Edo 2020 is about our Heritage, Pride, Future and History

By Rt. Hon. Francis Okiye, Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly

As we go to the poll on Saturday, 19 September 2020, we the people of Edo state have a special responsibility to give a good account of ourselves, as a people conscious of the knowledge of our history, culture and exploits. 

For centuries and decades, our culture and tradition have gathered enough strength to make us who we are: a land of great heritage, hope, pride and now the heartbeat of Nigeria.

Our forefathers did not bequeath to us a land led by a task master, they did not bear us into a world led by a slave driver; they worked and toiled day and night to build a society of free people in which our revered traditional institution is the source of our pride, and liberty is the foundation of our strength and existence.

We were not born cowards, we are who we are – illustrious sons and daughters of a great state with an extremely rich cultural heritage, unique in hospitality and courageous in the face of challenges, we have never succumbed to a task master and we will never bow to a godfather, because no man is god, and by our tradition it is a sacrilege to worship man.

Our people hate no one, we deride no man, but ‪on 19 September 2020‬, we the people of Edo shall make a profound statement that no politician or a political task master is big enough to capture our conscience or strong enough to lord it over us, and we shall never allow godfatherism to rear its ugly head in our dear state, either now or at any point.

My dear people of Edo State, as another historical moment beckons, your beloved Governor, Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki and affectionate Deputy Governor,  Phillips Shuaibu, of the Peoples Democratic Party, have humbly submitted themselves to work with you to protect our future and defend our rich cultural heritage, having worked day and night in the last four years to serve the people of this great state. 

Let it be written for all to read that ‪on Saturday, 19 September 2020‬, we the people of Edo State in our moment of rectitude, spoke in a very loud profound voice that our cherished land is not just another land for the taken (Edo No-be Lagos), and as a God-fearing people, we did not under any guise bow to a godfather or fall for a task master.

The strength of our value lies in the preservation of our identity as the heartbeat of Nigeria, and as Edolites, we owe Nigeria a duty to protect and defend this shared honour by coming out on Saturday to use the sanctity of our votes and the honour of our thumbs to return Obaseki and Shuaibu for a second term of office. 

Consequently, we must in an unmistakable term reject the devious plot to misappropriate our politics and hijack the governance of our state to serve the narrow interest of a political task master and his cronies, who are desperate to feast on our commonwealth.

I end this charge with the immortal words of Chinua Achebe: “That road to a remedy of Nigeria’s political problems will not come easily. The key, as I see it, lies in the manner in which the leadership of the country is selected. When I refer to leadership I am really talking about leaders at every level of government and sphere of society, from the local government council and governors right up to the presidency. What I am calling for is for Nigeria to develop a version of campaign election and campaign finance reform, so that the country can transform its political system from the grassroots level right through to the national party structures at the federal level. Nigerians will have to find a way to do away with the present system of godfatherism—an archaic, corrupt practice in which individuals with lots of money and time to spare (many of them half-baked, poorly educated thugs) sponsor their chosen candidates and push them right through to the desired political position, bribing, threatening, and, on occasion, murdering any opposition in the process.”