Two states, Edo State and Ondo State; are holding elections this year, as they did four years ago.
Whenever Edo’s interests come to the fore, the entire country seems to go into a frenzy, with elections becoming the concern of busybodies who have never set foot in the state nor have any genuine goodwill for its people.
These meddlers are mostly “whippersnappers,” ne’er-do-wells who neither understand the ethos and culture of our people, nor our traditions, needs, and aspirations.
In the last election of 2020, with the help of a stranger among us; Godwin Obaseki, a man imposed on the state by people who hadn’t fully grasped his deceitful and villainous nature before entrusting him with power—we saw a man who betrayed our trust. Obaseki enlisted a band of worthless fellows to raise the most vicious propaganda machine ever witnessed in our state against his opponents. They did their devious work so well that the entire country was swept into madness, turning the Edo election into a national circus.
It was shocking, to say the least, for every God-fearing Edo citizen to see people from states rife with bad governance, people who had nothing positive to show in their own regions, suddenly becoming insane masquerades, goading our people towards doom.
Why is it that Nigerians are more invested in Edo State than in any other state in Nigeria? Why isn’t anyone focusing on Ondo?
The answer lies in the dubiousness of Obaseki. There is nothing that hasn’t been written about the wickedness of his heart and the irresponsibility of his government. We have never witnessed such a devastating period as we did during the locust years of Godwin Obaseki.
This man, who has no regard for traditional institutions and lacks deep roots in Edo State, committed one taboo after another with utter disregard for our highly respected and revered traditions. How could outsiders, unfamiliar with our culture, know that Obaseki is only an Edo man by name? How could they know that we are a people deeply rooted in our traditions and guided by those values? What right do they have to interfere in our affairs?
Obaseki, who became governor with nothing to show for his eight years in power, continues to deceive people with grandiose grammar and projects that either do not exist or are mere figments of his imagination. His much-touted “Obaseki light,” which only serves the government house and a few households in Benin, is a glaring example. It is a disgrace that, in eight years as governor, with all the natural resources at his disposal, that’s all the electricity Obaseki could generate. Meanwhile, off-the-grid homesteads in other countries generate much more through self-help. Obaseki makes what young people in America and Europe achieve with ease seem like a monumental project. What a grand deceit!
Benin Airport, once a bustling hub for private jets carrying expatriates eager to invest in the state, now sees only visitors signing MOUs and taking site tours, with no real progress made. The so-called Obaseki Gberefu Seaport remains his biggest scam to date. The people of Gberefu, who once managed their pirogues and small boats in the Oghoton River, now curse the day Obaseki dreamed up the idea of a seaport there. Six years after Obaseki mesmerized the world with his delusion of a seaport in the Oghoton River because it was once an outlet for British trade, Gberefu is worse off, with muddy roads abandoned by the callous governor and no progress on the promised project. The people only want good roads and a health center, but Obaseki continues to present the carved model of the seaport as though it were a reality.
Now, as the election approaches, it is well known that Obaseki has brought in yet another outsider to try and wrest power from the true sons of the soil, doing so with the same ruthlessness he applies to everything.
What an irony that Obaseki, who has humiliated the favored APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, for not speaking his version of the Queen’s English, is the same governor who has wrecked education in Edo State. The state now has more out-of-school children than ever before, and Edo has become notorious for its “yahoo-yahoo” college, a shameful occurrence that began under Obaseki’s tenure. Obaseki is also the only governor who throws market women and their children in jail for minor infractions like street hawking, with some of these women spending as much as a month in jail for simply trying to make a living.
This same Obaseki turned a library into a motor park and allowed his education board to be accused of arranging exam questions for WAEC students; a practice known as “expo” in our pidgin. What legacy is Obaseki and his Queen’s English leaving for the children and youth of Edo State? What has Obaseki’s English brought to Edo but bleak doom?
Edo State is a place with a common culture, diverse tribes, and languages. We have our unique blend of pidgin English that binds us in communication. If any gubernatorial aspirant wants to address the people, they must do so in pidgin English. The people have realized that high-sounding grammar doesn’t guarantee good governance, and they are much more at ease with a candidate who speaks like them.
This is where Obaseki’s social media trolls, camped in his propaganda warehouse, have failed. I’ve seen poorly edited and doctored videos pushed out by this verminous gang, heavily sponsored by none other than the master of devilish propaganda, Obaseki himself. It’s surprising that people who should know better are spreading such blatant lies.
In any case, if English grammar were the yardstick for good governance, Obaseki’s eight years of ruin would have shattered that myth. He has failed miserably.
It’s not about speaking English like an “Oyibo”… it’s about what a person brings to the table. Senator Monday Okpebholo, despite the malicious editing and doctoring of his campaign videos, has works that speak for him. As a private citizen and now a senator, Okpebholo has impressed the people of Edo with his understanding of their problems and his commitment to community development.
How could we, with all the wisdom God has given us as the descendants of the great Obas of Benin; a city that had streetlights even before the Portuguese or any other European countries; cast a vote for a man who needed an interpreter to talk to his own people? Are we crazy? We dey crase?
Did our Obas, who built the thriving city of Benin, launched and commissioned bronze artistry, built one of the greatest wonders of the world the Benin Moat; and installed streetlights before the white man even conceived the idea, speak Queen’s English?
Would you rather have an English-speaking relative whose daily preoccupation is confusing you with grammar, or a relative who thinks about your progress, solves your problems, and brings development to your community with simple, down-to-earth language?
We have made our choice. Non-Edo people should stay out of our business and focus on their own states, please.
We have chosen Akpakomiza as so shall it be.
Moji Danisa is from Uhonmora Ora, Owan West LGA, Edo State.
She writes from Abuja.
