UROMI – Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State said Nigerians are tired of the “earmark” rhetoric of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying what Nigerians now prefer is to see the physical evidence or “eye-mark” what political leaders and their parties have done to justify their seeking re-election.
Speaking at the commissioning by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun of the Arue-Isua-Uzenema road in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area, the road leading to the home of the PDP’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, on Friday, Oshiomhole said rather than play politics with religion and ethnicity, the PDP should focus on issues of development rather than whipping up primordial sentiments.
According to him, “as the season for seeking votes approaches, people are going to come with all kinds of things. We must insist that the political discourse should be based on record, report cards and that is why in Edo, we insist it should be based on politics of “eye-mark” and not  “earmark”.
“If you have been in government for ten years, show us the roads you have done, the schools you have built, the water you have provided and the projects you have executed”, he said
He stressed that “I know that in the books of the Federal Government, there is water in Uromi. They have brought water to Uromi people and Esanland but Esan people have no water.
“Government must never deceive its people and now that they (PDP’s Federal Government) refused to do this, I am going to bring our industrial borehole rigs and we will do it”, he promised.
While advising politicians to focus on issues of development rather than ethnic and religious issues which divide the people, Oshiomhole said: “I ask all of you as politics approaches to focus on issues of development. We must refuse to reduce our politics to politics of religion; whether the man is a Christian, or a Muslim or a pagan. Our actions rather than our rhetoric will show whether we are believers in God or not.
“Someone told me years back he hasn’t seen too many churches in Japan but the crime level there is almost zero.”
Oshiomhole continued, “The problem of Nigeria is not religion. The problem of Nigeria is to produce leaders who have conscience, who will put our nation first. Our people therefore must disregard arguments about religion.
“We have to move away from the politics of bitterness, politics of ethnicity to politics of development and every leader who has been privileged to be entrusted with the instruments of state should use it judiciously regardless of your own birthplace”.
He said, the logic of multiparty democracy is that everybody will not have to vote for you but whoever gets to win must accept every part as his own and must spread development everywhere”.
Oshiomhole said, “The day I forwarded the memo to the State Exco for the award of the contract to construct this road, someone reminded me that I didn’t win election here in 2007. I was also reminded that our political opponent, our elder whom we respect is from one of these villages and why should that be a priority to us and I said, the resources we are using us not resources from taxes paid by my party members only but resources of the state.
“People have a right to prefer someone else than myself. It is up to me to do what I have to do to prove them wrong. People have a right to doubt but one way to show that we understood our mandate is to prove to them that with us, their future is secured and so we built this road, we have built many schools and other projects in this Local Government and in the last elections, we defeated PDP in this Local Government.”
On his part, the Special Guest of Honour, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, eulogised the Comrade Governor for the monumental development he has brought to the state and urged the people of the state to demonstrate they appreciate his style of government by punishing the PDP with their votes in the next elections.
He said, “We must not listen to them on issues of ethnicity and religion. Listening to them is taking us back. The only way to appreciate the gesture of the Comrade Governor and demonstrate you appreciate our style of government is to punish those who refused to serve you diligently as we are doing with your votes”.
He however advised the communities to be vigilante and ensure adequate maintenance of the road as this will further enhance the life span of the road.
Traditional ruler of the area, Onojie of Uromi, HRH Zaiki Anslem Eidenojie II who spoke with pressmen eulogised the achievements of the Comrade Governor saying “he has raised the bar for other politicians in the nation”.
The Arue-Isua-Uzenema road is about 5.5kilometres and connects several communities in the area