The people of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area are regretting their choice of Governor Godwin Obaseki during the 2020 elections over concerns that since his assumption, he is yet to site a single project or initiate any developmental effort in the area.
The people voiced their concerns through opinion leaders drawn from major ethnic communities such as Okpameri, Igarra, and Ososo who converged in the capital city of Benin over the weekend.
They rued the recent decentralization of the Ambrose Alli University to other local government areas already hosting tertiary institutions without considering Akoko-Edo. According to them, the decision was in bad fate and an indication that the Governor does not consider Akoko-Edo in the scheme of things as it relates to governance.
The opinion leaders also pointed to the non-consideration and appointment of an Akoko-Edo person as Permanent Secretary in the recent appointment of 23 permanent secretaries out of the 18 local government areas.
“We consider this as the height of it all by the Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration,” they said, criticizing the lack of inclusion in the Permanent Secretary hires.
“In 2018, the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki appointed 6 permanent secretaries without considering Akoko-Edo. In 2019, he appointed another batch of 14 permanent secretaries without considering Akoko-Edo and in 2022, Mr. Governor appointed another set of 14 permanent secretaries without also considering Akoko-Edo”.
One of the leaders who spoke to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Olorunda Macauley said, “We recalled during our meeting, how the governor campaigned in Akoko-Edo and promised to construct the Ososo road leading to the Etsako axis but as we speak nothing is being done.
“We also discussed the abandonment of the road leading to the community of the former Speaker, Hon. Kabiru Adjoto and the lack of government presence in the entire local government area in our meeting.
“Apart from the fact that our schools have no teachers, the buildings have all broken down without repairs. There’s virtually nothing happening in Akoko-Edo that is associated with the state government and this is the fifth year in office.
“In terms of security, we have decided to take our destiny into our hands. We provided our own vigilantes and tax ourselves to pay them and also provide logistics for the local vigilantes.
“The question is, what is our offense and crime in Akoko-Edo? What is the purpose of government if not for the security and safety of the people? What is our political elites in the ruling party doing to address this abnormally? Why are the PDP leaders in Akoko-Edo keeping quiet in the face of political and economic alienation, emasculation, marginalization, and oppression?
“As it stands, there’s nothing happening in the entire local government area in terms of road construction, repairs and building of hospitals, revamping of schools, among many other known government interventions.
“Our dam has collapsed and the government does not care. The PDP leaders in the local government don’t seem to care. We no longer enjoy pipe-borne water even in Ojirami community where the dam is located.
“In Igarra, the administrative headquarters, for instance, there has been no light for over three months and this is the same in several other neighboring communities in Akoko-Edo. And we ask ourselves, what is our offense against this government? Where do we go from here? We have reached out to BEDC and the Ministry in Abuja, the solutions are not in sight. The economy of the local government is crumbling. We depend on generators to power our appliances even in the midst of fuel scarcity.”
“We told ourselves in the meeting that this is not the best we can get. We never bargained for this and that something must be done to immediately address these ugly developments. Very soon, we shall be leading a delegation to the PDP leaders in the local government area to register our plight with the expectation that they will draw the government’s attention to these issues.”
“As leaders, we cannot continue to window dress these issues – the collapse of Ojirami dam, insecurity, collapse infrastructure, absence of government presence, no permanent secretary, no higher institution, the appointment of two commissioners from the same polling unit where you also have the present member of the State House of Assembly among others.”
“It is therefore clear to us that there’s a total collapse of the governance system in Akoko-Edo local government area and the earlier we begin to address these issues, the better for all of us.”