…not political relationship, years in politics
Governor Godwin Obaseki has performed fantastically; he has built a foundation any successive administration can develop effortlessly; Obaseki has shown championship, courage, sagacity and competence in the last 7 years of his stewardship.
There is no gainsaying the fact, the Governor meant well for Edo from day 1; having rode to power on the back of popular acceptability, cleaned up the augean stables, Obaseki has shattered the glass ceiling that once made Edo infamous in the public domain.
Today, Edo stands at par with any prosperous State in Nigeria to discuss development and opportunities; the exponential economic growth witnessed in the last 7 years cannot be extricated from Obaseki’s fiscal prudence, the Governor continue to put Edo’s monies where it matters.
The Governor has injected, infused and engendered a fiscal policy that helps to save Edo’s limited resources, projecting the State’s future along the line of available resources.
Under Obaseki, political office holders would live a modest life, will engage in economically-driven activities and will not waste resources meant for the masses on frivolties; without doubt, Obaseki is the most financially prudent Governor Edo would have since 1999.
However, the Governor is gradually drawing the curtains on his administration; is being a 7-year oddysey of wit and will, he has carved his name in gold and will forever be favoured in the history books of our dear State.
Who succeeds Obaseki in 2024, determines how much historians will know of Obaseki’s legacies when they put pen to paper 50 years from now; his long term plans, some still cooking, deserves to be captured in subsequent dossiers; for 7 years running, Obaseki has put his best foot forward, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s for a greater Edo.
It will be wicked and unpardonable if we fail or refuse to rally behind his choice of successor; for many of us, it is a sacred call to see Obaseki successfully produce his successor in 2024; a call to duty, a must do, with our heads high above shoulders.
If peradventure, tomorrow, Obaseki steps forward and say this is the man that will sustain our legacies, that man becomes our own; and God forbid, the man shows no interest, we will take up the bed of governance, put it on his shoulders and ask him to walk.
Governing Edo along the line of reforms, innovations and fiscal prudence as engendered by the Obaseki-led administration, he would have to take the duty placed on him by God, the ancestors and Edo people, giving his all to the job of securing the sacrosanct ideals of our dear State.
2024, Obaseki’s successor will not be picked on the grounds of political relationship, he will not be nominated on the grounds of number of years in the political arena, neither will he be chosen on the plank of his numerous involvement in political activities; the above prerequisite will not be the basis for the emergence of our next Governor, 2024 onward.
Edo has evolved beyond this; it is no longer an instrument for political compensation like it were back in the day; that narrative has changed, leading to a critical analysis of the character, capacity, competence of who succeeds Obaseki, and if Asue Ighodalo, who hails from Ewohimi in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, a district that haven’t had her fair share in the scheme of things, has shown an abundance of these traits, so shall it be that he succeeds Obaseki to sustain endearing legacies and continue to drive Edo on prosperous path.
