EDO 2020: THE NEED FOR CAUTION
By: Francis Akhigbe
It is said that "those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable. The year 2020 is a few months away and Edo people will go to the Poll to elect their own choice of governor that will take over from the incumbent governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki whose tenure expires on November 12, 2020. That person is expected to come from either of the two dominant Political Parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). It will not be surprising if relatively an unknown political party altered the equation.
The purpose of this write up is to sound a note of caution to all the political parties in Edo State that politics is not do or die affair and any attempt by the political gladiators to overheat the polity will not be in the interest of Edo people. Edo people are peace loving, civilized, educated and politically cautious. They know what they want and they know how to go for it. The only way to win them to your side is to be non-violent, accommodating and be able to convince them that you are capable of delivery dividends of democracy to them. Anything outside this ought to be vehemently resisted. But recently, money has taken the center stage. Majority of Edo people no longer care whether the candidate is capable or not as far as he can give money, salt, pepper, rice, yam and even recharge cards. This is unlike Edo people in the past. They lay the blame on the aspirants/candidates who abandon them after the elections. An electorate who would not want his name in print said that" these acts of our Representatives have reconditioned our mindset that the only way to benefit from the democratic setting is to take money and other items from them and forget whether they fufill their promises or not. The most painful aspect of it all is that the electorates are still the losers because no matter the amount of money the representative spends, he gets back through all sorts of allowances like furniture, recess, car, sitting, housing, constituency funds and security votes. This is the reason why Edo people must 'shine their eyes' and settle for a candidate they believe could do them proud. That candidate must be a man who is politically on ground, a man who have been involved and familiar with the rudiments of Edo politics. He must also have a solid political structure across the State and above all, a man who fears God. Any candidate who has no political structure would always believe in the power of money. But the 2020 gubernatorial election is a peculiar one. This is because Edo people are ready to rise up and say no to these types of aspirants/candidates.
The political parties should allow a level playing ground for all the aspirants. Imposition does not bring out the best or most acceptable candidate and this usually results to protest votes thereby bringing on board a candidate who may not live up to expectations of the people. Edo State is the heart beat of the Nation. What happens in the 2020 elections will subsequently rub on not only Edo State but Nigeria. We are not in a hurry to forget what happened in some States especially Rivers State in the last general elections in Nigeria.
Presently, we have two aspirants from the two major political parties (APC and PDP) who have declared their interest to contest the Edo 2020 governorship election. They are the incumbent governor of the State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Engr. Gideon Ikhine of People's Democratic Party (PDP). To be continued.
By: Francis Akhigbe
It is said that "those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable. The year 2020 is a few months away and Edo people will go to the Poll to elect their own choice of governor that will take over from the incumbent governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki whose tenure expires on November 12, 2020. That person is expected to come from either of the two dominant Political Parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). It will not be surprising if relatively an unknown political party altered the equation.
The purpose of this write up is to sound a note of caution to all the political parties in Edo State that politics is not do or die affair and any attempt by the political gladiators to overheat the polity will not be in the interest of Edo people. Edo people are peace loving, civilized, educated and politically cautious. They know what they want and they know how to go for it. The only way to win them to your side is to be non-violent, accommodating and be able to convince them that you are capable of delivery dividends of democracy to them. Anything outside this ought to be vehemently resisted. But recently, money has taken the center stage. Majority of Edo people no longer care whether the candidate is capable or not as far as he can give money, salt, pepper, rice, yam and even recharge cards. This is unlike Edo people in the past. They lay the blame on the aspirants/candidates who abandon them after the elections. An electorate who would not want his name in print said that" these acts of our Representatives have reconditioned our mindset that the only way to benefit from the democratic setting is to take money and other items from them and forget whether they fufill their promises or not. The most painful aspect of it all is that the electorates are still the losers because no matter the amount of money the representative spends, he gets back through all sorts of allowances like furniture, recess, car, sitting, housing, constituency funds and security votes. This is the reason why Edo people must 'shine their eyes' and settle for a candidate they believe could do them proud. That candidate must be a man who is politically on ground, a man who have been involved and familiar with the rudiments of Edo politics. He must also have a solid political structure across the State and above all, a man who fears God. Any candidate who has no political structure would always believe in the power of money. But the 2020 gubernatorial election is a peculiar one. This is because Edo people are ready to rise up and say no to these types of aspirants/candidates.
The political parties should allow a level playing ground for all the aspirants. Imposition does not bring out the best or most acceptable candidate and this usually results to protest votes thereby bringing on board a candidate who may not live up to expectations of the people. Edo State is the heart beat of the Nation. What happens in the 2020 elections will subsequently rub on not only Edo State but Nigeria. We are not in a hurry to forget what happened in some States especially Rivers State in the last general elections in Nigeria.
Presently, we have two aspirants from the two major political parties (APC and PDP) who have declared their interest to contest the Edo 2020 governorship election. They are the incumbent governor of the State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Engr. Gideon Ikhine of People's Democratic Party (PDP). To be continued.
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