Why I paid to serve Edo People – Obaseki

Stating this at an interactive section organised International Leadership Idea Exchange and Thinkers Nest Politico Organization, titled “Why You”, at the Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Obaseki said that haven succeeded in his profession as a distinguished stockbroker and investment banker, he needed to serve in the state to rescue the state from the shackles of the PDP years of rule.

Obaseki said as the head of the head of the state Economic and Strategy Team, a long term plan has been designed to develop the state noting that when elected governor he would ensure transparent execution of the plan which is tagged as the “Next Phase”.

He pointed out that it is risky to discontinue what he describe as the phases of development as it will amount to destroying the master plan put in place to transform the state.

He said, “Like most people who got to the pinnacle of their careers, I started thinking about what I needed to do for my state because I have always been passionate about issues that affect it. That was my state of mind until I met Oshiomhole. Along with a few others, I decided to support him because i believed he had what it takes to provide the right leadership. Eventually I became head of his economic and strategic team with a responsibility to nurture our dream to return the state to its glorious days. But in doing so, I opted to pay to serve rather than be paid for the services I rendered”, he explained.

“In a nutshell, I came in; I saw and realized that the challenge was not a touch and go thing. Above all else, we needed to bring our people into the 21st century. To do that, we identified the challenges before the state what we need to do and as part of the long term plan to sort them out. We have successful implemented the fists phase which is to provide basic infrastructure. We are now entering the second phase which is about bringing in the right investments to take advantage of the infrastructure. But the question now is after 8 years, we have to think about where we are going and who will take us there.

“Certainly, you cannot risk putting that and the live and fortunes of over 5 million people of the state in the hands of someone who has never managed resources”, he wondered.

Obaseki, who noted that past leadership of the state were not resourceful, advised that what is required now is someone who has both the managerial ability and the knowledge to evolve strategic economic discipline to make the state a model for others.

“Before now, we have been less resourceful by spending without producing. We cannot continue to buy and import everything. We need to organize production in order to create wealth for the people. To achieve this, we need a leadership that understands what must be done. One that runs a government that provides infrastructure that will pull in private investors. That is where I come in”, he declared.