 For the people’s will to be accurately reflected by the vote, elections must maintain a very high degree of integrity. Integrity happens to be the watchword for the July 14th elections held in Edo State.
Integrity is the concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness for accuracy of one’s actions.
One cannot but say the leadership of INEC under Professor Jega has exhibited a very high standard and professionalism in having very fair elections round the nation. We look back at our recent past, he is indeed a man of integrity and we are happy that Edo State, the heartbeat of the nation was not an exception in having a free and fair election.
The INEC chief over the years in most of his undertakings articulated himself very well and his input in the electoral events that have taken place has indeed placed him well above his contemporaries of yesterday. It has also been argued in some quarters that everywhere there has been a re-run, the opposition has always lost. I beg to differ from this because it’s always proper to know who had the upper hand.
The one man, one vote was launched in Benin City and has remained the slogan of the Comrade Governor. He indeed believes in the doctrine of democracy. Our Comrade Governor can be said to be the man who came, saw and has made good of the state that had been abandoned and left to decay. Today, Edo State has a new look and the spoilers of yesterday are jostling to take over and return it to what they know best. We must use our legitimate votes to determine our future.
The custodians of our culture have found ‘Oshio’ to be a worthy Bini son and have given him total support in the July 14 elections. PDP leaders at various instances have okayed the candidacy of the Comrade Governor. Dr. Samual Ogbemudia, member PDP BOT says, “I hand over the baton to Comrade Oshiomhole”. Professor Osunbor, also a PDP chieftain says “I share his development vision” to mention a few. Edo people take a good look and you will appreciate that the value of democracy is gradually taking root in our state. “Oshio” is a decision-maker and drives his vision with purpose. That is why Edo is wearing a new look. There is a belief that second term governors never do well. To a great extent, that is right when dealing with political jobbers and career politicians. Not a Comrade Governor. We can’t afford to throw caution to the wind because so much is in progress and so much is in the pipeline to come.
Edo people, taxes have never been a friendly tool of governance but it happens to be one of the key tools for progressive growth; this we can visibly see around us today. Edo people, come out on July 14 and let us send an 80 percent victory to the Comrade Governor.
Edo people, can you remember a slogan that reigned in PDP some years back “No man is God”? Unfortunately, the General was in service then and probably never heard of it. These same men make up the new PDP. The General is a fine gentleman and probably was a fine soldier too, but happens to be in the wrong calling for today, which is running for Edo state governor. It is quite interesting that the leadership of the PDP can take us on a ride in 2012. Let’s go back to the debate: the General says there is no federal presence in the state and intends to change that. My question is “what is Uniben, UBTH, FGGC, Owena River Basin, NNPC, NIFOR, just to mention a few?” The General goes on to talk about the three tiers of government and interestingly, he mentioned the Judiciary as a tier of government that must be respected. My question is, “how can the Judiciary be a tier of government?” Is the General changing the fundamentals of politics in 2012? On power, the General says that Edo state has been allocated 450 megawatts of power, yet we all depend on diesel and petrol generators for power everyday. Ambrose Alli University has been identified by the General as the breeding ground for goats and armed robbers. One wonders if he is now telling us that the Hon. Minister of Works is one of the above. When a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.
How can the General make sure a derogatory statement of a school that has produced renowned lawyers, politics and scholars? Why must we, a sophisticated people, be taken through this path by the PDP again? It is quite unfortunate that the PDP has chosen to play down the seriousness of what good governance is.
Our dear General, with patience and planning, any one can become sufficiently politically savvy to succeed. I will wish you good luck but that you should know by now that luck has little to do with success.
May the Good Lord lead us to a better tomorrow.
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