Edo State Gubernatorial Race and the Trivialization of a Serious Process.

In the past twenty-four years, both Governor Godwin Obasek and Pastor Ize-Iyamu have been in power for a combined period of twenty-four years. For the eight years of Governor Lucky Ogbinedion and the first four years of Comrade Adam Oshiomhole, Pastor Ize-Iyamu was there. That's twelve years. In a similar vein, in the eight years of Comrade Adam Oshiomhole as Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin was there as Head of Comrade's Economic team. And in the past four years, he has been the Governor of Edo State. And that's also twelve years. So, in the past twelve years, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has been playing a substantive role in Edo State politics, just as Pastor Ize-Iyamu did twelve years earlier.

The only time these two gentlemen were not in power was for the two years that Professor Osunbor was the Governor of the state. In a few months, the people of Edo State will go to the pooling boots, God willing, to elect their Governor. Governor Godwin Obaseki and Pastor Ize-Iyamu are on the ballot. Sadly, the people of Edo State and Nigerian Journalists, in particular, have taken their eyes off the ball - no one is asking these two gentlemen the serious questions. What role did you play or fail to play in the collapse of the major State-owned Businesses in Edo State? And what are you willing or prepared to do differently this time around?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo did not build the Old Western Region by himself, the like of Godwin Obaseki, and Pastor Ize-Iyamu whom he recruited from home and abroad did the job for him. The foundation for the popular free education program of the old Western Region was laid in two years - between 1952 and 1954. Yes, two years. Awo did not have crude oil while building the Western Region. But he got vibrant brainpower around him, doing the strategies and tactics. And it was all about internally generated revenues. All he had was the vision. And he got the foresight to go for the best performers he could find anywhere around the globe.

Bendel Brewery or Edo Brewery is lying dormant, unutilized, not necessarily because the people of Edo, Ondo, Delta, and the Bayelsa States have given up on relishing their favorite of Crystal Beer. The trouble is that the political leaders in the state are having difficulties going beyond their circle of friends and political allies to recruit capable hands and credible candidates to manage the Brewery for profit. This is not a joke; the problem is management, specifically, manpower related. Governor Godwin Obaseki and Pastor Ize-Iyamu were in power when the management of the brewery wrecked it.

What about the Cement Factory at Ukpila? The same story. They sold it, not necessarily because Nigerians have placed a moratorium on construction projects and no longer in want of cement. The successive administrations in Edo State are having difficulties going outside of the usual networks of friends and political allies to recruit credible candidates to run the Cement factory. Once again, Pastor Ize-Iyamu and Governor Godwin Obaseki were in power when the cement factory was grounded.

The boom in the building culture all over Nigeria remains unraveling, and cement is an essential component of that culture. If you have the market and you are not profitable, something is fundamentally wrong with your team. Who builds the team? The State Governor, his Commissioners, and Advisers.

Lastly, the Ewu Flour Mills, a Federal Government project, I think. They couldn't manage it or acquire it, either. They watched as it was sold, not necessarily because Nigerians have given up on eating Ema (pounded yam) or no longer in need of flour for baking purposes. The same reasons that plagued the Brewery and the Cement Factory, took a flourishing market out of the Flour Mills. Thus, prompting Dr. Chris Oyakhilomen to acquire the relics from the government.

What we have before us is management crisis - human resources related and organizational behavior, motivated by greed, inefficiency, and a culture of political godfatherism. And this is a state that once prides itself as the owner of the New Nigerian Bank and Bendel Insurance Company. And of course, Bendel Insurance Company was the owner of the Bendel Insurance Foot Ball Club.

Today, in Nigeria, an economic team, whether at Abuja or in State capitals, is about strategies and tactics for borrowing money from China. Yes, how to borrow money from China. If they are not borrowing from China Multinationals, they are developing crude and aggressive mechanisms for fletching the Market Women and Tuke-Tuke Drivers at the State Motor Parks.

True leadership is about dreams (visions). The Blueprints (a strategic approach). The audacity (the, yes, we can attitude). And the wisdom to identify and select those best fit (the catalysts) to help in pushing the dreams to fruition.

You don't have to like IBB or Atiku. And that's fine. But they know much about Team Building, Management Re-engineering, and placing square pegs in square holes than any Nigerian political leader living today. I rooted for Mr. Atiku Abubakar in the last Presidential election, not because I am a PDP sympathizer, but because I was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Atiku is the best-prepared candidate to govern in the emerging global political-economy and will not have difficulties assembling a formidable economic team to push his visions. And we know better now.

For instance, how can we forget the hiring of Dr. Chu Akongwu by IBB? Dr. Chu Akongwu, as the Commissioner of Finance in Imo State under Governor Ike Nwachukwu, was the one who invented the Imo Formular. The program works so well in Imo State that IBB wasted no time recruiting him into his cabinet. Mr. Atiku Abubakar played a similar role while he was the Vice President in the Obasanjo Administration.

Please, set aside, for now, the usually enumerated sins of IBB. But he built Lekki, the Third Mainland Bridge, Abuja, and the largest expansion of the Nigerian Middle Class ever. He invested our money at home. They did not stockpile our hard currency in warehouses or underground sewage, not knowing investment channels to navigate with them.

If you put in place a formidable team of technocrats, as Papa Awo and IBB did, you won't have difficulties knowing what to do with your resources. And the culture of the Chinese Multinationals being your lenders and builders at the same time will come to an end.

So, here is my thesis. If the voters in Edo State want to replicate the old Ibadan dreams and the exploits of Papa Awo and his men, you need the mind of a visionary leader - those imbued with impeccable managerial acumen, audacity, and the ability to identify great minds in the larger society.

It is time we start asking the candidates how they want to revive our failing industries and put Edo citizens back to work. It is about great expectations. Not insult. Not yabbish. And not disco dancing. I am tired of seeing brooms and umbrellas in the air. I want to see policy statements, blue-print, and substantive talk on leadership, team-building, and industrialization. No gun. No cutlass. And no thuggery.

Edo Brewery is a test. The cement factory is a test. The Edo Line is a test. Edo Pharmaceutical is a test. If you can't revive any of them or don't know how to revive them and put our people back to work, you are not different from an overrated and over-glorified opportunist. Papa Awo and his Action Group Apostles built the Western Region and the present Edo and Delta States without proceeds from the crude oil.

Edo State, like other states in the union, has been enjoying monthly allocations of funds from the Federation Account. In addition, Edo State has jobs creating and income-generating state-owned businesses that are wasting away, dormant. It is time to talk about real politics and manpower development. Enough of the music. And enough of the insult. Enough of bloodshed. Show us your plans for an industrial revolution. And let dissect them; benchmarking them, of course, against what's going on in Cross River State or Ebonyi State. Thank you.