By Eseosa Ewere
Monday Okpebholo is a clinical example of a man who is carrying an “elephant” on his head, yet using his legs to dig for “rabbits”.
But for our immodest political environment, people like Agbakomiza would ordinary be unqualified to be Senator, let alone Governor.
The man has shown no trait of intelligence, skill, creativity; he hasn’t exhibited any form of inspirational competence, capacity, philosophy, ideology since his more than one year as Senator, yet he hurriedly threw in his hat when the race for Edo governorship kickstarted.
Edo South and Edo Central are two most unfortunate Senatorial districts in the current Senate; while the Edo South Senator climbed on the back of last year’s “Obidient” tsunami to become Senator, his Edo Central counterpart, Okpebholo, got favoured by the protest votes against Odia over his 3rd term Senatorial ambition which did not sit well with the Central, the duo Neda-Agbakomiza are monumental failures and principal embarrassment in contemporary governance.
One will wonder how a Senator with no significant achievement since assumption of office thinks he can preside over a complex and fast-growing Edo.
On what basis should he even be elected?
Unlike back in the day when every tom, dick and harry could be governor, today’s Edo no longer wears such unpopular and infamous reputation.
It is no longer business-as-usual in Edo; an aspiring governor must posses that passionate disposition, extraordinary intelligence, a nationalist overview, clinical understanding of the issues; an aspiring governor in modern Edo must be able to provide purposeful leadership for community and state, he must be self-motivated, people-oriented and must be able to deploy modern technology to boost Edo’s economy.
Edo Central people in particular and Edo people in general are not privy to what Okpebholo has done since he became Senator to qualify him for governor, as a result, his candidacy is of lightweight when discussing Obaseki’s successor; he is not a major contender in the race; aside his APC being a big Party and the Party in power at the federal, Monday Okpebholo does not possess that charismatic make-up, intellectual built, community rapprochement and skill set to be the Governor of Edo State.
Neither he nor his managers, agents, has been able to communicate what Okpebholo or his Party has in stock for Edo people; the only time he spoke, he promised to service leaders and carry them along if he becomes governor, as if that was a challenge in a developing Edo.
Obviously, Okpebholo lacks sufficient understanding of the contemporary Edo; he has no clue of the policy direction of the new Edo, the emerging civil and public service reforms, education, health policies, reforms now prevalent in Edo and the established vision for the new Edo project; obviously Okpebholo is still living in the past when any political office holder, who may have bought one or two grinding machines for some families, could just pull out funds, purchase forms and want to run for governor irrespective of his lack of understanding of the issues, inconsistent academic records, and poor records of administration.
Otherwise, how Monday Okpebholo, an underperforming Senator, with no significant impact got his Party’s ticket in the first place is a wonder, and how he hopes to be able to administer a more complex and technology-driven Edo, despite his abysmal performance at the Senate, is a major wonder.
Eseosa Ewere writes from Ikpoba-Okha; he is Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Ighodalo-Ogie Campaign Council, Ikpoba-Okha LGA
