Governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomole recently celebrated his 7th year in office and he took time out to attend to some pressing questions as well as give comments on his many battles as governor of the state.
See the 10 things to take note of from the governor’s very revealing interview with Vanguard.
- He has nothing more to prove
While marking a seven year milestone, the governor revealed that personally he feels fulfilled with the current political affairs of his state and has nothing to prove to anyone anymore.
“The PDP was in control from the local government to the federal. But, todat, we have moved on to a situation in which the PDP is out in the local governments, in the state and at the federal level. So, my political mission is complete.
I have nothing to prove. At that time, all the boisterous godfathers were saying ‘we will teach Comrade a lesson, he will soon find out that labor is different from politics’ but today, they are my very poor students, they are not even among the brightest, they have all dropped out of school”
Looks like the Comrade Governor has an eye for punchlines.
- Oshiomole is the godfather consumer
Still on the matter of godfathers and Oshiomole’s survival as a political titan in the state, the governor minces no words.
“So, God has been merciful. Today, not only have we dismantled their rigging machine, the game is over for them. You will recall that in 2012, two of the god fathers went to Okada. And one of them said they had declared war on Oshiomhole, ‘he will not be re-elected’, and I thundered back and said the war will consume them and, at the end, they were consumed. As we speak, they are down, we are standing.”
- PDP worships godfathers but APC worships God Almighty
The governor shared a very juicy revelation in his interview that sheds light on his religious inclinations and that of his very vocal opponents- the PDP members in the state.
“And when you look at it today, everybody that matters in the PDP has left, they are all now in the APC. And more interesting, those who left the APC for the PDP are precisely the evil forces that cannot cope with the rigours of change and they have returned to the PDP where they rightfully belong. They now concede that their god father is their god who they worship and we worship God Almighty. And while they go from one shrine to the other, slaughtering animals and goats, wearing funny colours, we are covered with the precious blood of Jesus. I have seen the infinite power of God in the life of this state…”
Well, when the Lord be for you… right?
- Communication is the key in this new era democracy
As one of the key players in the emergence of the All Progressives Congress, Governor Oshiomole might have earned his place as an experienced panelist on democracy, party politics and the masses. He gives his views on sustainable democracy anyways.
“I know that the weakness of the god fathers and those who slavishly follow them is that, because they rely on ruthless deployment of power and money, they do not communicate and connect with the people.
“And yet, in a democracy, it is your capacity to connect with the people that defines your space. In my trade union studies, any order that excludes the majority from a system can only thrive to a level that the people can only tolerate it; if the people decide to challenge it and they have a leader they can trust to provide leadership to that challenge that order will crumble. That is the story of apartheid and the story of multi-party democracy and I know Edo’s own will not be different.”
- The governor is not scared of any godfather or juju
Oshiomole understands that abuse of power by a select few is real but is not fazed at all by them. The godfathers according to him cannot touch him. Governor Adams fears no man!
“What I brought to this job is the power of conviction. You must have confidence in yourself, you must be convinced about your mission and be ready to apply yourself in full. I was exposed to abuse of power very early in life at the age of 17. I saw how economic power could be abused, how managerial power could be ruthlessly deployed to repress ordinary people and, of course, later in life, I saw how political power could ruthlessly be deployed to repress society. So, one has, from that age of 17, conquered fear; so where people see danger, I see opportunities, I see challenges to be overcome.”
He also added:
“If Chief Igbinedion wears red one million times, that red can only work against him not me. He wore it before in the 2012 governorship election and he boasted that I was gone but God over ruled him; the precious blood of Jesus is superior and will protest me from my human being. So I don’t have any fear at all.”
Now talk about real confidence.
- Civil service workers are the governor’s priority
When other states owed workers salary arrears, Edo state made it a point of duty to pay its workers accordingly. The governor reveals why and how this was possible.
“Politics is a process of acquiring power and you use the power to authoritatively allocate resources, you define and decide who gets what and at whose expense; every public policy produces winners and losers. So it is clear that the responsibility of government is to decide who gets what.
“Given my own background and my primary constituency which is labour, there is no way I can subordinate the interest of the worker in favour of the interest of businesses. If the choice before me is either to pay the workers or pay a contractor N1billion, I will rather owe the big man rather than default in my obligation to salary earners. The real worker’s basic need is food, transparent to work; so because of the nature of his basic need, the way he spends is much more likely to impact on the domestic economy.”
- Oshiomole is not a ‘cashier and pay clerk’ governor
Oshiomole tracks back to one of his rhetoric, makes his case and gives his verdict. He is not a not a ‘cashier and pay clerk’ governor.
“If you play back my campaign rhetoric in 2006, I did say that when I was in the NLC, if all that government entails is just to go to Abuja, collect cheque and come home to distribute to workers in the name of salaries, then all you needed is not a governor but an efficient cashier and a pay clerk.
“The responsibility of a leader is to think and creatively put on your thinking cap and creatively look at all the options available to you and see how to tap into them. In 2008 when I assumed office, one of the first things I said was that, to fix Benin, we needed to take tough decisions which included removing illegal structures so that we could expand the roads. There was not one six-lane road in Benin, not one functional dual carriage way. And I said for us to expand to create a six-lane road, we needed to get rid of illegal structures and restore the right of way.”
- Chief Igbinedion, not Oshiomole has been disrespectful to Benin elders
The PDP at some point accused the governor of being disrespectful to the elders of the Benin kingdom. The governor had more than a few words to address this allegation.
“The question is, who are the Bini leaders I abused? The Oba of Benin is the father of all of us and nobody can accuse me of showing disrespect, in any way, to not only the Oba but also the entire royal family. If anything, some mischief makers have accused me of being subservient, but I told them I prefer to be so.
“Politically, the most outstanding politician, who has made tremendous contribution to the growth of the state, is Dr Ogbemudia who is a PDP leader. But even though he is in the PDP, I visit him from time to time; we are in good terms; he advises me all the time even on political issues. That is why some times he is misunderstood by his party members because he made generous statements about my stewardship”.
He revealed that the Esama of the kingdom, Chief Igbinedion is the one to be accused of disrespect for the Royal family.
“When I assumed office as governor, the Oba of Benin suspended Chief Igbinedion and Chief Igbinedion and his son Lucky begged me to appeal to the Oba to forgive him so that the Oba could withdraw the suspension. And I appealed to many senior palace chiefs and to the Oba to please reconsider, and I remember vividly what the Oba said. He said it was not the first time the Esama will be showing disrespect to the institution of the Oba and the person of the Oba”
Well played Comrade.
- Nobody is above the law, especially not Igbinedion
As the battle over who is above the Land Use Charge law keeps getting heated, Gov Adams is not compromising his stand for anybody. Nobody is exempted from the policy, not even the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Igbinedion.
“If I were to govern this state ten times, I will maintain the policy that it is the end of exemption. The Esama told me that he is an exemption, but I told him all Edo people are equal before the law. After all he pays tax on his properties in London, Abuja and South Africa; so why is Edo an exemption. I understand his pains, he thinks he owns this state, which is strange really.”
- Okay, okay, the Oba of Benin is above the law
The governor really did claim that no one was above the law but then, the Oba of Benin is also above the law. As contradictory as the statement may sound he offered his explanation.
“The tax must be paid and; if they don’t pay, we will follow due process, prosecute them, and if we secure conviction, we will jail you; there is no question about that. No body except the Oba of Benin is exempted.”
He was talking about the Land Use Charge policy. Totally explainable.
