Edolites in Diaspora have been called upon to put their hands on deck and come back home to contribute their quota towards the transformation going on in the state by the Governor Godwin Obaseki led administration.
A prominent Edo son, international businessman and media guru, Dr. Peters Uwaibi made this appeal in Benin City while commenting on the Outstanding African Governor Award given to the governor by The Voice Magazine in the Netherlands.
According to him, Edolites who are contributing to the social economic development of other nations should start making arrangements to come back home to join the state governor in the task of transforming the state.
“This is the time well to do Edo people should come back home and contribute to the very desirable work that is presently going on in the state. The governor has really done very well and a lot of people have continued to commend him for what he is doing.
“The governor is vigorously pursuing all the promises made to the people and he believes in doing the work without making so much noise about it. He has made giant strides from his predecessors and his actions speak of his achievements,” he noted.
“ Obaseki is concerned and working towards ensuring that the people are secured and have electricity power supply, good network of roads and other social economic amenities that have made him deserving of many awards in the country and internationally.
“He has a focus and he is working towards actualizing his dreams for the people of Edo state and that is what the people have been craving for, right from the time after Prof. Ambrose Ali,” he added.
The governor of Edo state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki was given the award of Outstanding African Governor Award 2018 in recognition of his service to humanity and leadership style by the Voice Magazine, Netherlands.
Before becoming the Edo State Governor, Obaseki served as Chairman of the Economic and Strategy Team (EST)[3]. In that capacity, he pioneered a number of policy reforms that saw the state restructure its public finance, secure funding for infrastructure and improve the business environment to attract investment in power, agriculture and other critical Sectors. Obaseki was also instrumental in attracting the Edo-Azura power project, with support from World Bank to the state, which when completed will see Edo out of darkness.
For seven years in the administration of his predecessor, he served as voluntary Chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team as well as Chairman of Tax Assessment Review Committee for Edo State internal Revenue Service (TARC) and the Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), respectively.
He was Secretary of the Committee on the Implementation of the Law Establishing the present Edo University, Iyamho, and member of the Committee on Contributory Pension Scheme and Edo SEEFORIDPO Steering Committee, respectively.
Before serving at the sub-national level, Obaseki served on the Presidential Committee on the Reform of the Nigerian Pension System, which facilitated the introduction of the contributory pension scheme and other novel pension reforms. He also served on the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission Committee on the Re-activation of the Nigerian Bond Market and the review of the Investment and Securities Act. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Council. He is a Trustee of the Dr Jackson Owen Obaseki Foundation, a family-owned Non-Governmental Organization NGO.
Since assuming duty as Executive Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has enacted projects with the aim of making the state an investment hub. Such projects include: The Benin River Port Project (Gelegele Seaport), The Benin Industrial Park. Modular Refinery Project, Technology hubs and Edo Jobs.
Asides his infrastructural projects, he has also enacted a number of social development initiatives. The state government is building about 200 Primary Healthcare Centers. Obaseki’s focus in the health sector is to develop a viable primary healthcare system to provide affordable and accessible health care services to people in the state. He is also pioneering a state-backed health insurance scheme to provide a robust sector that will attract private investors.
In education, Obaseki launched the Edo Basic Education Transformation (Edo BEST) programme, an initiative to train and equip public school teachers with top-of-the-range skill and expertise for deploying Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in classrooms to improve learning outcome. There is also a strong emphasis on technical education, which led to the revamping of the Government Science and Technical College (formerly Benin Technical College) to train workforce in the state.
He has also contributed to the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration to Europe and elsewhere around the world as well as other notable achievements which have earned him the prestigious award of Outstanding African Governor by the Voice Magazine in the Netherlands.
