_“The most precious light is the one that visits you in your darkest hour!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
Light in the literal sense can be referred to as an illuminator, indicator, and a pointer; a pointer pointing to the right path or direction. Light can also be expressed as that which heralds in hope, joy and happiness, hence that which exudes positivity. Light also stands for knowledge.
Darkness on the other hand stands for total withdrawal from illumination. Darkness represents nothingness, lack of knowledge, blindness and void of which connotes negativity. When darkness descends, activities are retired and voices become quiet, giving an air of eeriness. An attempt to exert activity amidst darkness will therefore amount to a situation of complete loss of direction.
From another perspective, light can be referred to as life/living; thus the ability to feel, while darkness can be referred to as death or total lack of feeling.
A people that live in darkness will more often than not, bump into objects and onto each other, and in the ensuing confusion, clog whatever wheel of progress therein. It is natural then for people to grope for light when darkness abounds; for light illuminates and provides the clear way forward.
Drawing therefore from the above premise in the political and developmental life of Edo State – Nigeria, one can easily concur through the recent developmental strides of the state that Edo existed in darkness before the present government made an entry.
Before the emergence of Godwin Obaseki as the man at the helm of affairs of Edo State as governor, Edo was actually groping in the dark rudderless, going by the numerous problems which enveloped the once promising state. Just like the holy book succinctly described the earth’s form during creation, it will not be aberrational to state that Edo was without void and was enveloped in darkness prior to Obaseki’s emergence as governor, for before him, purposeful leadership cum development was shrouded in mediocrity, with the reign of touts as the order of the day.
Sad memories still abound among Edo indigenes and residents, both the elite and the naïve, of how their freedom to trade, build and develop on their God-given land was wickedly and devilishly usurped by gangs of touts under a pretentious name CDA – Community Development Association, which without pretense, was actually for land-grabbing and extortion of the highest order, all with bold impunity. While some people’s lands were forcefully and illegally sold by these gangs of touts, it was also gathered that some people at some point even had to ‘settle’ same gangs of touts by compulsion before they could harvest from their own lands. Community development indeed! And what a way!
While darkness was still holding reign in the land, state infrastructure was never spared as dilapidated structures adorned the Benin City scape and environs, reducing Benin to a city merely by name. Bad roads and refuse/sand-filled drainages became regular scenes.
In that era of darkness, new developments were also lacking, shutting up opportunities that could have created lasting jobs for individual family sustenance. More youths turned out unemployed and became easy tools in the hands of the reigning gangs of touts.
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Sacrosanct government obligations like payment of salaries and pensions were relegated to the background as salaries were not paid as at when due, while pensions were simply a no-go area. Many, and may their souls rest in peace, actually died without receiving their pensions.
And then suddenly, just suddenly, there was light!
Edo people woke up one morning soon after the inauguration of the Obaseki/Shaibu administration and saw to their great delight that CDAs have been dismantled and disbanded, and are no more. And it was jubilations extraordinaire among the people as the pharaohs they saw before were no more. Building projects and core business enterprises earlier stalled to dearth by the previous administration soon re-emerged as a ripple effect, heralding in new hopes.
While this excision of the overbearing CDA gangs was still being celebrated, the good people of Edo State woke up yet another morning only to see that those un-motorable roads in their neighborhoods have been graded and tarred overnight. And this instantaneously gave the governor a nickname, ‘Wake & See’; a name he is fondly known with among the populace till date as the people indeed do wake up each time to witness either a project that just commenced or one that just got completed and awaiting commissioning and usage.
With the speed of light, backlogs of salaries were cleared, arrears of pensions were also cleared, and regular salary and pension settlement became the new order, which still subsists. Edo civil servants haven’t had is so good in a long while as long gone promotion of workers has been reignited Obaseki. Opportunities also now abound for training and retraining exercises following the recent construction a training center by Obaseki’s administration for use by the state workforce. This newly constructed multi-discipline training center is located at Okada Avenue, GRA, Benin, and has been named after a former governor of the state, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and thus called John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Training Center.
As light connotes refurbishments and maintenance, state edifices under unmitigated and unchecked levels of dilapidation and decay soon witnessed the beam of Obaseki’s light. A visit today to the Edo State Civil Service Secretariat, State Judiciary, Judges’ Quarters, and the popular Ogbemudia Stadium only keeps mouths agape in terms of how in very short while of about three years in office, Obaseki was able to turn them around to state-of-the-art edifices. Ogbemudia Stadium for instance is now a FIFA standard stadium.
Seeing light as knowledge and knowledge as a key, Obaseki never neglected the role of quality education in knowledge impartation. Basic public education has been totally reformed to the extent that many parents had to withdraw their wards from private schools. Ambrose Ali University now has a Harvard look, while the state Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are all wearing new looks with more academic buildings and educational equipment added.
Through his wealth of experience in capital inflow and business facilitations, the governor has been able to attract ideal foreign investors into Edo State in the areas of large-scale agriculture, product manufacturing and marketing, thereby generating massive employment for the populace. Tiles and other building materials of Italian standard are now made in Edo land and distributed nationwide. Jara Shopping Mall through an MOU has also come on board to cater for the shopping needs of the populace at very affordable prices.
A massive industrial park is already under construction by the Obaseki administration along the Benin-Sapele road, which on completion, will be home to many manufacturing companies. Bank of Industry (BOI), among other early starters, is already on ground at this industrial park which is nearing completion. To decongest roads and allow for free flow of traffic in moving goods and people, a standard trailer park has been sited at the Aduwawa end of Benin City. Talking of good and functional city master plan in display!
Affordable housing for the masses is not left in the dark as a 1,800 unit 2bedroom and 3bedroom flats, bungalows, villas and terrace homes housing estate on a 71 hectare land Emotan Gardens, earlier launched by VP Osinbajo, is almost completed by the government in conjunction with Mixta Africa. Hundreds of units are already habitable and allotted at a price as low as one million naira. Its vast site created good spaces within the estate for schools, places of worship, health center, bank, police post, access roads, bicycle and jogging paths, pedestrian walkways, green boulevards and buffers. Simply put, Obaseki created a city within a city with the Emotan Gardens project.
To support power generation and distribution which will further drive away darkness from Edo State and in turn generate more employment as it drives various commercial activities, the governor through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a foreign consortium has set up a 55MW power generating station, the CCETC-Ossiomo Independent Power Plant which is already 95% completed, having carried out a test run last July to the elation of residents of Benin metropolis.
A 6,000bpd modular petroleum refinery named Edo Modular Refinery, which is a sure catalyst for job creation, has also come on board through another successful MOU. The facility will in a very short while, start refining crude into various petroleum products for distribution within Edo State and other parts of Nigeria, having applied to NNPC for crude oil supply just this last August. The crude oil will be sourced from an NNPC operated oil well facility – OML 111, which is located very close to Benin. It is estimated that this facility when in full operation will be generating about $125m annually in foreign earnings when it starts the exportation of naphtha, which is one of the crude oil bi-products that it will be producing. And what a boost this refinery will indeed be to the governor’s zeal to shore up its revenue base while creating wealth for many households through job creation!
In waterways development, another successful MOU has seen the Obaseki administration expanding the historical river port at Gele Gele village in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State into a modern sea port; an expansion which was originally approved by the then GEJ’s administration but left unexploited. The seaport project is aimed at Edo having its own port where containers of goods and agricultural produce could be received at and to other major ports in Nigeria. This port, which is named the Gelegele Sea Port is also nearing completion and will form another major source of internally generated revenue, IGR for Edo State.
Obaseki’s light has also descended on the illegal migration and human trafficking problems bedeviling the state. Many Edo youths who were repatriated from places like Libya, have been rehabilitated and made to pass through series of skills acquisition programs. They were thereafter allocated seed funds by the Obaseki administration to establish their own businesses. And for the continuity of this rehabilitation efforts in his fight against illegal migration and human trafficking, Obaseki has just constructed a world class mini estate known as ‘Shelter For Victims Of Human Trafficking And Irregular Migration’, which the state has named after an illustrious daughter of the state, Senator Daisy Danjuma, for her tireless inputs towards the progress of the state. At this mini estate, Edo returnees will be sheltered and offered needed succor before reintegrating with the citizenry.
Meanwhile, while the governor’s emancipating light is busy penetrating the breadth and width, nooks and crannies of the Edo landscape with needed developments, agents of darkness are also busy trying to put off this supportive light. As the Edo 2020 gubernatorial elections scheduled for the Saturday September 19 draws near, forces of darkness in conjunction with their excised gangs of touts are scheming tirelessly to shut off the light heralded into the state by the Obaseki administration and hoist back the days of their reign of doom and darkness on the land. But will the good people of Edo State allow the dark days to return? The answer I believe should be NO! And the expected ‘No’ of the people should be echoed loudly through their votes come September 19, the day of election, so that the light will remain to shine forth. It is obvious that light and darkness seem to be in constant battle, but light always surfaces triumphant.
It is therefore both paramount as it is imperative that the Edo electorate come out in their thousands on the 19th of September to stand with the light by giving Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu a landslide victory. Obaseki/Shaibu should be returned to Osadebey Avenue for a more prosperous second tenure in their ‘very sincere mission’ of making Edo the greatest. Any choice other than this duo is a call for darkness, a return to limbo.
According to Mehmet Murat ildan and I quote, “A man who refuses light will remain in the darkness even by the side of light!” Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki represents light! Edo people should not refuse this life-changing light!
