SIMON EBEGBULEM,
BENIN CITY – Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State is demonstrating a leadership that is slightly different from his predecessor’s, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, going by his first five days in office. Obaseki, who, after his inauguration, penultimate Saturday, went for thanksgiving at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Benin-City with his deputy, Philip Shaibu, had expressed gratitude to God for giving him the responsibility to lead the people of the state. The thanksgiving service was attended by politicians, captains of industry, state and National Assembly members, among others.
Obaseki commenced work in earnest after he arrived his office at exactly 8am last Monday and met with Shaibu. The duo agreed that the swearing-in of two top government appointees, Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Taiwo Akerele, be slated for 10am that day. The venue of the swearing-in was the old Exco Chambers. All Permanent Secretaries were in attendance while the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, who came on the invitation of Ogie, was equally present. Ogie arrived the hall at 9:44am while the deputy governor followed at 9:50. At exactly 10am, Obaseki arrived and immediately swore-in the two state government top officials.
In his speech later, the governor recalled that he had worked closely with the new SSG in the past nine years on the Edo Project which he described as God’s own project.. Our project is God’s project. God has given us strength. God has given us the power. Ogie and I started this project nine years ago. Both of us have been at the integral part of the Edo project. I feel secure that he is somebody who understands what this is all about. It requires a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication to our people”, he said. “I have no doubt that the task is daunting. We do not have the kind of resources we had six years ago.
Everywhere we travelled to during the campaigns, people had demanded for better schools, healthcare system and new lease of life. We cannot afford to make excuses. Even though we have these challenges, it is incumbent on us that we must deliver and it starts from the way we organize government right from the quality of people who heads government. We will tackle the challenges ahead of us. We are cognizant of what is going on around. Government has to work for politics to succeed. Initially, we will emphasize more governance. Let us put in place a governance structure so that our political structure can survive and endure. For the next six weeks, we are going to work with the Permanent Secretaries to understand the structures of government so that we can make governance much more efficient. We cannot afford the high cost of governance we run today. The money is not there.
We can restructure how we work. We can get more from the people we already have”.
Responding, Ogie expressed gratitude to the governor for finding him worthy for the job and assured that he will work hard to ensure that the governor’s vision for the state is achieved.
Before APC leaders could arrive for the ceremony, it was already over. They were thinking the event could be delayed like it was during the administration of former Governor Adams Oshiomhole. But Obeseki has sent the first signal that he will not joke with his timing. However, Ogie and Akerele’s appointments have shown that Obaseki has started on a very good note. APC leaders were quite satisfied knowing the efforts Ogie made to ensure the last administration succeeded and the APC won the election that produced Obaseki. Shortly after the swearing-in, Obaseki, Shaibu, Ogie and Akerele visited the Benin Technical College Ugbowo, to inspect the facilities there. Sunday Vanguard learnt that the governor’s campaign promise of creating 200,000 jobs in four years is not just going to be a campaign promise. He has set out to achievement it. The Benin Technical College was built 40 years ago by Canadians and the idea was to use it to train youths in different skills. They built a similar structure in Tanzanian. But, today, the one built in Tanzania is one of the country’s major sources of manpower for its industries while the one in Benin has collapsed. Obaseki was disappointed when he went on the inspection and vowed that the college will be one of his priorities. He promised to revamp it and use the place a place for manpower development.
On Tuesday, the governor and his team went on a tour of the Palm House and the state Secretariat located at Sapele Road where he expressed shock over the state of the environment. He stressed the need for civil servants to keep their environments clean, asserting that it will be difficult for them to perform optimally in an adverse working environment. His charge to the civil servants is already yielding fruits as all the ministries have been cleaned up by the workers who now everyday embark on sanitation exercise before the commencement of work.
The governor travelled to Abuja on Wednesday evening to attend the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting scheduled for Thursday. But his first assignment to Abuja was not funny as the commercial flight which was supposed to go to Abuja from Benin that day was cancelled. He was stranded in Benin until a fellow governor volunteered to pick him up.
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Originally posted by Adeshola