The tribes have gathered in Edo state, evidently in festivity, over the inauguration of a new government that is being honchoed by His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo. There is also a scramble for appointments. By the way, His excellency has already hit the ground running, somewhat, with a number of appointments that he has made-one on the eve of his swearing in and three in his first day in office. He strategically appointed a Chief Press Secretary on the eve of his inauguration so as to put him in a good stead to convey, through utilitarian communication, the actions and decisions of government together with their ramifications, to the internal and external publics of the State.
Validation: the CPS couched the governor’s decisions appointing the Secretary to the State Government, Commissioner of Health-nominee and Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice-nominee in a press statement that was circulated to the various media organs and across social media platforms countrywide. Had the governor not previously appointed a CPS, the public communication of these significant developments would not have been as seamless as it had been consummated.
Besides, the hint dropped by the governor in his speech at the inauguration ceremony to the extent that his administration would probe some actions of the Obaseki government was coextensive to the overall “hit-the-ground-running” approbation of the new government. It is my very sincere view that given the enormity of the damage that Obaseki had inflicted on the socio-cultural, political and economic fabrics of the state, a comprehensive probe would be more ideal. The probe should be without prejudice to any investigative enterprise by the nation’s anti-graft agencies. Contrary to the view that it could be distracting, it would rather be an exercise on the side while governance gains traction on the back of implementation of solid programmes and projects.
As it is, this is a new dawn in Edo, coming after eight years of drought and exclusionary gambit that Godwin Obaseki deployed in governance, having ridden on the backs of political leaders, most especially Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to get into office. Whereas, it is conventional wisdom that after any battle-especially political as it is in the instant case- the warriors or combatants always come together to share the spoils of war. That was never the case with Obaseki. He upended that common understanding and foisted on the Edo polity a fait accompli of the air of hostility and unrestrained combativeness. To be sure, Obaseki had his own peculiar, apparently disdainful, way of dealing with political associates and those who worked for him. I am cautious not to use the word: loyalists. I doubt if anybody was able to invest their loyalty in Obaseki’s leadership with the way he was destroying bridges of understanding and undercutting camaraderie without scruples. He fought virtually everybody. The only person he did not fight either privately or publicly was probably himself. One guess I make bold to hazard is that Obaseki might have harboured some internal contradictions that gave expressions to the writ-large social-political behaviours that contoured his disruptive dispositions. How could a man, who was a leader, be so unsure of himself and would always want to deploy the magnitude of the power of his office in cutting the other person(s) to size?
Obaseki is not an archetypical exemplar of a leader who could enjoy the followers’ craving for emulation. He did not himself care a hoot about such episodic gesture of leadership, which he sauntered into by manipulating the psyche of Adams Oshiomhole under whom he worked as Chairman of the State’s Economic Team to grab the governorship seat. Who can be proud to have Obaseki as their leader? The character is tempestuous and offers no catharsis in the context of forgiveness and reconciliation. For him, while in the saddle, it was always a fight to the finish. Now that a new Sheriff is in town, it is important that the process of exorcising the State Government House on Osadebey Avenue is accorded urgent spiritual attention. The battle of altars, which is fought in the spiritual realm, should not be trivialized. It will be disastrous, nay counter-productive, for the Edo polity if there is a modicum of semblance of the governance traits, idiosyncrasies or characteristics that negatively defined the Obaseki government in the shape, form context, content, and offerings by the present administration. I pray there will not be inexplicable negative effects in the State House.
Now, the axiom that the morning shows the day together with how robustly Governor Okpebholo is addressing contending issues and the rising complexities in the administration of the state is proving sufficient to discount the possibility of an encore or proclivity towards the Obaseki stereotypes. Okpebholo has already sacked some elements who had been collecting revenues on behalf of the government with a threat of police arrest if they did not desist. It is expected that he would emplace tax and levy collection mechanisms that put the money paid straight into the coffers of the state government and not the pockets of some feudal lords superintending some pseudo empires. The governor has also ordered contractors to return to their respective road sites, an indication that he would keep fidelity to his promise of rehabilitating and building the road infrastructure in the state. These are positive developments that would be sweet music in the ears of well-meaning citizens of the state.
Therefore, those inundating Governor Okpebholo with congratulatory messages should stop the attention-grabbing gambit. It is distracting. The sheer volume of the greetings and celebrations is enough to sink a titan. It is time the bootlickers’ game came to an end. Let us allow the governor to breathe, focus, govern in a business-as-unusual manner, and deliver on his campaign promises to construct a greater Edo State for posterity.
■ Sufuyan Ojeifo is publisher and editor-in-chief of THE CONCLAVE online newspaper
