclosure in a remark during the celebration of his 70th birthday anniversary in Benin City.
Wondering why the governor has refused to blow his trumpet as others do, he said: “The governor must be commended for his achievements and commitment to transforming the state. “Do you know that a child trained in Edo State School of Nursing, Benin City, gets a job in America without going through secondary examination? That is courtesy of the governor but not many people are aware of this fact.
“Each time I lie on the bed and I reflect on him, I wonder why people are not talking of him and all the things that he has done. I came to discover that he himself is the cause because he doesn’t believe in publicising what he has done. This is because he believes that he is doing what he was elected to do.
“He has done more roads in terms of kilometers than previous governors. Incidentally, he is not publicising his achievements. I know there was a governor in this state, who was trekking along Sapele Road, even when he knew he was powering electricity behind ACB Building in Sakponba Road and people were hailing him, children were going after him.
“I was with a renowned chief in Benin City a couple of days ago, he said to me that he has 24-hours power supply; 18 hours from Ossiomo Power plant and six hours from PHCN.”
Taken aback by this development, which most people don’t know about, Agbonwanegbe said he then asked the chief, ‘‘Sir, why don’t you let the public know some of these things?” His reply, he said, was, ‘‘since the man (Obaseki) who did the job doesn’t want people to know, is it me that will be shouting about it? That was the kind of reaction that came from him.”
Continuing, the celebrant said, “Your Excellency, I was at Iguoriakhi a couple of days ago, we recalled that I superintended the Ministry of Agriculture while Iguoriakhi was under the Ministry of Agriculture. When I got there, I saw a different Iguoriakhi, better than a university, people should please go and see for yourselves, I’ m not just saying it.
“When we finish here, anybody that has good analytical mind, go and see the Palm House, the Secretariat Building today, don’t just look at the building from outside, but take a step in, for those of you that have travelled out of this country, you will see that the offices of the workers are furnished as you see in overseas, with each of them having computer and air conditioner.
“It’s the best of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. Where the governor is taking us to, it will appear as if we are not determined to get there yet. We should also know that people say follow who knows the road. This man knows the road, so, we should follow him and get this state better than we saw it.”
Beside the transformation of the State, Agbonwanegbe also noted that the governor cares for the welfare of the people, disclosing that, “I want to come to a personal note. There are people who don’t know that I took ill in 2019. He was in APC then and I was in PDP but words got to him that I was ill.
