Category: News

In politics, reputation is everything. Political reputation is less what political figures say or do; it is more about what the people see when they see a politician. Conversely, a politician’s character is an incredibly important feature of reputation formation or destruction – as the case may be – in political circumstances. So, it is important to remember that actions will always be louder than words.

Judging by the reputation of Phillip Shaibu, the incumbent deputy governor of Edo State, it is safe to say that his reputation has done more damage to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship ticket in Edo State than the famed incompetence and failure of Governor Godwin Obaseki, the candidate proper.

The question that begs for an answer is: what does Shaibu’s reputation say of him? He comes across as patently unfitting for the office he occupies and which he seeks so desperately to retain, because of his vapidity, irascibility and inability to articulate the achievements of an administration he has been a part of from the outset.

If gravitas and intellection were the lowest common denominator, Shaibu, despite his relative youthfulness – he turned 50 last December – does not appear minimally competent for the office of Deputy Governor.

A deputy governor with questionable intellect and glaring incompetence is a bad combination but the fact that Shaibu never runs anything but his mouth has further worsened the chances of Obaseki, who also appears to have since lost his governance marbles but laughably still seeks re-election.

More so, is his propensity to always resort to violence and violent threats whenever it jostles him that his days in office are numbered, which many have laid squarely at the foot of his background as a student unionist where thuggery and violence undergirded their conduct.

In political reputation, seemingly small things are amplified and they become big. This is why caution is critical and desirable in handling Shaibu, because, for every act of violence that has trailed the state since 2018, his name is copiously mentioned.

Sometime in 2019, mayhem was unleashed on high profile guests like the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, when they attended the convocation ceremony of the Edo University, Iyamho.

At the time, the former governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had fallen out with his successor and political godson, Governor Obaseki. Shaibu, as deputy governor, saw the ceremony as a perfect opportunity to show Oshiomhole that power had changed hands.

He reportedly mobilised over 200 ‘Okada’ riders to the venue and the guests were left scampering to safety under a cloud of violent attacks. Those who were not so lucky escaped with bodily injuries and damaged cars.

A few days to the event, Oshiomhole said, “I had information that the deputy governor asked some people to organise 1,000 people to the university community. You can crosscheck with the Inspector General of Police. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who delivered the convocation lecture, was also a witness. I conveyed the message to the IGP to prevent thugs from being imported to the place by the deputy governor.

“Some few minutes later the governor himself arrived and Mr. Emefiele went to him and said to him, ‘what are these people doing here?’ Emefiele said to the governor that if those people were there, he wasn’t going to deliver the convocation lecture, because he didn’t come to do politics, he just came to perform a normal intellectual activity, which was the convocation lecture.”

The truth of what truly transpired has not been established and may never be given the dynamics of Nigerian politics, which is why Shaibu’s involvement or otherwise is still up in the air but his name came up again recently, when the acting chairman of the APC in Edo State, Col David Imuse (retd) said there was credible information that Obaseki had a sinister plan involving Shaibu.

Imuse said, “In a shocking revelation, it has been shown that the Edo State government, in connivance with a retired police officer from Kogi State, who has been identified in series of violence plots in Edo State and beyond, is plotting to stage an attack on their own convoy.

“Specifically, an attack on the convoy of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu in a bid to draw sympathy; pose as victims and set the stage for a new wave of the violent onslaught on the people of Edo State some of whom have fallen victims to the reckless shootings of the governor’s army of thugs and criminals.”

Shaibu debunked the allegation but the question is: why always him? The story is told of how he practically arm-twisted the leadership of the PDP, when he followed Obaseki to defect from the APC last June.

In a party where there was no such overhanging threat of intimidation, Obaseki, as the sitting governor, would have had to choose a new deputy from among the fold of the PDP, which he just joined to placate extant members and give them a sense of belonging.

Not with Shaibu. He huffed and puffed, and threatened and coerced the PDP into retaining him as Obaseki’s running mate. It was a hard pill to swallow but it was the least the party leaders could do else they stood to regret not supporting him.

In a recent viral video clip, Shaibu was seen talking to a group of young men ostensibly loyal to the PDP wherein he was overheard boasting that he was not a coward and, “I have called the CP (Commissioner of Police) that they should arrest those boys. Failure to arrest them, I cannot guarantee peace.”

In fact, the role of Shaibu in most of the violent activities in the state was well summed up by the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, when during a reconciliation meeting of the gladiators, called out Shaibu as the brain behind many of the crises in the state. More cogently, the monarch said he was reluctant to call him his son, because of his recent disposition to violence ahead of the election. What could have been more pungent?

Interestingly, his wife, Maryam, is cut from the same cloth. If Shaibu had been masking his violent streak with some maturity, she openly revels in it. There is also a viral video of Maryam at a ‘town hall meeting’ where she was heard threatening a cross-section of women that if they attended any other event aside the one organised by her, she would flog them. Some of the women in the audience were much older.

Two interventions are indeed critical and auspicious at this point; that of the National Peace Committee helmed by a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd); and the imposition of visa restrictions on individuals found instigating violence in the Edo and Ondo elections slated for September and October respectively by the United States government.

Abdulsalami, as chairman of the committee, said they were intervening in the Edo State governorship election, because of the tension it is generating, stressing that if there is no peace, there could not be any election.

At a meeting with Governor Obaseki, Abdulsalami said, “As you know, the purpose of this committee is to ensure that all those involved in this election get hold of their supporters and party people to ensure that there is peace in the state.” The committee oversaw the signing of a peace pact by the major candidates in the election.

Likewise, the U.S Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Monday, disclosed: “In July 2019, we announced the imposition of visa restrictions on Nigerians, who undermined the February and March 2019 elections.

“Today, the Secretary of State is imposing additional visa restrictions on individuals for their actions surrounding the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa State elections and in the run-up to the September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo State elections,” the statement read.

It is fervently hoped that these would serve as a deterrent to those with a lifelong reputation of violence.

Osunbor lives and works in Benin

The volume, velocity and variety of campaigns of calumny against Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist, in the last few weeks, underpin the consensus among the elite and the average electorate in Edo State, that having wilfully taken on some of its illustrious sons, Governor Godwin Obaseki is an ill wind that blows no one any good and should be voted out of Government House by September 19th. Obaseki does not deserve pity of any kind, really.

He self-destructed by scrapping with well meaning apolitical but wealthy Edo sons, who are now all out to see his back. A statesman like Capt Hosa, for instance, is the centripetal force of the governorship election with just one mandate: chase Obaseki out. Prior, he would have remained in the background, because of his professed non-political stance.

But the governor and his administration had mindlessly and serially besmirched him and his businesses. For Capt Hosa, the September 19th governorship election is a battle he is committed to helping Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, win, not for any ulterior motive but the need to rescue Edo from the impostor in Government House.

Fighting needless battles with people especially those that have impacted the lives of the people for decades remains one of Obaseki’s mortal undoing. He sadly and patently epitomises and embodies the biting aphorism that no man is wise enough or good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.
Pre-2016, Obaseki was dutiful, loyal and meek; virtues that won him over to the Edo State elite, notably, Capt Hosa. For any right-thinking government, whether state, national or international, Capt Hosa is an ace in the hole – an effective adviser and sounding board for economic policies and directions that Obaseki failed to capitalise on his hand of fellowship is one of the major indicators of his administrative and governance ineptness and ignorance.

Yet, in the early days of his administration, Captain Hosa was one of Obaseki’s cheerleaders – supporting, rooting and collaborating with him to make Edo work for the generality of the people. He contended that if Obaseki succeeded, it is the people of the state that would be the greatest beneficiary and if he did otherwise, it is still the people that would bear the brunt.

Knowing Captain Hosa means knowing a man at peace with himself, humanity and his creator. Undeniably one of Nigeria’s most successful and humane businessmen with interests in diverse sectors of the economy spanning petroleum, marine, construction engineering and agriculture, Captain Hosa has given as much to humanity and his native Edo State nay Nigeria as much he has been blessed by God.

Over the years, much as he is not a partisan politician, he has always supported progressive politics and those with the passion and devotion to better the lots of the people.
Because of his commitment to making Obaseki and his administration succeed, Capt Hosa, in 2016, had a meeting with the new governor on how to make the state an investment hub to expand revenue base, drive economic growth, and lessen the financial burden on the public purse so the state government could spend even more on public works.

Believing that he and the governor were in sync, Captain Hosa sponsored him and his officials on an investments pathfinder’s trip to China, because of his firm conviction in private sector-led participation as being the key to the economic and industrial development of the state.

On another occasion, as a guest of the governor at the Edo Convention in Toronto, Canada, he announced the donation of five houses valued at N50million to support Obaseki’s housing project and earn him the goodwill of Edo people at home and in the Diaspora. Capt Hosa did all of these and more without necessarily expecting any patronage from the state government.

The eventual point of departure between him and Obaseki, according to Capt Hosa, was when he started an avoidable fight with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the then APC National Chairman.
“At a time, I spent almost three hours of my precious time in the governor’s house, explaining to him the need to build synergy between him and in the best interest of the development of our state. He was blunt that he was not interested in any peace talk and that he was embarking on a fight to the finish with Comrade Oshiomhole,” Okunbo recalled, in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Edo people.

A man, who holds firmly that politics is about morals and values, and that nobody needs amoral friends with shitty values, Capt Hosa said he decided to hands off the matter, having done all he could do to engender a peaceful atmosphere for governance and development of Edo.

At the time also, it had become apparent that Obaseki’s style of governance was anti-people and divisive while his strong suit is demonising those who don’t share his base political beliefs. Worse, Obaseki and his rapacious crew pandered towards venality while he made a botch of the state’s economy.

They deified and enrobed him in transcendent garb without commensurate achievements or substance and he believed his own hype and turned a deaf ear to voices of reason. He did virtually nothing to assure the populace that people can stay connected and respect each other even if they differed politically.

Then, Obaseki began a reign of onslaught against Captain Hosa. First was the sponsored and sustained rumour that he was interested in the governorship seat. Despite his strong rebuttal, the Obaseki camp feasted on it. Later, Obaseki, in a press statement, blatantly accused Oshiomhole and Captain Hosa of plans to recruit thugs to disrupt the September 19th election.

Subsequently, an aide of the governor, one Marvellous Zibiri, wrote an incendiary article wherein he described Capt. Hosa as a ‘drug baron’ because he was investigated by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 1995 and given a clean bill of health.

It bears recalling that after the NDLEA absolved him of any crime, Capt Hosa instituted legal proceedings against the agency at the Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal, Lagos, where it was established that the prosecution had not made a prima facie case against him that would warrant the tribunal to ask him to defend himself.

Thus, Hon. Justice Tijani Abdullahi, who presided over the tribunal, discharged and acquitted him on a ‘no case’ submission. It was this case that Zibiri referenced and caused to be widely published and syndicated. The article was one of many calculated attempts to bring Capt Hosa into disrepute.

Although Captain Hosa fought back, got Zibiri arrested and the young man, who realised his mistakes, openly apologised. For a man with a large heart, Captain Hosa forgave him and brought him like a son. Zibiri had since written a few articles, doting over the manner of man that Captain Hosa is.

In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the people of Edo, Capt Hosa stated bluntly: “This spate of coordinated attacks, with their attendant mode of vicious execution, can best be described as the unconscionable actions by attack dogs and hirelings of the desperate Edo State Government on the watch of Governor Godwin Obaseki.”

According to him, as a good-hearted Edo son, he did not deserve the embarrassing treatment even as his pedigree will never let him to deliberately concoct any wrong against his state and Obaseki.

“I am, however, shocked, bewildered and pained to observe that despite my very sincere, robust and stated commitment to support the anticipated pace of infrastructure development, progress and other social investment initiatives through the deployment of my modest goodwill and network of capital, for which I am eternally grateful to God, alas, the response has been to paint my person with a brush of public odium that verges on mischief.”

Well, the die is cast now. The skunk at the garden party in Edo State will be marched out in September. But the honour, respect and reputation that Captain Hosa had built over the years remain immutable, no matter the antics of detractors. What more, Okunbo is set to be honoured soon on September 11 for the Best of Africa awards, a few days to the governorship election. You can now understand why he remains the ace in Edo’s hole.

– Taminu lives and works in Abuja, the nation’s capital

It is trite to say job creation is crucial for a healthy economy to fire growth and improve the lives of the citizenry. And since the importance of creating jobs is to ensure a stable and progressive society, the electorate and the general public are always keen to know what an intending public office holder/seeker has in stock for them in terms of jobs/employment creation. Therefore, as September 19 approaches, Edo State is also not left out of that consideration.

The level of enlightenment among voters in Edo State ahead the coming governorship election has increased significantly. People are more interested in who governs them and what benefits are available through the various choices as revealed in their manifestoes.

This is where the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his handlers appear, to be ahead of their main rival, incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki. They must have learnt this all-important fact, because his contract with the people, simplified as the ‘SIMPLE Agenda’, which has long been presented to the public, clearly indicates his readiness to tackle the menace of unemployment head-on.

Manifestoes are the ideas or plans of what a candidate projects to do to address societal problems and the SIMPLE Agenda presented by the APC candidate in Edo State comes as one, which understands the problem of shortage of gainful employment, the right measures for its alleviation and possible eradication.

One way to generate employment is to create enterprises that are self-sustainable. Corporations and governments must be innovative as they seek to solve the hydra-headed problem of unemployment. Reasonable government will achieve so much in doing this with corporate engagements that can justify investment and ensure returns on investment.

Though governments like that of Edo State are different from other conventional profit-oriented entities, and this seems to have prompted the approach that Mr. Ize-Iyamu and the Edo APC have adopted in their blueprint on how to move the state forward in respect of employment generation.

The SIMPLE Agenda reveals that, Mr Ize-Iyamu, when elected governor would embark on the maximisation of every government engagements towards creation of gainful employment for the Edo people. In other words, governments will generate jobs from every programme, project and activity in each of the 18 local government areas of the state.

The “SIMPLE AGENDA”, an acronym for SECURITY, INFRASTRUCTURAL development, MANPOWER development, PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, LEADERSHIP and EMPLOYMENT creation, is an action plan with the potential to transform lives of the people if followed to the letters.

Ize-Iyamu promises over 75, 000 direct and indirect job opportunities in a well-calculated projection based on job creation through policies and programmes enumerated in his SIMPLE agenda within a period of fours years.

As revealed in the document, every government undertaking aimed at generating revenue would also provide opportunity of gainful employment to the teeming masses, and as well, solve socio-economic problems of the people.

Every policy will serve the dual purpose of wealth creation and economic empowerment and amelioration of the sufferings of the masses.

Not only that jobs will be created in sectors such as education, agriculture and rural development, housing, electrification, fire service, industrialisation, waste management system, employment creation and social empowerment as well as water supply; the promise of the sustenance of existing jobs contained in his manifesto have endeared Ize-Iyamu the more to the electorate.

Government retrenching or downsizing the workforce would no longer be acceptable to the people. They desire a government that would guarantee existing ones and as well create more jobs.

The highest point for the majority observer is the well thought-out Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme through, which the administration will seek counterparting with stakeholders, banks and financial institutions to resuscitate the moribund state-owned industries.

He listed a few of them to include the fertilizer plant, Auchi; Cassavita industry, Uromi; Ava cement factory, Akoko-Edo; fruit juice factory, Ehor; Bendel Brewery, Benin City and Ewu flour mill, among others.

In this, financial institutions, industrialists, Chambers of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other stakeholders will partner the government on resuscitation of failed and failing industries – all in a bid to generate revenue, create employment opportunities and by extension, improve upon the lives of the citizens.

This is undoubtedly a great way to improve on people’s lives. Industrial clusters in the three senatorial districts namely Edo South, Central and North. Each of the senatorial districts will directly mop up at least 10,000 able-bodied men from the streets in direct engagement.

This means at least 30,000 employment opportunities for the Edo people. Edo State is reputed to having 21 per cent unemployment rate as at 2019 and this means that out of about 600,000 job seekers in the state, not less than 30,000 will be gainfully engaged through the Public Private Participation to revamp government-owned ailing industries alone.

The SIMPLE agenda recognises the importance of education and provision of power supply to the continued sustenance of national livelihood and is set to give this proper attention to guarantee a living economy. The agenda will characteristically preserve existing jobs, as well as create additional opportunities.

Any policy with the capacity to create 2000 direct jobs in the electricity-dependent industries and additional 1000 small scale   businesses to be aided by the government among rural dwellers is a good bargain for the Edo electorate. 1000 newly found businesses will in turn create at least 2000 direct and indirect job spaces.

In the area of water supply, the document promises to make shortage a thing of the past as existing jobs will be safeguarded while an additional 10,000 construction-related employment opportunities will be created, while the government seeks heavy investments in the sector.

The SIMPLE agenda is clearly a product of many experiences of Pastor Ize-Iyamu after many years in the service of the Edo people in different capacities since 1999.

As a former Chief of Staff and later Secretary to the Edo State Government, he would certainly bring his wealth of experience and knowledge in the various sectors of the state’s economy to bear.

From Education to waste management, the APC manifesto for Edo State will generate more wealth than any past government. The government will partner the private sector to provide a better living standard for the populace in a counterpart arrangement that would also create sustainable employment from emerging corporations while generating the needed revenue for the government.

– Chiamaka wrote from Warri, Delta State