By Nosa Omorodion
The problem of Governor Godwin Obaseki, nay Edo State, started from the
moment he took office. It was, however, self inflicted as it arose from
his character flaw and negative policy direction. Right from the day
Obaseki took over the reins of government, he made it abundantly clear
that he was going to run a non-inclusive government.
Without mincing words Governor Obaseki made it known that his government
was not going to accommodate members of the opposition party the PDP,
who had struggled the governorship seat with him. This was an
unprecedented decision in words and in deed. True to his words, for the
almost four years of Governor Obaseki’s administration, he has never
considered it expedient to reach out to members of the opposition party
so as to swell the ranks of the APC as his predecessors had considered
it wise to do and actually did.
It is instructive to note that the preceding administrations of Governor
Lucky Igbinedion and Governor Adams Oshiomhole made overtures to members
of the opposition parties, ANPP and PDP, respectively, and converted
many not only to join the ruling party but to join government. The
effect of such reaching over was that it strengthened the ruling party
and weakened the opposition party.
If only Obaseki had left the non inclusiveness to members of the
opposition party, one could by now have excused it on his inexperience
as a politician and a political administrator. He however, extended his
practice of exclusive governance to members of his own party, and in
particular, all those who contested the APC governorship ticket with him
in 2016. He went further to exclude virtually all the party members that
sacrificed their time and resources to make him governor despite his
lack of popularity.
To make the matter worse, when he was confronted with the anomalous
practice, Governor Obaseki resorted to blackmailing and maligning his
benefactors. The matter came to a head when he interfered with the
inauguration of the House of Assembly in 2019 by causing the clerk of
the House to selectively invite a couple of the members-elect for a
secret inauguration so that they could elect a Speaker and Principal
Officers he had handpicked. What followed has been a serious crisis
whereby the House has largely remained improperly constituted to date
and Obaseki had launched a campaign of calumny against the stakeholders
who have vowed to make sure he never gets a second term.
Obaseki’s disruptive attitude had not only brought about chaos in the
APC, it reduced the quality of governance such that instead of
superseding the developmental initiative of his predecessor and
benefactor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, he has been struggling to make a
mark and has become a poor shadow with a flicker of grandeur sustained
by sheer propaganda.
While Obaseki cannot be absolved of blame for his uncanny
self-centeredness that distorted the synergy between the government and
the party and has in a way affected the desired progress of the State,
the APC stakeholders who brought him to such a critical office without
proper appreciation of his competence to manage government with party
politics should equally be blamed. We should however not rest at the
point of regret and blame. There is an urgent need to redress the
unfortunate situation that has not only brought Edo APC into public
ridicule but Edo State to its present deficiency and the potential of a
perilous future if Obaseki is reelected.
Therefore, as Edo State is at the threshold of another governorship
election, we must learn from the lesson of Obaseki’s failure and
therefore elect the right governorship candidate for the APC and
governor for Edo State. What this means is that Edo APC and Edo
electorates must elect a man with a proven record of sensitivity and
inclusiveness in his character and public service.
One person that readily comes to mind in the foregoing regard,
considering those that have signified interest in becoming the governor
of Edo State, is Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, former Chief of Staff to Edo
State Governor, former Secretary to Edo State Government, founder of the
defunct Grace Group and Action Congress/Action Congress of Nigeria,
which is today the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Vice
Chairman, ACN, South South, former member, APC Constitution Drafting
Committee, former DG, Governor Oshiomhole Re-election Campaign
Organization (2012) and the immediate past Governorship Candidate of the
opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Edo State.
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has proven to be a man of the people since the
beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. He can be trusted as a man
that understands and practices the inclusion of similar and diverse
interests in furtherance of stability and dynamism of governance
structure.
It is an indisputable fact that of all the aspirants jostling for the
office of Edo State Governor, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is the only one
that has a mutual relationship with the widest range of the political
actors in Edo State. This is not strange.
As an engine room of sorts, of the political associations and parties he
has been involved with, like no other person, Osagie Ize-Iyamu has
interacted with almost all the critical stakeholders at very close
quarters. In fact, in the governments of Igbinedion and Oshiomhole,
respectively, Ize-Iyamu was the major facilitator of almost all the
decamping exercises, whether from the ANPP to the PDP or from the PDP to
the ACN/APC. He has also been instrumental to the appointment or
employment of diverse political interests more than any of those running
for the office of the governor.
His relationship is so closely knit with all interests that even the
people in opposing camps entertain little or no fear that they would be
sidelined or denied their due positions in Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s
government.
Interestingly, Osagie Ize-Iyamu has a unique way of relating with
everybody on the basis of what present value they can add to any process
he is involved in without prejudice to the prior position they held in
alignment or opposition with him. He is someone that does not take into
account political differences occasioned by the individual’s need to
defend his immediate political interest.
In building his political structure, Ize-Iyamu has always looked out to
include those that were formerly opposed to him but possessed a peculiar
brilliance that could be used to achieve an excellent building block.
While he is not a man that does not recognize and reward the loyalty of
friends and political associates, he also has a penchant for
accommodating merit and granting concession to his opponents who he
believes has something of value to contribute to the development of the
system.
For this awesome quality, it is no wonder that all manner of political
actors are included in Ize-Iyamu’s political structure. He is one man,
whether in PDP, ACN, PDP or APC, there has always be an air of freedom
and confidence for persons of contending ideological and political
backgrounds around him.
In employing people, Ize-Iyamu has always looked beyond partisan and
political interests. His goal has always been to put together the best
hands from all divides to build an all encompassing political force for
development.
Having been tried and proven for two decades, one cannot but be rest
assured that Ize-Iyamu will not change his positive pattern as governor
of Edo State. It is instructive to note that it is only Ize-Iyamu that
has a prior relationship with more than 50% of the managers and major
promoters of the respective campaign organizations in the APC
governorship race. The same applies to the PDP. If there is one man that
the majority would have confidence in to run a government in which his
opponents, including the opposition parties, will not be left out in the
cold when he becomes governor, that man is Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
In conclusion, I want to say that Ize-Iyamu’s all-inclusive approach to
leadership and governance is what Edo State needs now. Edo is in dire
need of a leader that will run a government of unity; a governor that
will unite all the campaign structures and give them a sense of
belonging in the Edo project. Under this kind of atmosphere, I believe
that the Man of God, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who has an excellent
blueprint for taking Edo to a glorious level will be free of
distractions to execute his excellent plans and make all Edo people to
truly have access to the dividends of their mandate given to the
governor.
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