*Governor meets civil servants, warns ‘You’ll be the first victim if’
*Commissions Third East/Sakponba Road Junction, others
*Ighodalo vows to ‘build more on Obaseki’s achievements’
By Chidi Roberts
With just four days to the governorship election in Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki has warned civil servants that they would be the first victims, if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) doesn’t win the election.
He stated this on Tuesday during a thank you meeting inside the Sir Victor Uwaifor Hub, Benin City, where he met with public servants.
He said “I came to appreciate and thank you from the bottom of my heart,” adding, “I won’t have achieved what we achieved without you.”
He said when he came to office, he told himself that he was going to be the last governor to use paper. He acknowledged that though it wasn’t easy but today the level of technology driven operation among Edo public servants has no rival in Nigeria.
“What I have started is a long journey. How do we build a society that we are yearning for and stop travelling to other countries? How to build a state where people will be proud to come to. The purpose of governance is to create the avenue to achieve set purposes.”
He said the good news is that Edo State is blessed with high caliber human and natural resources. But stressed that there is still a lot of work to be done in the state.
“It’s a journey. I am finishing the first part but the journey must not stop. It must continue, the engine of development must continue to run. The rate at which we need to run will be very high when we make the right decision. We can’t afford any mistakes come Saturday.
“Those who want to take over power by all means are uneducated and have never worked in any better place. My message to you is that, that is a risk we can’t afford. It is not about Obaseki but democracy and development.
“The risk is about allowing people without ideas of what to do to lead. People who can’t even articulate their ideas, people who can’t read a balance sheet. They can’t offer us anything but all they talk about is federal might and others.
“Edo will face a major risk if you miss it on Saturday. Any mistake you make will affect you first before others. You will be the first victim. I thank the person that we want to take over from me for agreeing to take over from us. For Asue Ighodalo to agree to come and serve and take over from me, is a great thing. He was a board chairman of many companies and one of the largest in Nigeria.
“A man born in a home of civil service; his mother was the first female permanent secretary in Nigeria. I will feel so happy when Asue Ighodalo sits on the chair of governance in Edo. So, the ‘thank you’, you can give to me is to go out on Saturday and vote Asue Ighodalo on Saturday and make him the governor of the state,” he said.
In his speech, candidate of the Peoples democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo, said Governor Obaseki has done tremendously well and the transformation in the civil service is second to none. “Edo State public and civil service is number one in Nigeria. Obaseki has done well and I will continue from where Obaseki was working. You all here will be my priority – work together, function together and continue to make Edo state a progressive state and this shall be our focus. We won’t be a lazy government but build more on every foundation already laid down by the Obaseki administration. I promise you all that I will continue what Obaseki has done and build more on it,” he stated.
He further stated that “one of the worst things that can happen to a group of people is to get a leadership that you cannot be proud. But Edo State will never be like that. When we vote for the wrong person, we go into retrogression and the economy will crash. Edo will not be so,” he added.
Ighodalo then charged the people to come out enmasse to vote and defend their votes.
Giving his vote of thanks, the Edo State Head of Service (HoS), Mr. Anthony Okungbowa, thanked the governor for the tremendous reform he has made possible in the Edo State public and civil service and prayed to God to bless him. He also thanked the governorship candidate for finding time to come to address them
Governor Obaseki thereafter went to commissioning the Third East / Sakponba Road Junction with traffic light.
In her welcome address, Mrs Esigie Agbonlahor thanked the governor for the improvement in the transportation sector in the state. She also charged road users to obey traffic light and road markings and urged pedestrian to use the walk ways. She also appealed to the market womento obey road signs.
Pa Enogiawu Okaka, who represented the landlords, said he was pleased to see the governor and the incoming and his entourage. He said the Third Junction had been a mess and a den of robbers but Obaseki has changed the narrative and thanked him for it.
He appealed to drivers and road users to obey road rules and marks, he also begged market women to stay off road to avoid casualty.
