Politics

OPINION: What Does Gov Obaseki Really Want?

Published

4 years ago

August 2, 2022

By Odeon Kodalo

In terms of governance, political evolution, strategic and critical thinking, these are not certainly the best of times for Edo State. It is very difficult to predict right now, where the state is heading.

In the most recent times, Edo State has literally come to represent the general belief in Africa which suggests that when yesterday’s condition of a patient is far better than that of today, the destination of such patient is obvious, irrespective of the proficiency of the physician.

When such a belief is related to governance, we find a situation where the people who typify the patient in the above analogy, will be lost in negative impulse and very far from improvement, development and visionary legacy which good governance ultimately bequeaths.

In Edo State as we speak, particularly since the inception of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s 2nd term in office, nothing but crisis, conflict and antagonistic policies have been the Hallmark of the system.

In the period under review, since the 2020 electioneering, the age long and enlivened Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in Edo State has been systematically dismantled, as well as methodologically and deceitfully displaced; all at the peril of the Edo State people for the singular interest of Governor Godwin Obasek’s second tenure, and that of his Deputy, the SSG and even the Chief of Staff all in one swoop.

Surprisingly, frantic attempts are being made to undo the structure that brought them to office such that it is being brazenly dissolved and disbanded in utter disregard for mutuality devoid of conflict.

In the education sector under Governor Godwin Obaseki, the greatest victims have been the Colleges of Education, Ekiadolor and Igueben; College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi and now, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. These tertiary institutions in the state have experienced serious dislocation and in extreme cases, annihilation.

The Edo State Civil Service has been worse off as it continues to experience turmoil, the way it has been turned inside-out by Governor Obaseki.

Under Obaseki’s watch, very inexperienced and cosmetic consultants have been engaged to disorganise the civil service. The extant rules, principles, norms , methods and statutory order of the Service have been seriously undermined and compromised . The experiences , Seniority and importance of Cadres which used to be the hallmark of the Service are being jettisoned.

The Consultants have designed strange and phoney Cadres that are obviously at variance with the Civil Service and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria such that there is now total disrespect for Seniority. Juniors now brazenly Lord it over Seniors with reckless abandon.

At the behest of the Governor, his administration loudly told the world that e-governance is running in Edo State. To this end, sometime this year, the entire senior category of the Civil Service were mandated to undergo a promotional examination in the State. This they were told was necessary for the purpose of competence, capacity and the much needed reform.

Behold, while many institutions are using CBT as e-tool of participation and engagement, the very Senior civil servants in Edo State were made to write with biro and paper. Several months after the examination, no single candidate or civil servant that participated in that examination can tell the result as scores in the examination have been shrouded in mystery. This is antithetic to digital and e-governance as well as against the transparent utilisation of tax-payers money.

Rather than recognise the so-called competence, capacity and much valued experience of the time-tested Edo State Civil Service that necessitated the exams, it was speculated that, some staff of the Consultants traded and are still trading the scores of the exams, manipulating figures, positions and members of the Edo State Civil Service for self-interest.

What is more, the Edo State Specialist Hospital has been decapitated by Governor Godwin Obaseki. Rather than utilise the space and central location of the facility, at Sapele Road as designed by our forebears, the governor decided to decentralise its location rather than its services. This it was revealed by some residents that the expanse of land available for the Hospital is the interest of the Governor for private grabbing.

If you look around the hospital’s abandoned space right now, particularly on the Ezoti Road axis of the hospital, wild animals and criminals have turned the environment into a place of abode, with no serious intention of the Edo State Government concerning the land.

On the issue of land, Governor Godwin Obaseki is always quick to destroy and in a hurry to grab and acquire land with little or no convincing reasons for such attitude of Government.

Residents around Okoroma, Obazagbon, Evbuekpen and Obayantor are in a serious dilemma to see government acquiring their parcels of land with impunity, without serious consideration for their infrastructure deficit.

To this end, they have rhetorically asked to know what Governor Obaseki really wants.

“Obaseki wants to grab and acquire Garrick Secondary School layout. He wants to acquire and grab the entire Ezoti residential areas. He is intimidating the people Evbuekpen, Okoroma, Obazagbon and many more. What does he really want?”, the residents are asking.

Residents of Ezoti have severally cried out to the Government of Governor Godwin Obaseki to stay away from their heritage and ancestral land bequeathed to them by their forefathers. This is as a result of the fact that Governor Obaseki is considered desperate to acquire their ancestral lands in addition to his desire to destroy all that former Doctors Quarters at Ezoti Street, presently housing several ministries and government functionaries in the State.

According to many residents in the State, “if Governor cannot improve on our lives and facilities he met as Governor, he should leave us the way he met us, rather than destroy the entire place and build empty halls without aesthetic designs, convenience and vision and start to call them Hub”.

“He is busy telling everybody that EMOWAA is a must for his Government, even when he has not done anything to preserve several tourist and common heritage sites in the State. Go to Ramat Park for instance, it is like a village inside a city. Ramat Park is so bushy and irritating.

Several heritages such as the Central Specialist Hospital that was a beehive of activities and attractive to visitors and tourists, The Edo State Library, Edo Broadcasting Service, (EBS) and Bendel Newspapers Corporation, publishers of The OBSERVER titles, Ethiope Publishing, Edo Line, Edo State Library which collectively form part of our common patrimony and heritage have been strangely destroyed by Governor Godwin Obaseki for no convincing reasons and better alternative.

“In short, Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has become so impulsive, prodigious and destructive not only to infrastructure, but also very caustic to the entire Government ecosystem and apparatus in the State.

“We had Gen. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia in this State. He built the likes of The Nigerian Observer as the mouth piece of government and the voice of the people and several other facilities. We had Prof. Ambrose Alli who built the University that Obaseki is frustrating today; and many more. These past Govenors neither destroyed nor displaced citizens and the system. The Secretariat that was renovated by Governor Godwin Obaseki recently was designed and built over forty (40) years ago. Yet it is still serving the purpose it was initially met to serve. The ICE building was built several years ago. It was renovated and is currently in use. Why the destructive tendencies and displacement of people and the system by this present administration?

The earlier a stop is put to these dangerous trends the better for Edo people.

-Odeon Kodalo writes from Abudu, Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Edo State.

Politics

2027: NDC Unveils Electoral Committee Members For Primaries

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has released list of Electoral Committee Members to Conduct primary election.

The exercise is for State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship and Presidential Primaries across all States in Nigeria and the FCT.

This was contained in a statement posted on its verified X handle on Thursday.

The party had provided updates concerning its upcoming Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship, and State Assembly primaries.

According to the party’s National Chairman, Moses Cleopas,
and Barr. Ikenna Alex-Morgan Enekweizu, National Secretary, the primaries are confirmed to take place across the nation on May 29, 2026, adhering to the previously established timetable of May 28 and 29.

Politics

APC: Fubara Has Been Treated Badly, It’s Dangerous For Tinubu – Otubanjo

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The director of research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Femi Otubanjo, has said the treatment of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, in the just concluded All Progressives Congress’, APC, primary poses political danger to President Bola Tinubu.

Otubanjo stated this on Thursday while speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where he also criticised the role being played by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the political affairs of Rivers State and the All Progressives Congress.

According to him, the handling of Fubara’s political crisis remains one of the most surprising developments in Nigeria’s political landscape.

Otubanjo further argued that Wike, who is not a member of the APC, appears to be dictating political activities within the ruling party in Rivers State.The research director warned that the current political arrangement in Rivers State could negatively affect Tinubu politically, insisting that Wike was pursuing his personal agenda rather than that of the president.

He said: “The treatment of Fubara must be one of the American wonders of Nigerian politics. Fubara has been badly treated. We have a situation in which Nyesom Wike who is not even in the APC is taking the primary decision in the APC. I hope the tactical team of President Bola Tinubu is not sleeping.

“The reality is that what they have done is very dangerous for Tinubu. What has emerged in Rivers today is that Wike is pursuing his own agenda, not Tinubu’s agenda inspite of PBAT and all of that combination.”

“If Wike really wants to pursue Tinubu’s agenda, he must retain Fubara.”

Politics

In Defence Of Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe: The Generational Shift Reshaping Edo Politics

Published

24 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Editor

By DAN Osa-Ogbegie

For decades, Edo politics remained trapped within a narrow and predictable cycle of political recycling. The same ageing actors moved endlessly from one office to another, from one administration to the next, and from one political alignment to another, as though leadership in Edo State had become the exclusive inheritance of a permanent political aristocracy.

Meanwhile, thousands of intelligent, energetic, and capable young Edo people watched helplessly from the margins while opportunities for leadership, governance, party administration, and public service remained tightly controlled by individuals whose political relevance dated back several decades.

That unhealthy political culture is now gradually changing.

Today, one of the most important political transformations taking place within the All Progressives Congress in Edo State is the deliberate transition from recycled political gerontocracy to a younger generation of political actors. That transition is unfolding under the leadership of Senator Monday Okpebholo, Governor of Edo State and Leader of the APC in Edo State, together with the State Chairman of the party, Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.

Predictably, such a shift has unsettled entrenched interests.

Those who became accustomed to monopolising political relevance naturally feel threatened by the emergence of a younger generation that is increasingly assertive, visible, influential, and institutionally empowered. Yet, history teaches a simple lesson: no political structure survives indefinitely without renewal.

No serious political party can continue recycling the same exhausted political machinery forever while expecting innovation, grassroots energy, modern governance ideas, and long-term political sustainability.

That reality appears to be clearly understood by Governor Monday Okpebholo and Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.

Much of the criticism unfairly directed at Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe in recent times stems from the fact that he has become one of the visible faces of this generational transition within Edo APC. Beneath the noise, propaganda, and political bitterness lies an undeniable truth: the party is consciously opening spaces for younger people in ways not seen for many years.

From the youthful Deputy Chairman of APC in Edo State, Sylvester Aigboboh, to several younger commissioners, Special Advisers, members of the State Executive Council, board chairmen, local government administrators, and strategic appointees across government, the evidence of deliberate political renewal is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.

In Uhunmwode Local Government Area, Hon. Austin Imafidon has emerged as one of the young faces of focused governance and grassroots administration. Beyond politics, he has already established himself successfully in business, bringing into governance the mindset of productivity, enterprise, and modern administrative engagement.

In Etsako, Hon. Sunny Ekpeson has continued to attract national attention as the youngest ALGON Chairman in Nigeria, representing a clear departure from the era where local government leadership was treated as the permanent preserve of ageing political operators disconnected from younger demographics.

In Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Hon. Eric Osawaru represents another example of the younger political generation now entrusted with leadership responsibilities, while in Oredo Local Government Area, Engr. Gabriel Iduseri equally reflects the growing confidence being reposed in younger administrators within the APC structure.

In Owan, Hon. Aitalegbe Ernest, popularly known as “China Boy,” has also emerged as one of the prominent young political figures gaining traction as the incoming Chairman of the local government, further reinforcing the expanding generational transition currently taking shape across Edo State.

The same pattern is visible across government institutions and strategic agencies.

Pastor Stanley Dave Ighodaro, a successful entrepreneur with thriving business interests in Europe, now heads the Edo State Parks and Gardens Agency. His emergence reflects an increasingly important shift towards bringing professionally exposed and globally minded younger individuals into governance and public administration.

Similarly, Kassim Otono, who serves as Special Adviser on Oil and Gas to the Executive Governor of Edo State, represents another example of younger technocratic involvement within the present administration. His inclusion within such a strategic sector underscores the growing confidence being placed in younger professionals and politically aware technocrats within government.

This is how enduring institutions are built.

A political party that refuses to regenerate itself eventually becomes intellectually stagnant, structurally weak, and electorally disconnected from evolving social realities.

Governor Monday Okpebholo deserves commendation for recognising that governance in a rapidly changing society cannot remain permanently tied to political methods and leadership assumptions developed several decades ago. Contemporary governance demands adaptability, technological awareness, stronger grassroots engagement, administrative energy, and a deeper connection with younger populations.

Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe equally deserves credit for helping stabilise the party while managing this difficult but necessary transition process. Generational shifts are never easy within political systems historically dominated by established interests. Resistance is inevitable. Political resentment is expected. Internal anxieties naturally emerge whenever old monopolies begin to weaken.

Leadership, however, requires courage.

The recently concluded primaries further revealed this evolving direction within the APC. The emergence of candidates such as Rt. Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Osazee Igbinovia, Dr. Emmanuel Paddy Iyamu, Omosede Igbinedion, Sir Lucky Eseigbe, and Odianosen Okojie reflects a growing political philosophy that increasingly values capacity, grassroots relevance, contemporary appeal, and generational continuity.

Equally symbolic is the emergence of several young Acting Local Government Council Chairmen who are now candidates of the party in the forthcoming local government elections. That development sends a powerful message across Edo State that political participation is gradually becoming more accessible to younger people with competence, commitment, and organisational value.

For too long, many young people in Edo politics were reduced to political spectators, social media defenders, praise singers, or election-day foot soldiers while actual power remained tightly guarded elsewhere. Such a model was never sustainable.

A society that continuously sidelines its younger generation ultimately weakens its own political future.

The ongoing transition within Edo APC does not amount to hostility towards elders or experienced political actors. Experience remains valuable. Elder statesmen still possess institutional memory and political wisdom that younger actors can benefit from immensely. Mentorship, however, must never become political suffocation. Guidance must never evolve into permanent political domination.

Every generation deserves the opportunity to participate meaningfully in shaping the future it will eventually inherit.

That is precisely why the current direction of the APC leadership in Edo State deserves objective acknowledgement rather than emotional hostility.

Many of those attacking Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe today are not truly angry about party administration. Their deeper discomfort arises from the reality that political influence is gradually shifting away from old centres of control towards a newer generation of actors who may no longer depend entirely on traditional political gatekeepers for relevance or survival.

Societies evolve.

Political cultures evolve.

Leadership itself evolves.

No generation owns political power forever.

Ultimately, the future of Edo State cannot be built exclusively around recycled political veterans whose greatest political moments belong largely to the past. A forward-looking society must continuously create room for younger leadership, newer ideas, fresh administrative energy, and modern political thinking.

That future is already unfolding within the APC in Edo State.

History may eventually remember Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe and Governor Monday Okpebholo as central figures in the difficult but necessary political transition that began moving Edo away from recycled political dominance towards a broader and younger leadership culture capable of preparing the state for a different era.

Daniel Aroren Noah Osa-Ogbegie is a Benin based legal practitioner and public intellectual from Uhunmwode Local Government Area.