Despite public cynicism nurtured by the culture of low expectations, there is a sense in which we can say that the gubernatorial election that held over the weekend in Edo state was not just an ordinary event. This was an election the people of Edo and all Nigerians had to win. The election was not about the two main candidates: incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki and his main challenger Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. The election like no other was about the future and survival of Edo politics from the oppressive grasp of despots, godfathers and external forces, addicted to “do-or-die” politics. As apprehension and fear gave way to forlornness, the ominous uncertainty surrounding the election, though marred by voter apathy, vote-buying, card reader malfunction and sporadic violence that cost at least one death, was substituted with reassurance going by the transparent manner in which the electoral umpire; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collated and announced the results on its website in real time. Obaseki won a clear mandate winning 13 of the 18 local government areas, including Ize-Iyamu’s home council. This isn’t just a victory for Obaseki, PDP or Edo State; it is a victory for Nigerian democracy; and one that all Nigerians should cherish.
By these results, the people of Edo sent a strong message underscoring the need for a perceptive harmonization of the triad of governance, people and democracy. Besides the collateral damage to the ruling APC, what was expressed by the choice of Obaseki over Ize-Iyamu is a political maxim writ large: never take the people for granted. It is one lesson Nigerian politicians should commit to heart, because they take the people for granted only at their own peril. In spite of the security challenges in some areas and threats and the hitches associated with card readers, people remained resolute and committed to ensuring that they participated in the exercise. Having figuratively won the war in organizing relatively peaceful and rancor-free elections, the Edo people cannot afford to lose the peace. As the darkest part of the night is just before dawn, any acts capable of tainting this success, however slightly, be it out of mischief or sheer inordinate ambition of politicians, is reprehensible and unacceptable. So far, the Edo people have comported themselves with utmost civility, maturity and political forbearance. No one has done anything that would compromise the peace and stability. This is very commendable.
As voters went to the polls in Edo last Saturday, one major concern was what a change of baton from Obaseki to Ize-Iyamu portended for Edo state. Will Ize-Iyamu build on Obaseki’s much-acclaimed achievements or return to the old order when Edo was a political jungle in which warlords and rent-seekers held sway to the detriment of the people? Replacing Obaseki, who is highly regarded for a substantial measure of good performance, not only in terms of fiscal discipline, but also in the careful deployment of state resources for infrastructural development and human security needs of the people of the state, was a risk the Edo people refused to take. It is against this background that the least expectation seems to be that Obaseki would continue and possibly surpass his first term performance. These expectations are legitimate for, as an incumbent who proudly ran on his record with aplomb and gusto, it is only proper to expect the re-elected governor to bring more entrepreneurship and sobriety into governance now that the people have given him a second mandate.
One lesson of inescapable profundity for APC leaders is the wisdom in understanding that a democratic culture that excludes the people will always be resisted by people power. The APC from creation has remained a nondescript entity of strange political bedfellows uniting northern elite and leading southern politicians, but that alliance fractured and the party thus became an unmanned monstrous truck rolling over the landscape, crushing anything in its path, with its first victims being its prominent members. The pig-headed decision to disqualify Obaseki and refused him a second term ticket on APC platform; which forced him to decamp to the PDP exposed the APC as nothing other than a special purpose vehicle for political contractors and sundry jobbers and predators for acquiring power for its own sake, amassing wealth via government as the biggest business, and mindlessly impoverishing the people. But as is always the case with all houses of cards, the APC eventually, had to face its own demons. In a ludicrous sense, Ize-Iyamu was a victim of protest voting – an unkindly application of people power against those occupying executive positions, who see themselves as above the voters who elect them into office.
As the APC begins its sojourn in political wilderness in Edo, the party must ask itself why its locus of power is so contradictory. Between the party chairman, the chair of the National Working Committee (NWC), the President and the Governors, it is not clear who is in charge of party affairs. The effect is that the party is enfeebled, existing not as a platform for nation-building ideas but as a vehicle to power and wealth, and therefore embroiled in endlessly simmering power tussles. It is also important to recognize the role of INEC, and the resolve by its chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu to deliver free, fair and credible elections. Past elections have been marred by serious irregularities and rigging. This time INEC took more steps to prevent rigging, including a new online portal where polling station results were uploaded in real time for easy verification and transparency.
Edo has a rich history as the center of black civilization, and to this, the state has added a new history as the bastion of Nigerian democracy. After many false starts, Obaseki can definitely move Edo to higher levels on the scale of development. Given that Edo has peculiar environmental and developmental challenges, Obaseki, the chosen one is expected to re-double efforts at addressing these fundamental problems, most especially job creation for the teeming youth population. The government should also endeavor to support, in a sustainable manner, the ongoing industrialization in the state, especially investments into the power and other key sectors of Edo State economy which has the potential to change the economic landscape of Edo from the “civil service” state into an investment hub for multi-national corporations. It is also important to ensure that education is aligned to the demands of the new digital economy. Teachers must be better trained for them to impart 21st century skills to students.
Governor Obaseki must also prioritize the growing problem of rising urbanization because many Edo cities are sprawling out into slums. Investment in infrastructure will help reduce the cost of doing business, but Obaseki must maintain an open door policy to harness the human potential of Edo state. He must be the governor of all Edo people. Given the political bad blood that has flowed between Obaseki and his erstwhile friends in the APC, including his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, it is incumbent on Obaseki to extend the olive branch to his political opponents; especially those in the five local councils who didn’t vote for him. This will be a political master stroke that would unite the state and make every Edo man look at himself as an Edo citizen first; because the task of developing Edo state is not the sole responsibility of the government. It is a collective responsibility of all citizens and is, therefore, incumbent upon all stakeholders, to join Obaseki in taking Edo to greater heights.
After defeating political god-fatherism at the ballot box, Obaseki needs to be driven by a sense of urgency that will galvanize Edo in a totally new direction, with emphasis on the public interest, not temporary occupants of high office. As the people of Edo and Nigerians continue to savor this historic moment, the hope is that the lesson would neither be lost on Obaseki nor on Oshiomhole and his co-travellers: power belongs to the people and the people freely repose it in trust in any government. Never take democracy for granted. Never take the people for fools.
