Opinion

Record-breaking Wike and imperative for mitigation of bad belle

Published

2 years ago

October 14, 2022

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By Tunde Olusunle

Wednesday October 13, 2022, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, governor of the oil-and-gas-endowed Rivers State, wrote his name in the annals of Nigerian politics and governance. If indeed there was a Nigerian equivalent of the Guinness Book of Records, Wike’s appointment with one stroke of the pen, 28,000 Special Assistants, would qualify as a record-breaking entry. The previous day, Wike appointed 319 ward Liaison Officers, (WLOs) and 40 Local Government Area Liaison Officers, (LGALOs). Within a space of 24 hours therefore, Wike made 28,359 appointments, a milestone in the history of post-Fourth Republic era governance.

The immediate reaction of discerning followers of trends and developments in the state, was that Wike hurriedly made the appointments, to divert public attention from a fire he had just recently stoked. The Rivers State helmsman reportedly approved the engagement of about 500 new employees into the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, (RSUST). Of this number, it has been posited that over 400 are his Ikwerre kinsmen. If true, this is something he will have to promptly redress. We are told this is the reason he speedily made the mammoth appointments of WLOs and LGALOs, to be seen as “carrying along” every part of the state, as is often said in Nigerian political communication.

Public commentators are also quick to remind you that Wike is not doing his new army any favours. They are said to be youths recruited for electoral chores during the 2019 general elections. They were purportedly left in the lurch thereafter, but with the approach of the 2023 polls, they have been offered “contract employment” for which they will be richly rewarded by the free-giving Wike. They are said to be “bad boys” who will function as “ward leaders” and “polling unit leaders,” among other responsibilities. It has been further advanced that these youths will be purposely assigned the responsibility of “working against” the presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

There has been no love lost between Atiku and Wike since the latter lost the May 28 presidential primary of the PDP, which Atiku won. Atiku’s handling of the post-primary fall-outs should have been more statesmanly, especially given his credentials as a tactician and team player. The present impasse wouldn’t have come to being the way it has festered into the fifth month now. Wike also harbours angst against Atiku for bypassing him in his choice of running mate of the ticket, despite his strong showing at the primary, in which he posted a respectable second place. As the Yoruba saying goes, “the snake actually harbours legs inside its serpentine belly.”

Earlier this week, Wike was named by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, for conferment with a “Distinguished Award in Infrastructure Delivery.” In recent weeks and months though, Wike has been most visible in his confrontations and contestations with his party, PDP. Since that May presidential primary, neither the proverbial tree nor the visiting birds, have had a breather. Wike has relentlessly pursued the ouster of the National Chairman of his party, Iyorchia Ayu, who promised before the primary, to resign if the party produced a northern candidate. Yes, the PDP under Ayu’s watch produced Atiku Nigeria’s former Vice President who hails from the North East, as presidential flagbearer. Ayu himself is from the North Central. The ensuing stalemate engendered by Ayu’s insistence to serve out his four-year mandate, has impacted the party in parts.

Wike will receive a medal at the “Nigeria Excellence in Public Service Award” scheduled for Friday October 21, 2022, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, at a ceremony to be performed by the President in person. This is according to a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (OSGF), Boss Mustapha. Wike is being vested with this prize in acknowledgement of his notably single-minded pursuit of the infrastructural upgrade of his state, in the past seven and half years. Residents in, and visitors to Rivers State unanimously attest to the almost total transformation of the state into a sleepless construction site, under Wike.

Several roads, flyovers, drainages, hospitals, schools, residential structures, sand-filled swathes of land in the predominantly riverine topography of the state, university campuses, are in place today, courtesy of Wike’s efforts. Indeed, as with his record-shattering absorption of 28,000 Special Assistants, Wike presently holds the record of embarking on and completing the highest number of flyovers ever constructed by any government, anywhere in Nigeria. And he achieved these within a span of eight years. He is building the 11th and 12th simultaneously, as part of his parting infrastructural souvenirs for his people.

He has partnered several ministries, departments and agencies, (MDAs), in the development of requisite infrastructures, in uncommon generosity and large-heartedness. The “Body of Benchers,” the National Judicial Council, (NJC); the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC); Akwa Ibom State Government, (AKSG), all attest to Wike’s good heart. Significantly, Wike’s government engages the most qualified and competent contractors in the industry, including German giants, Julius Berger Plc, which also executes major projects for the federal government.

It is a measure of his confidence in his endeavours, that he runs a roster of distinguished invitees, either to flag off, or to commission completed projects. A very impressed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo never hesitated to confer the sobriquet “Mr Projects” on one of his official visits to Rivers State. Whether the proposed decoration of Wike by the President, in what is very obviously a rare, if not novel “award category” is underlined by political considerations will be interrogated subsequently. Wike no doubt is most deserving of the award.

Of late, there has been a flurry of developments to suggest points of convergence between Wike and the topmost echelons of the opposition All Progressives Congress, (APC). Meetings have reportedly been held between Wike and flagbearer of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The Wike administration also recently dropped its charges against his predecessor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of the APC, regarding the latter’s unaccounted for sale of valuable assets belonging to Rivers State, while in office. Hitherto, Wike rarely had any business with the State House, despite his frequency in the nation’s capital. The forthcoming investiture is taking him there after a long stay-off.

To be sure, Wike sparsely attends meetings of the National Council of States, (NCS) which is traditionally chaired by the President, and the National Economic Council, (NEC), led by the Vice President, respectively. He has repeatedly noted the fact that his brief is to administer Rivers State, and not to be posing for photographs all over Abuja. It will be interesting to see how Buhari receives Wike at the proposed event, against the background of his consistent and unsparing critiques, lampoons and lacerations of Buhari and his regime. The handshakes, mutual smiles and body language of both men at the ceremony, should fascinate discerning press photographers.

Wike’s Port Harcourt home has become something of a political ‘Mecca’ in recent weeks and months. At various times, he has received the presidential flagbearers of opposition parties like Peter Obi of the Labour Party, (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples’s Party, (NNPP). Wike, whose angst against the establishment of his party is shared by four of his colleagues, has repeatedly assured though, that like them, he wouldn’t be dumping his party. With Seyi Makinde of Oyo; Samuel Ortom of Benue; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Wike has jetted abroad severally to hold “strategic meetings.” These regular escapes to Europe and elsewhere, have fuelled speculations that the “five musketeers” must be hatching killer schemes. Things shouldn’t have gotten this bad if, to quote Ortom’s often repeated expression: “The internal mechanisms for conflict resolution within the party were not pursued and deployed.”

Of these five gentlemen, Wike is the only one who is not running for elective office in 2023. Makinde is seeking a second term in Oyo State, where in the political history of the geopolity, only the late Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, broke the jinx of “single term governorships.” Ortom, Ugwuanyi and Ikpeazu are all contesting for places in the “10th Nigerian Senate.” Ikpeazu in particular, has his work cut out. Local intelligence suggests he hasn’t covered himself in glory, into the last seven months of his governorship.

Abia political stakeholders are also very bitter about his single-handed distortion of the rotational template of the gubernatorial seat. Beginning from “Abia North” with Orji Uzor Kalu, through Theodore Ahamaefule Orji in “Abia Central” and Ikpeazu from “Abia South,” the ticket was supposed to return to the North. Ikpeazu, however, opted for a candidate, Uchenna Ikonne, from his own Abia South. He is ranged against the formidable Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, who crossed over to the All Peoples’ Grand Alliance, (APGA), when he was denied the PDP senatorial ticket. Abaribe who is vying for the position for a fourth term, is a tested warrior.

Ortom has become a symbol of opposition and resistance to Fulani adventurism and expansionism, in Benue State. He is very vocal and loved by his people who have festooned him with the title Defender of the Benue Valley. He desires the senatorial seat to represent “Benue North West,” presently occupied by Emmanuel Orker Jev. Ortom has restated his commitment to the PDP/Atiku project, but some of his constituents will rather he clearly redefines his relationship with Wike. They wouldn’t want to be estranged from the “centre,” if the PDP wins the presidential election. Let’s hope the quartet-Makinde, Ugwuanyi, Ortom and Ikpeazu, do not get too engrossed with their individual political pursuits to continue their “placard carrying” protestations in support of their ally.

When the history of Nigeria’s fourth republic is catalogued, Wike’s name will pop up as one of the poster boys of the era. And this is the more reason he needs to be circumspect. His ascendancy has been sure-footed and steady. Beginning from the position of LGA Chairman, he graduated to becoming Chief of Staff to Amaechi in the latter’s first term as Governor. He was catapulted to the federal level, where he became Minister of State for Education. For about six months, he functioned as “Supervising Minister” of the Ministry, at the same time his friend, Ortom was also “Supervising Minister” for Aviation, both under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. He is serving out his second term as Governor of Nigeria’s second richest state, Rivers, next only to Lagos State. In this latter position, he is one of very few governors privileged to fly a private jet, wholly owned by the government of his state. Now you know why his regular foreign trips with his “comrades,” come with seamless convenience at the snap of the fingers. As I write this, the crew is probably airborne!

Wike has been a virtual government pikin, who by May 2023, would have grossed 24 unbroken years of service to fatherland. This deservedly calls for thanksgiving. But he needs to watch his every step hereafter so he can proceed henceforth, in a blaze of glory. Through this odyssey, the PDP has been Wike’s sole career ladder and political elevator. I’ve heard it said before, that we must not kick or discard the escalators which propped us to the top. That would be thoughtless ingratitude. This is the more reason why Wike must rethink his options as 2023 politicking hots up, against the backdrop of his often repeated threat to “teach them (his offenders), a lesson they will never forget.”

I’ve heard it said before, that “24 hours is a long time in politics.” This holds promise for fence-mending between Wike and his “traducers” in the subsisting intra-party stalemate. It will be advisable that Atiku maximises this window for decisive rapprochement, to ensure that all the troops come under the common “umbrella.” I’ve noted in an earlier article I wrote on this same subject, that Atiku and Wike must sit together and dialogue on the same table. I imagine Wike will be better off under the same umbrella he flourished beneath, and helped to keep afloat, protect and preserve in recent years. He knows his bedfellows under the umbrella, they know him.

By now he should be fully cognizant of the wiles of that average politician, especially the desperate one, who needs you as special purpose vehicle to reach his immediate destination. He is only long on platitudes, pledges and promises, before the ballot. He must be wary of new, sugar-tongued suitors and spontaneous friends. Post-inauguration, many politicians moult into a new existence in political purdah. Their faces are subsequently glimpsed, only from LED television screens. Wike should watch his steps. He might as well ask Godswill Akpabio, Rotimi Amaechi or Emeka Nwajiuba the last time they had lunch with President Buhari, after the APC presidential primary.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, scholar and author, is a Member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE).*

Opinion

BENUE 2027:The Apa/Agatu Quest for Equity

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Tunde Olusunle

It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in *Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.

The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state. The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.
Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.
In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”
While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in *Idoma and Igede land.* This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent *Och’Idoma* and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.
Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.
If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. *River Agatu* which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into *River Benue,* is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.
The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.
Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.
It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.
The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja

Opinion

The Prince Adebayo prescriptions for ease of doing Business: 15 Take-Aways

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Dr. Ag Zaki

On Thursday, 9 January 2025, Prince Adewole Adebayo presented a keynote address at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion was the annual conference of a group of professionals, business executives and experts codenamed J9C for January 9 Collective. The theme of the Conference was “Business and Policy Strategy: Examining the Role of Reform in enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.” Prince Adebayo is a versatile cerebral man of many parts, a lawyer, a multimedia practitioner, a real estate investor, a large-scale miner, a philanthropist, a community developer, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The organisers of the J9C conference introduced him as an intercontinental lawyer because he currently practices law in over sixteen countries.

The full speech of Prince Adebayo at the occasion is available online and can be accessed by clicking at this url: https://youtu.be/SsHkcJbVNRg?si=ebvoOVqGh0zVOsnt or by scanning the QR code above. However, we are presenting the salient take-aways from this most incisive keynote address below for the convenience of interested persons and for the public good.

THE TAKE-AWAYS
Preamble
1. Not every change of policy or programme is a reform. A reform is a fundamental change in the activities, programmes, and policies structured to cause improvement. Genuine government reforms are people oriented and so citizens can interject, comment or contribute.
2. Reform may be internally motivated, externally forced or imposed, or technological driven.
3. The government of Nigeria must first reform itself to be able to implement development-oriented reforms to improve the country’s economic performance.

In general terms
4. Fiscal and monetary reforms are critical and are urgently required in Nigeria. While government can freely control its fiscal reforms, it must be bound by market forces for realistic and realisable monetary reforms.
5. Economic reforms must positively affect developmental policies, programmes and projects to engender economic growth, increase in efficiency, and lead to stability. Economic and political reforms must be implemented pari-passu for untainted policies and programmes.
6. Urgent structural reforms are required in areas of legal reforms, laws on banking controls and regulations, lending and borrowing as well as land matters.

In specific terms
7. Reforms which are aimed at targeting ease of doing business must be aligned with the Malam Aminu Kano maxim that “all civil servants should abstain from contracts or business”.
8. Nigeria must break the current odious and unwholesome conspiracies between policy makers, civil servants, and contractors, which can lead to irreversible endemic corruption, long foreseen by the revered Malam Aminu Kano, and which can permanently damage the economy.
9. Structural reforms must ensure that land laws open up maximum benefits and potentials of the land, encourage labour productivity and efficient and transparent entrepreneurship rules including registration, capital and lending matters.
10. Tax reforms should be broad-based, not about sharing of revenue but promoting productivity and competitiveness in all aspects of endeavours and infrastructure reforms should make transportation of people and goods safe and cost effective.
11. Monitoring economic crimes must be thorough and should go beyond arresting of “Yahoo boys” and those spraying Naira notes, but those devaluing the Naira and abusing economic rules and regulations.

Warnings
12. Adebayo left some stern terse warnings for the business sector and for the government of Nigeria.
13. Business executives and professionals should not ask or encourage government for specific reforms but for general broad-based reforms as firm-specific reforms can enhance operations of specific firms or business in the short term but will ultimately kill the industry.
14. Government should not meddle into business or be guided by partisan businessmen; government should meet business only at the junction of regulatory framework.
15. Government should be selfless and honest in carrying out reforms, incorporate measurable performance indices and ensure that reforms are implemented in a way not to inflict pains or punishment on the people.

# DrZaki25, 903 Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja

Opinion

Governor Monday Okpebholo: A Blessing to Edo State

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

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Monday Okpebholo

By Eigbefo Felix

His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State, has demonstrated that he is a blessing to the state through his policies, appointments, initiation of road construction across the three senatorial districts, and his deep love for the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo has begun fulfilling the five-point agenda he promised the good people of the state since his inauguration.

In the area of security, he has shown total commitment. He assured the people of Edo State that he would ensure their safety, and true to his word, the state remains peaceful, which has brought joy to its residents. He has provided the necessary support to security personnel.

The governor increased the subvention for Ambrose Alli University (AAU) from ₦40 million to ₦500 million. He also promised to address the issues facing AAU medical students. Additionally, he has started renovating primary and secondary schools across the state, underscoring his understanding of the importance of education.

The agricultural sector has taken a positive turn as Governor Okpebholo has allocated ₦70 billion to the sector. Recognizing agriculture’s importance to both the state and the nation, he is positioning Edo State to become the food basket of the nation with his investments in the sector.

During the electioneering period, Senator Okpebholo promised to create 5,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. He has already begun the process, and soon, the people of Edo State will benefit from these employment opportunities. Unlike in the past, he will not rely on MOUs before making appointments. Furthermore, he has started appointing Edo State indigenes, rather than outsiders, to various positions.

Governor Okpebholo has commenced road projects across the state, from Edo South to Edo Central and Edo North. He believes that when roads are motorable, the prices of goods in the market will automatically reduce.

He has also begun investing in the health sector, understanding its critical importance to the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo’s initiatives and actions affirm his dedication to transforming Edo State for the better.