By Kassim Afegbua.
When opposition politics is blind, it descends into lamentations. When their criticisms are not yielding the expected result, they intensify their lamentations. When they can see but choose to be blind, they relapse into deliberate inertia, pretending to be unaware of progress being made. When they wake up in the morning, they lament about their failures to make impact. When they go out during the day, lamentations continue unlimited. Whenever they resign to bed in the night, lamentations prevail over their thoughts and mental state. They are adversarial, not productive. They display the peculiar skills of ostentatious dancers who are desperate to please their mentors and failed leaders. They wail in the morning. They wail in the afternoon. They wail in the evening, as though they were members of Bob Marley’s musical band; “Bob Marley and the Wailers”.
In every democracy, the role of the opposition is well guaranteed as an integral part in shaping public discourse and setting agenda in some cases. In Edo, opposition is driven by the aroma of the pot of soup theory. One PDP chieftain had complained about how he was shortchanged sometimes ago, when he was denied the opportunity to be in charge of the pot of soup. Once the opposition smell the sweet aroma, and they are unable to grab the pot of soup, they are ready to draw blood. Since Governor Okpebholo assumed responsibility in Edo state, opposition has been depleted vicariously. Unaware of what to say, even when they are confronted with eye-mark project execution, they tell you pointedly with the boldness of an armed robber, that “nothing is happening”. Legacy projects are ongoing. Flyovers, solid road networks, schools are being fixed, workers are being recruited, civil service is being retooled, transportation is being revived, internally generated revenue is being increased, teachers are being recruited, insecurity is being addressed, and the general psyche of the average Edo mind is being positively affected by the volume of projects that are presently ongoing. But these are no cheering news to the opposition insofar they are unable to grab the pot of soup.
When members of the opposition PDP are driving through the Ramat Park that presently warehouses the first ever Benin City Fly-Over, they turn their eyes away, wondering what architectural derring-do that is. When they get to Adesuwa Junction on Sapele road, they turn their eyes away, battling with their emotions on how to feign ignorance. When they get to New Era School, Oredo Girls College, Army Day Secondary School, and several others being fixed, they lament the fact that Governor Okpebholo has surpassed the expectations of the people; but they must continuously drum it loud that “he’s not doing anything”, just to please the sheer hollowness of their masters ears. I was with a top chieftain of the PDP last week when he shouted hoax over our current budget proposal that has just been passed to law. Asked what was the reason for his umbrage, he said truth be told, “Governor Okpebholo has shocked a lot of us with his superlative performance”. I told him to grant us such recognition by telling it to Edo people, he shouted; abomination!. You wan make them stop our monthly pay cheque. “This one wey area rough so, this is the only time to extract something from Godwin Obaseki naa”. I let out a gale of laughter that sent me sprawling on the floor.
The real challenge is not about performance, the idea to criticize is borne out of a stronger desire to confuse the public to justify why they must continue to collect their running cost from their mentor that has bolted away, doing “meet and greet” in foreign Palmwine joints and beer parlour. But their narratives do not tell the current Edo story; a story that showcases several achievements in the area of anti-cultism initiative by the Okpebholo-led administration, a story that has made eloquent statement about recovering and revamping our schools, a story that has deepened our intervention in infrastructural renewal, a story that deliberately and consciously weaves together all the ethnic configurations in the state, sustaining an ideal of homogeneity that further drives down our sense of community. We have left behind a season of dictatorship and combativeness, to a season of subliminal humility in leadership driven by a Governor that connects with the people. From divisions to unity and togetherness, in the spirit of one Edo. From Edo South to Central and Edo North, projects are going on simultaneously to relaunch Edo state to its prime status.
But being blind to happenings in the state is a matter of choice between those in Nigeria and their foreign counterparts, who had to escape to avoid being held to account for their stewardship when they presided over the state. The remnants back home are hemorrhaging through occasional criticisms to remind their master that they are playing their role well. Any success recorded by Governor Okpebholo to reduce the heap of lies being parroted before now, offends their sensibilities. In their minds, they want Edo to fail, they want Okpebholo to fail, to justify their initial remonstration about the leadership style of Obaseki’s successor. They suddenly discover the man does not talk too much, but delivers heavy on infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, security, social development and human capital development. The anger of the opposition will continue to saturate their cocoons, but Edo people are happy with a Governor who has turned the state to a construction site. Opposition may choose to be blind. That’s our motivation to do more.
Prince Kassim Afegbua, MNIPR
Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy,
Edo state Government.
