As Edo people brace for the commencement of political fireworks for the 2024 governorship election campaigns, it is not surprising that some political hacks who feed off majorly on the high-octane energy of mudslinging politics have revved up their energy to advertise their merchandise for those willing to engage them for dirty work.
In the midst of the ruckus, a serial scandal-prone journalist-wannabe, John Mayaki, has continued attacks on Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who he has devoted the last seven years to malign, because the governor sacked him for incompetence.
While one may be forced to forgive whatever shortcoming Mayaki may have had that could have cost him his job as Interim Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mayaki’s descent into the abyss of subterfuge would prove that the Governor had, indeed, made the right call to show Mayaki the exit door.
In a recent tirade curiously spiced with characters from superhero movies and television shows, Mayaki took to lampooning Governor Obaseki for accepting to attend and speak at international conferences hosted by the World Bank, where the governor was invited to share experiences in transforming the state’s economy by reforming education, boosting manufacturing, promoting commercial agriculture and repositioning the state’s public service for optimal service delivery.
One is forced to believe that Mayaki may have found a new job of consuming superhero movies as his day job, which would cause him to project the attributes of comic characters onto Governor Obaseki.
If not for some weird and unexplainable form of fixation, what would make Mayaki ever reason that sharing lessons of implementing needed and critical reforms to provide not less than 380,000 Edo children with quality education is something to disparage the governor for.
It only goes to show that Mayaki, in the first instance, can not understand the rudiments of governance and its impact on the lives of the people. It essentially calls whatever credentials he brandishes to question, no matter if it was obtained from Cambridge, Oxford or the University of Benin.
Governor Obaseki deserves all the accolades he is getting today and the taunts and tirades from Mayaki and his co-travellers can never detract from the governor’s legacy. In fact, it provides a peep into the minds of those who have over the years failed to appreciate the essence of pragmatic governance anchored on leveraging partnerships with the private sector and multinational agencies to transform the state.
It is not uncommon for government officials to embark on foreign trips. What should concern the more serious members of the public – which Mayaki is obviously not a part of – is how these trips have come to define and inform government policies and attract investment to the state.
Pray tell, is it not from these trips that the governor was able to secure the $75 million World Bank facility for the reform of the state’s education sector. Was it not from these trips that the governor secured the input of the Chinese investors who partnered with the state government and private partners to construct the 6000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area. The support facilities from the Swiss, British and Italian governments are all from these trips.
So, we ask Mayaki to keep to his new found love for comic characters and continue watching all the instalments in Marvel Cinematic Universe and leave those who are serious about tackling real problems to do so.
Governor Obaseki’s legacies are only just unfolding. Those who are angling for roles as pressboys in the 2024 elections should get on with facing realities and putting up professional resumes, and allow the governor to consolidate on the job of transforming Edo into Africa’s most competitive sub-national.
Onyewuchi, a journalist and media entrepreneur, writes from Benin City
