Initially I had wanted
to caption this piece “The Comrade’s Last
Wish” but changed my mind and went for the one above. As a writer one
wrestles, sometimes, with titles for articles but in the end one arrives at
settling for a better one that would convey a message.
Governor Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole’s last wish
may not be, after all, what his detractors and critics would want us believe.
That is, aspiring to become a glorified godfather of Edo State
politics in the mould of expired Anthony Anenih. Or destabilising the politics
of the state like a bull in a China
shop before bowing out in the near future. Or worse still, wanting desperately
to install someone, a lackey who would not live up to expectation or measure up
to the landmark achievements of the present occupant of Dennis Osadebay Government
House in Benin city .
The comrade-governor is leaving behind a big shoe — one difficult to fill but
good candidates abound in Edo
State .
Gov Oshiomole and his wife Iiara |
Comrade Oshiomhole
came to power in Edo state as an action governor, a no-nonsense seasoned
unionist who was not afraid of reforms in the system or politics of godfatherism that nearly ‘killed’ the
‘heartbeat of the nation’ before his celebrated ascendancy. Prior to his
arrival onto the scene Benin City
remained a “developing village” where witches and wizards congregated at wee
hours of the night to hatch evil bloody plots. The two PDP Governors that
preceded his emergence (Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor and Lucky Igbinedion)
performed below average and made the people of the state poorer
infrastructurally and economically. Igbinedion was the worst governor ever! He
seemed to be content on being called the son of Igbinedion (a wealthy family in
Benin city and Okada wonderland) and he had fun frolicking with beautiful
Uniben undergraduates (to satisfy his libido problem) as governance suffered.
By the time the
‘Prince’ left office billions of Naira and millions of Dollars had been looted
from the state coffers! The lucky Lucky had fought a bitter political battle
with the ex-governor (now APC National Chairman) John Odigie-Oyegun for the
governorship of the state decades ago with the latter trouncing him at the
polls. As a student in Benin City
then we witnessed the ‘guber war’ play out on state radio and TV and on
campaign grounds across the state. It was reminiscent of the nostalgic
Ogbemudia/Ambrose Ali gubernatorial crossfire. Lucky was desperate to become
Governor after the scandal that trailed his Chairmanship of Oredo Local
Government Area. But when, eventually, he got power he made a whole mess of it.
Before his rise to the top controversy had manifested itself over the gruesome
murder of George Idah in his office as Chairman of Oredo Local Govt. Needless
to say here that fingers were pointed at his direction as the culprit.