In the run-up to the Edo State Gubernatorial Election billed to be held on September 21, 2024, a former Gubernatorial Aspirant, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State, Professor Sylvester Akhaine has tasked aspirants on policies and programmes that will be of benefit to the ordinary people of the state.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, Prof. Akhaine decried lhe absence of clear-cut governance issues and the means to address them by aspirants in the forthcoming governorship election of Edo state.
He noted that they have observed that
for too long, the people of Edo State have suffered without let., adding that it can be said, without fear of contradictions that the people of Edo State have yet to witness the dividends of democracy since the commencement of the Fourth Republic in 1999.
“Unfortunately, Edo State has been led by a self-serving crop of leaders, partly imposed, feeding fat on the commonwealth, and with a governance output that is below average to the detriment of the wellbeing of the people of the State.
“Today, the landscape of Edo State is visibly underlined by infrastructural deficit and the absence of basic social facilities such as good roads; pipe-borne potable water first savoured in colonial times in 1907; functional primary health care centres; understaffed schools, both secondary and primary, underlined by decrepit buildings, technical components of learning, and efficient inspectorate. The condition of schools is damnable to the extent that only an insignificant number of staff is on the government payroll.
“Others are hired by development associations and old boys. Education budgets are among the lowest in the country. Indeed, this reality contradicts claims by successive governments to the effect of having addressed them with billions of our hard-earned resources.
“Specifically, on the condition of road infrastructure, the reality of Edo State is that beyond the civil service, and Benin City, which willy-nilly benefits from thrifty urban renewal, private entrepreneurship cannot thrive in senatorial districts because there are no access roads to mobilise rural, agrarian efforts.
“Edo State is ravaged by insecurity that has undermined the once enterprising people’s effort at self-sufficiency in food production. Equally absent is the formula to tackle youth unemployment in the State. No one has articulated a clear roadmap to deal with these problems.
“Beyond campaign rhetoric, Edo realities are one of minimal governance and zero in some sectors. In comparative and relative terms, Edo State cannot rank as a leader in any notable sector of socio-economic activities. Whoever wishes to govern the state must pre-occupy him/herself with the issues outlined above and explain them clearly to our people including how resources will be mobilised to solve the problems beyond the monthly allocation from the central pool.
“We need a government bold enough to invest in infrastructure and education. We need policies and programmes that are meaningful to ordinary people, not social media figures and propaganda.
“God bless the people of Edo State,” Akhaine stated.