•Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State
Governor Monday Okpebholo comes across as an uncommon personality doing uncommon things with less talk, but more reach. Those who wrote very unpalatable news about him, derided him with benign remarks, have since swallowed their vomits, and have now become chief promoters of this easy going governor that has his eyes set on his objectives.
They insulted his intellect, lampooned his calm demeanor, misunderstood his candour, underestimated his acceptability and political reach, and at the end of the day, the governor defeated his opponents handsomely. In fact, some of them have since become Okpebholo’s unsolicited publicists. They now praise him to high heavens and use all the superlative adjectives to describe a governor who has converted Edo State to a huge construction site. From roads, education, health, environmental sanitation, security intervention, and job creation, Governor Okpebholo is a busy man who cannot afford to disappoint Edo people who gave him their collective mandate.
Okpebholo has since become a household name, not because he’s a governor, but one who is seen to be doing the people proud.
The PDP, as lame and decrepit as it has always been under Godwin Obaseki, is still licking its gory wounds with lamentations upon lamentations, wailing, sobbing aloud about their failure at the election and the tribunal. Their prodigy, Asue Ighodalo is being deceived to think he can still make it; what he couldn’t secure on election day, he wishes to secure through the back door.
The PDP assembled some of their jobless members, inaugurated them into a response team, to be dishing out propaganda to mislead their followers with a moniker; “Joy is coming”. Edo people are already experiencing joy, not waiting for one that is far flung. With their incoherent voices and convoluted thoughts, they churn out one statement after another, seeking attention to sustain a discourse that is dead on arrival.
The victory of the APC at the tribunal further confirmed Okpebholo’s resounding mandate handed over to him by the ever scrupulous and articulate Edo people. And the performance of Governor Monday Okpebholo so far has been superbly impressive, his human relations essentially fecund, his listening ears a huge attraction, and his heart for the ordinary folks very engaging and down to earth.
The PDP propaganda machine will cry more. They will ceaselessly lament over their failure at the elections, but they will forever agonise over Godwin Obaseki’s misrule and maladministration, which contributed immensely to their defeat.
Obaseki was not only quarrelsome, he epitomised the negative political forces that almost destroyed the homogeneous solidarity of the state. He planted hatred, divisions, bad blood and disunity in the hearts of the people, factionalised the party, and left Asue Ighodalo to lick the wounds of a party that railroaded the ticket for him, scoring every other aspirant zero. Obaseki hurriedly impeached his deputy, implanted a member of the Labour Party to take the slot, even when the court granted leave to Phillip Shuaibu to resume his office, Obaseki disobeyed the court order, and forcefully imposed one Mr. Omobayo to outlast the regime.
Obaseki denied fourteen members of the Assembly from being inaugurated and yet expected to get votes for Asue Ighodalo? That must be the height of political naivety. Asue Ighodalo loved the chess game he played with Godwin Obaseki, from being Chairman of the Alaghodaro Summit, to being part and parcel of a government that was high on distortion and higher on profligacy, given the touted credentials of Asue Ighodalo, no one expected him to put his head under political guillotine.
The allure of power caressed him into accepting Godwin Obaseki’s bait, and he fell for it without doing a feasibility study. The APC threw up a man who was already a Senator representing the Edo Central Senatorial District. The PDP massed negative publicity against him, but his calm disposition coupled with his subliminal humility was a serious antidote against Obaseki’s high-handedness and volatility. A lot of the voters saw Asue in the mould of an Obaseki, somewhat crusped in the similarity of their names; obASUEki, interwoven and inseparable. They saw him as an extension of a man that had governed with an iron fist, like Rehoboam, they needed to be careful about who to come and the nature of what his behaviour would be.
Akpakomiza, became the automatic inhaler to neutralise Obaseki’s political asthma. From one local government to another, he criss-crossed the state and preached the theme of love and humility. At the end, after the election, those who were strong on criticism, suddenly made a volte-face, becoming Okpebholo’s unsolicited salesmen. Till date, they are still eating their vomits, and on a daily basis, the level of their hypocritical verbiage keeps mounting like a piece of iceberg.
After the Tribunal, a deflated Asue Ighodalo, still managed to wear a firm face, even though his mien was as unfriendly to him as the verdict that validated the election. Left to him, he should be given the trophy which he was unable to secure on the field of play. He craved for power and the allure of power accelerated its distance from Asue Ighodalo, because the voters in Edo, endorsed Okpebholo intoto.
Given Okpebholo’s achievements thus far, he has become PDP’s nightmare. What they couldn’t achieve in eight years, Okpebholo has demystified them by the quality of jobs he has commenced. From Fly-over to schools repairs, to jobs creation, to roads construction, Governor Okpebholo is re-writing the ugly narratives of a state that was run aground by Obaseki’s draconian approach.
With the right tone that is flourishing in the state, we can only ask for God’s guidance and protection to lead Okpebholo on the path of more remarkable achievements, to celebrate the state and keep it in the news for the right reasons. That time has come. And Okpebholo fits into its description and reality.
*Prince Kassim Afegbua is a former Commissioner for Information in Edo State
