W
hen
Oshiomhole was declared winner of the 2007 gubernatorial poll by The Court of
Appeal on November 11th, 2008, Edo state went wild in jubilation.
The excitement was thorough and it cut across individuals – from a two-year-old
toddler to a wobbling old man sitting on a wonky chair. Bikes throttled to the
highest while smokes billowed from their exhausts as they plied through streets
and roads of Benin-city, Ekpoma, Auchi, Uromi, Afuze and many small towns
across the state. On November 12th, 2008 when he was sworn in as the
new governor, he christened himself as “The People’s Governor” which was widely
accepted in the state and beyond.
For the four years he spent as governor in his first
tenure, Oshiomhole laid a sturdy foundation which could have written his name
on moving clouds and extolled him as one of the greatest leaders who ever came
out from our continent, being on the same history pages with Nelson Mandela. In
these years in review – his best years in office – roads were constructed, the
public transport system had a ray of hope, pensioners’ funds weren’t delayed,
public schools were refurbished, major roads and streets of Benin City wore a
new identity of sanity and above all, Edo state GDP more than doubled the
result obtained from the addition of nine years before his tenure began.
Of course, these achievements in his first tenure
were stellar in our eyes when we compared them with the wasteful
administrations which came before him; but in retrospect, we would find out
they were valueless, and it was just
another trick of his to be re-elected for a second term. In mid-2012, Oshiomhole was brought back to
Osadebe House for a second term. It became one of the greatest mistakes Edo
people ever made. He won with a landslide victory. And this victory went across
the eighteen Local Government Areas of the states, even in Opposition’s
strongholds. And again, the people thronged out to celebrate with their “hero”,
oblivious to them that it was like their sentence to the gallows. But today, we
are consoled by the fact that Oshiomhole became governor of Edo state; if not,
we would have thought we missed a rare gem who never had the opportunity to lead
Edo people from Osadebe House.
Oshiomhole first started to erase his name from
history books few months after he was re-elected in 2012, when his
administration rigged the Local Government Elections with impunity, and
threatened those who rose against the results with fire. This, coming from a
man who prior to his election came up with a campaign of “One Man One Vote”, was
disappointing and hypocritical. This one error went on to pull off feathers
from the hat of honour he wore at that time. Then, there came this inactiveness
in his second term: the down-tools, the uncompleted projects, blamed on the
fact that the economy was poor and national allocation was dwindling due to
falling oil prices.
In 2016, Oshiomhole’s sins were forgiven; his outstanding
first tenure had perhaps shone light upon the darkness his second tenure cast
upon Edo state, or maybe it was because of the bags of money the administration
used to intimidate the poor electorates that made his anointed candidate win
the gubernatorial poll to succeed him as the new governor of the state.
When we thought Oshiomhole’s shadows of mismanagement
and acrid hypocrisy had passed us by for good, he secretly facilitated a
devilish law that almost shrank Edo state’s purse. In the days which followed
his exit from Osadebe House, Edo people were shocked to learn that some
controlled denizens who prided themselves as members of our State House of
Assembly had unanimously passed a bill which spelt out that past governors and
deputy governors of the state would henceforth be entitled to pay-off grants,
amounting to two billion naira when combined. These grants included: beautiful
mansions in choicest locations in Nigeria, a number of cars to be changed every
five years, cooks, secretaries and drivers (starting as Level 12) whose
salaries would be paid by the Edo state government. This bill was ready to be
signed by the new governor when the press learnt of it. We thought Oshiomhole
would speak against this bill, considering the personality he always pretended
to showcase, but our “saint” has been silent since then, which lent credence
to the very fact that he facilitated that bill underground for his selfish
gains, despite the glaring poverty lurking in the state.
