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BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
BENIN – DEPUTY Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has revealed why the Godwin Obaseki administration was so misunderstood by his traducers as he placed emphasis on moving the State to its preferred destination.
Shaibu, in a statement in Benin Thursday through his Senior Special Assistant,(Media), Mr Benjamin Atu said that Obaseki came up with a module for easy administration of the State.
He said, “For a man to compress various ideas and ideologies that have been in place before him and reduce them into specific, it shows that the mental industry of the governor is fully at work.
“During the previous administration, people would just approach the Governor with proposals of whatever and there and then contract is awarded without due process and the person is given 30% mobilization.
Shaibu revealed that the person takes the fund away as reward or share of the State resources without doing the contract for which the money was given, saying that “that was the circumstances the Obaseki’s administration met on the ground and refused to build upon.
“We have never denied anyone of executing jobs but we have refused to allow them to collect the money without doing the work for which the money was paid. That’s the sin that this administration has committed” he stated.
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“For a man who saw all this error in the administration where he served as Chairman of the economic team, it will be fool-handy for him to make the same mistakes and that is why Obaseki is misunderstood to be a stingy or selfish man.
“But does protecting the State resources against wastage amount to wickedness? The resources belong to the State and not to godfathers. Fighting for the State is fighting for development.
“Obaseki has learned so many things and exposed to governance so he is not a novice in the management of State resources.”
According to Shaibu, “one of the values Obaseki has added to governance is his trail-blazing economic development initiative which is evidently a marked departure from the run-mill approach to governance like Previous administration. It is about making hay while the sun shines.
He maintained that only those with an analytical mind would appreciate what Obaseki is doing. He has decided not to put money into individual pockets. He has decided to build a State with infrastructure that can sustain development; that can attract investors so that with time a lot of idle hands will be picked from the street for productive engagement.
“Edo State is not like many other States. Edo is a Multi-City State where you can’t be developing only the State capital. We have given a holistic approach to development and governance where every sector and every local government is equally impacted. That’s the reason Edo has become a favourable destination for foreign investment.”
“There are a lot of moribund companies in the State, most of which collapsed over the years as a result of unfavourable investment climate among other factors. What the Obaseki’s administration has done is to provide an enabling environment for reinvigorating of hailing industry in the State. This he has done by opening discussions with private investors to invest in moribund companies.”
“The same commitment given to the development of the State economy has been extended and demonstrated in every other sector. It’s a rare demonstration of sincerity of purpose and commitment to good governance. It was a courageous decision to build viable Institutions than strong individuals.”
Praising the governor, Shaibu said history will judge Obaseki favourably for his numerous achievement in the State. “Obaseki has achieved so much but his achievement was under-reported because we do not want to act like the previous administration who will construct a road with 1million for example and waste 20 million to publicised achievement of 1 Million. History will record for Obaseki what is due to him.”
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