Edo Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo comes across as a very warm personality who has a heart for positive development in Edo state. He loves to remain unsung, insisting instead that certain projects must be completed before he starts showcasing them.
At the celebration of his one year in office, despite his huge achievements, he preferred to stay unmoved, telling us that his interest was how to complete the projects for the benefit of the people than any deliberate salesmanship. Even when we insisted that we needed to showcase the many interventions by way of documentaries, he declined, and instead opted for more commitment to deepen the projects.
The ongoing projects are quite legion; flyover in Ramat Park, flyover at Adesuwa Junction, Sapele road concrete road repairs, Ekhehuan extension road project, Ewvotubu road, Tembogha road and erosion control work, 150-bed Hospital in Edo Central, Oba market reconstruction, Ekpoma, Irrua and Jattu ultra markets construction, Udomi, Uromi roads construction, Irrua intra-city roads, several schools under construction, several primary healthcare centres built across the 18 Local Government Areas, investment in agriculture, and so many other projects.
On a regular basis, the Governor keeps a tab on all projects through inspection and on the spot assessment of jobs to be sure that they meet up with the building standard and specification.
According to the Governor, he’s building for the future of Edo, not just for the immediate, but for posterity. The present roads projects intervention across the state cover over 530 kilometers spread across the 18 Local Government Areas. Once completed, mobility across the state will become a seamless effort, that will also promote commerce and enterprise.
The Governor is also investing in human capital development through trainings and capacity building. His investment in state run tertiary institutions has been second to none in the volume of resources he deploy to Ambrose Alli University and Edo State University, Iyamho. From a paultry 40 million naira subvention by previous governor, Governor Okpebholo has raised the bar to N500m for Ambrose Alli University, and N250m for Edo State University, Iyamho.
With the rains dropping repeatedly in the last two months, the Governor has become restless over delays in completing a lot of the ongoing projects. Road projects cannot be undertaken when the rains are here.
As much as the Governor desires to see a quick completion of these projects, the climate must be right to achieve such target.
Early rains have proven unavoidable and this had slowed down the pace of work. But the determination to push through remains the same. In less than 24 months of assuming office, Okpebholo’s intervention in reconstructing, rebuilding and revamping collapsed infrastructure in Edo state has been very remarkable.
Truth be told, if this momentum is sustained, at the end of his first term in office, he would have achieved several milestones that will further reposition Edo state on a stronger pedestal.
*Prince Kassim Afegbua is the Edo State Commissioner of information
