By Steve Osuji

And Providence smiles nicely on Edo people: The die is cast. The E-day has come and Edo people must stand as one to win this diadem for themselves. Some popular but witless refrains we hear in Nigeria today include: “ How did we get here?” “Who did this to us?” And, “na like this we go dey?” But to a large extent, we are largely liable for our endlessly debilitating situation.

These statements evoke a state of utter hopelessness and despair among the populace. Unfortunately, this has been the common sing-song in Nigeria in the past one year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. However, the pain is more excruciating now and a dark blanket of melancholy seems about to eclipse the land.

But It may be said that Edo people have some chance come Saturday, 21st September, to sing a new song of their own. As an impartial arbiter who has followed the Edo guber campaign in the last couple of months and who has analysed the major candidates, one is in a position to state that providence is kind to Edo. It has made it easy for the electorate here to make a reasonable choice come Saturday.

To any discerning and right-thinking voter on Saturday who seeks the good of Edo State and her people, the clear choice to lead Edo in the next four years is OLUMIDE AKPATA of the Labour Party. Again, the people must thank their stars that a third option, an alternative, has been graciously presented to them. It would have been a tragedy, ab initio were Edo people not to have a third option.

APC/PDP, SAME OF SAME: People of goodwill can tell that both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chose to remain true to type. In their cynical manner they took the people for granted by presenting poor candidates.

The APC front man, Monday Okpebholo, is nigh a stark illiterate. This is not a hyperbole; one is not being metaphorical, it’s a stark, plain, fact. Okpebolo would not grant a single interview nor accede to any of the debate opportunities during the campaign. He wouldn’t, he wouldn’t dare, because he can’t manage to string a correct sentence in English. Okpebholo would have been pardoned if English were not Nigeria’s lingua franca. EXPRESSO wagers that if Okpebholo diligently did a much as six years of primary school, he would be able to sufficiently articulate his thoughts in simple, passable English.

A sitting Senator of the Federal Republic, we wager again, that Okpebholo bought his way to the Green Chamber. Having successfully wangled his way into the Senate, he is emboldened to pitch to the biggest job in Edo. This Okpebholo insult is not only on Edo people, it’s on all Nigerians because if he filibusters his way into Edo Government House today, tomorrow he will come haranguing us for the presidency. People like them don’t stop. It’s this same road we passed to the TINUBUGATE we found ourselves today which threatens to exterminate us all.

APC darkly chieftains like Adams Oshiomhole are hard on foisting all round evil across the land starting from Aso Rock. They’re not done with the havoc they brought upon Nigeria so far.
We say goodness forbid that Okpebholo happens to Edo State. May the APC affliction never happen to Edo State or to Nigeria ever again…

Very well then, Mr Asue Ighodalo, is well schooled, well read, well spoken and well exposed with a distinct track record as a finance guru and boardroom titan. Why isn’t he a natural walk-in to the Edo Government House, you might ask. The first reason he can’t is that Asue has been economic adviser to incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki for nearly two tenures of eight years. Obaseki is adjudged a failure. This columnist applying its independent performance assessment would not give Obaseki a pass mark.

Just last month, Obaseki rolled out a bogus 30-year Edo Development Plan. What a raucous laugh, what a joker? A plan he would have come to office with and started implementing from the first day! Now he unveils it at the end of his tenure. This singular ‘magical’ act says everything about Obaseki. Speak to enlightened Edo people and they will tell you Obaseki is a troubadour of the modern day kind who knows all the slangs and speaks all the jargons but does little work. Worse, he’s not accountable.

It is considered that if Asue is made in the liking of Obaseki, we can conclude that Asue won’t do any better. And worse, like Obaseki, he won’t give account.

OLUMIDE AS LODESTAR: Let’s remember that Oshiomhole sired Obaseki and Obaseki seeks to birth Asue. Oshiomhole who wasn’t a great governor either, now thinks Obaseki is trash and he would give an arm to stop Obaseki from installing a successor.

But Oshiomhole isn’t fighting for the interest of Edo people, otherwise he would never have presented an Okpebholo. Oshiomhole wants to put Edo in his pocket the way Tinubu pocketed Lagos. The point here is that both APC and PDP are the same people – they want to capture Edo.

Edo people are lucky they have an alternative in Olumide Akpata. He is tried, he is tested, he has verifiable tract record; he understands the issues, has a workable programme, but most important for EXPRESSO, he has a modicum of integrity.

This is why we said at the beginning that the ballot is made easy for Edo people. It must be recognised that Edo people are probably the smartest in Nigeria having ‘borrowed’ sense from the north, south, east and west.

On Saturday, the federal might will be unleashed viciously on Edo to forcibly steal the will of the people. It will come in the form of using the police and all the federal security apparatuses. The IGP says he will be deploying about 43,000 such personnel. This quantum of force can suppress the people’s will already.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Mahmoud Yakubu cannot and must not be trusted to deliver a free and fair election. It’s a well established fact that this INEC is the gloved hand of the APC government. After the February 25th 2023 heist, shameless Yakubu has conducted even more scandalous elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo.

Finally, on Saturday, the ballot is not against Okpebholo or Ighodalo, it’s against the Nigeria Police and security agencies and against Mahmoud Yakubu and his INEC.

EXPRESSO urges Edo people to troop out and vote en masse for their choice while watching out for the enemies of democracy. They must be vigilant, stand firm and defend their mandate to the best of their abilities.

Let all people of goodwill pray for Edo. Let’s prat the people are not pushed to the wall, to the point of no return…
Let’s all join hands to reclaim Nigeria from nihilistic leaders, one state at a time.

voiceofreason

Feedback: steve.osuji@gmail.com
▪︎Osuji, veteran journalist, was editor with The Guardian, Thisday, NewAge and until recently, Member, Editorial Board, The Nation.
▪︎OSUJISTEVE/18.09.24