Erstwhile Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, recently stepped down honourably for her Deputy, Dr. Justin Okonoboh representing Igueben constituency in Edo Central senatorial district to take over the house leadership.
She stepped down in the interest of the state, so that by the next dispensation, under the leadership of Godwin Obaseki the state can stand firmly with its three legs. Her decision to give up her position was for an Esan man to emerge as Speaker which is rare and highly commendable as most Edo people have stated in their various reactions to the change of guards at the Edo State House of Assembly last week.
What all of these now demonstrate very clearly is that the Esan people are at the heart of the focus of the Edo State APC leadership contrary to insinuations and mudslinging from a few selfish individuals of Edo Central stock. These individuals led the Esan people out of the mainstream of Edo politics and gave them a pseudo hope that they can stand on their own as far as Edo state politics was concerned.
But this was contrary to the disposition of the average Esan man and woman prior to politics of the fourth republic. In the days of Bendel, all Bendelites overwhelmingly voted for Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Alli as the Governor and the achievements of Prof Ali are there for every one to see today. Even Prof Osariemen Osunmbor was elected Governor of Edo State. At that time, a Benin man was deputy Governor and an Edo North man was the Speaker. Esan produced the minister. That has been the tripod on which Edo stood.
But a man like Tony Anenih have been confusing some Esan people on where they should stand since Comrade Oshiomhole became Governor. He misled them for his personal and selfish interest and not the interest of the generality of the Esan people.
Recently, Anenih, who was a former chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, had at a flag off of his party’s campaign for Edo Governorship election, which held at Uromi, alleged that Oshiomhole had consistently marginalized the Esan people. He claimed that, the governor refused to pay N300 million counterpart fund for Ugbalo Water project which he (Anenih) had used his influence to secure the sum of N1.2 billion from the federal government. This claim remains a ruse.
But if any person is to be accused of not giving Esan people water over the years, it is Anenih who has had the opportunity of occupying so many juicy positions in this country. For over ten years, he had the ears of the Presidents and Governors which earned him the sobriquet of “Mr. Fix It” as he fixed all elections and planted his stooges where ever he wanted them to be.
That was why he refused to make another Esan man in person of Prof. Osunbor governor. He wanted to be the only person to hand picks Edo Governor in 2007 on the platform of the PDP but Obasanjo as President wanted Osunbor, Anenih wanted his co-in-law, Magnus Odion Ugbesia.
When the Appeal Court ousted Osunbor and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole emerged the state’s people’s governor, Anenih went into partnership with Oshiomhole and gave him four commissioners. Oshiomhole accepted because he wanted an all-inclusive government for Edo people.
Bur when he discovered that Oshiomhole was not that kind of Governor he would lead by the nose, he asked the four commissioners to resign and like nama nama, they did. But are their lives better today? The answer is no. The reason was that they acted for selfish reasons and not in the interest of Esan people.
This is how the Esan ethnic block has been degraded over the years and erroneously made to queue before one individual. This explains why Edo Central, which hitherto was the powerbase of Edo politics, is now at a receiving end. This now led to the creation of a political love between Edo South and Edo North. It is certainly not in the interest of Edo Cen¬tral people to invest into self-centred individ¬uals as demy gods rather than ideol¬ogy, which in the days of Ambrose Alli put Esan people at the forefront of progressive politics.
The descend of Edo Central from political rele¬vance remains self-inflicted, as the dis¬trict was not being proactive in its political networking. It is obvious that since the present po¬litical dispensation in 1999, majority of Esan people pitched their tents with the conservative party, the PDP, even when it was obvious that the party is not only ideological¬ly bankrupt, but also, its 16 years of governance was characterised by massive looting of the nation’s resources and other bad governance practices.
Aninih was able to use his vantage position at the federal level and resources at his disposal to play on the divide be¬tween Edo South and North. But with the emergence of Oshiomhole who clearly understood the game plan and tactics of Aninih, he was able to pull Edo South and North together to overthrow Anenih’s caliphate in the believe that politics is a game of numbers and Edo Central has the least number of population and registered voters of the three districts.
Esan people must understand this truth and dynamics properly and know that it will pay them better, both on the short run and long run to pitch their tent with the APC as we proceed for another round of governorship election. When they do, they would have effectively found their way back to the mainstream of Edo politics.
When that happens and trust is re-established, then an Esan man or woman would of necessity emerge as the next governor of Edo State after Obaseki. Otherwise, Edo North would come and grab it in the current marriage of the Edo South and North which could easily blight their chances when the time comes. A word is enough for the wise. Vote wisely on September 10.
• Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State
