Edo State In 2017: A new Governor, A New Oba and A New People?

              

This year the people of Edo State witnessed an election that saw the Governorship candidate of the All Progressive congress becoming the Governor of Edo State. The election results aroused mixed feelings amongst the people of Edo State. Trusted followers and supporters of the All Progressive Congress celebrated the election results while some on the side of the opposition have denounced the result of the election and have made several claims of election rigging, although there are still no substantial evidence to back these claims.

          Despite these misgivings, The facts remains that those protesting the results of the election that brought in Godwin Obaseki as the Governor of Edo State, must at one point put their political differences aside and settle down to work for the betterment of Edo people. Why? Because if we waste the next few years in “vexatious” sentiments rather than coming together to create for ourselves and our children, a better Edo state, then we may live to regret it.

     As a people we must rise up and stand by the man who was chosen not only by an election but by God himself. Edo State or any other State can never get a “best man for the job” as a Governor but there will always be a man for the Job and if we join and work together with that man, we may be able to get the best results.

         The 2017 budget for Edo State have been presented and this would mark Godwin’s first budget as a Governor in Edo State or as a Governor anywhere that we know of, so considering the economic realities of this country at this time. We must begin to accept the fact that working for the Government at this time may demand some amount of sacrifice and selflessness. Some salaries may be delayed; bonuses left unpaid and even when they get paid the rising cost of living and inflation would make it very difficult for many to fulfil their various financial obligations. This is a challenge for Edo people to begin to look beyond personal or political issues and begin to work with others irrespective of your political differences, to create a better Edo State and Happier Edo people.

         As for those that would be contracted to carry out constructions and to render other services to Edo state and Edo people, the people of Edo State are not asking for too much, other than prompt and quality service delivery. Do this for us and you have rendered us a service, but anything short of this becomes a disservice.

        The Year 2017 would see Edo people walking into a new year with a new Oba and a  new Governor. This is the best time to put back all the mistakes of the past and start all over again with a new resolve to work together as a people to overcome our collective problems and challenges, whatever we achieve in 2017 would be seen as the result of a joint effort between the people of Edo State and their new Governor. Never again will the people of Edo State allow a single Governor to keep them in backwardness and under development.

      In 2017 the people of Edo State should be carried along, the people should know why things are being done and why they are not being done, and the people should be able to call the government attention to areas of concern that needs intervention. The Government on the other hand should be able to continuously release statements on issues or incidents that have affected or will affect the lives of Edo people with no bias to the region affected or the number of people affected.

         We as a people in Edo State should begin to realise that no government can help us achieve our dreams completely in Edo State, Doing that would require a change of mindset and a change in attitude from the people. It would take a government with a strong will to try to force a change of mindset and attitude in a people, to accommodate development and civility; such a government may end up losing public support. That is one reason why few government would have the guts to stop the widespread display of wares and foodstuff along Edo roads most especially those roads around popular markets, this is unsafe for the traders sitting along the road to sell his or her  products and also for the buyers who would have to stand in the way of motorists and commercial bus drivers as they try to make their purchase, The Government of the day may not be willing to address this issue to avoid a backlash from the various trade unions who have done nothing to caution their members against this unsafe selling practice. The dumping of refuse into public drainage systems is also one of the embarrassing habits of some of us that we must not carry with us to 2017, because if we continue to do things the same way we will continue to get the same results.

   As we welcome the year 2017. We welcome its challenges and its blessings. We can make it a better year for ourselves if we work together as a team against our collective problems as a State. 2017 will no doubt be a remarkable year for Edo State, but only the people of Edo State will be able to decide if those remarks are going to be positive or negative.