Edo state and all other state in Nigeria remains trapped in utter fragility with little hope of escaping
the trap including its political and governance structures, its values and policy choices.
There is no doubt that Edo state needs a transformational leader; a leader who can use the tools of
narratives, actions and institutions to transform the state. Unfortunately, till now Edo has lacked
visionary leaders with transformative attributes. Edo state will need qualified, capable, visionary
and competent leaders including the need of devolved governance structure in the year 2024
without which there will be no progress.
Another year, 2023 is about to disappear into oblivion, never to return again. But Edo state
problems remain as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, seemingly insurmountable. This year 2023, will
be no different from 2022 If anything, things has been worst on the political, economic, and
security fronts which raises the question whether Edo state will ever overcome its challenges,
whether it will ever escape the fragility trap again.
Truth is, Edo state is a fragile state; it exhibits all the symptoms of fragility: prevalence and
dominance of organized non-state violence; weak capacity for essential functions; poor or
unattractive environment for private investments; an economy exposed to shocks with little
resilience; lack of trust between the government and the governed, poverty and deep divisions in
the society. These are what a seminal study by Oxford University and the London School of
Economics identified as symptoms of state fragility. Of course, all states in the world especially in
the west were once fragile, including today’s frontline developed states in the world superpowers.
But, with intentionality, most states took concrete steps out of fragility. A government that fails to
plan, provide and give its people quality education should prepare itself for existential crisis,
catastrophe and doom.
When a state has a poor population, it’s having a serious economic and insecurity problem. The
failure of any state to fix the challenges of poverty and the unequal distribution of wealth among
his people will be an invitation of a state calamity and fragility.
When a State Judiciary is weak and convicted criminals are released as result of corruption in the
Judiciary, when universities produce many graduates who are unfortunately thrown into the job
market with no prospect of job opportunities, it creates uncertainty for the state and her people will
be insecure.
Corruption is already a part of life in Nigeria, and unfortunately, is now part of Edo state economic
problems, and public appropriation. It has gained popularity in our system of government. This
creates financial insecurity which has exacerbated poverty, there is corruption in public office at
all levels, this has created a lot of instability in our state and led a lot into criminal
activities. Unfortunately, due to the unemployment among Nigerians, young people are now
negatively attracted to violent crime.
As your Governor I will take a more serious look at major pieces of legislation, introduce bills
to address this economic and governance issues that create human and state-level insecurities.
We will build up the human, institutional and infrastructural capacity within Edo state security
actors, agencies and sectors. Stability is dependent upon the mutually constitutive elements of
security, governance, and development. Inadequate government security equipment in both
weapons and training has contributed to the poor disposition of the security personnel. In many
cases, security officers tasked with certain security situations lack the experience and equipment
to handle situations so that they will not arise.
We will train, upgrade and equip the local policing outfit to the standard of the security challenges.
We will instruct the state Attorney General (AG) to compel the Federal Government through
consensual or legal means to solidify border security and to make concerted efforts to recruit, train
and deploy adequately equipped customs and immigration personnel across borders of Nigeria and
to invest in more effective security technologies, which will benefit internal and border security.
The state will make lump sum contribution towards the purchase of equipment to police and other
agencies within the state.
We will need to capitalize on demographic dividends by investing in health, education and
livelihoods, especially for our young people. There is urgent need to draw a national development
plan that require the three levels of government. There should be developmental projects in
important sectors of national life all at the same time.
Our authorities must additionally increase people’s dwelling requirements with the aid of setting
up greater facilities of entrepreneurship throughout the state.
Good governance is required, in which the government is accountable to the people. Good
governance is a function of effectiveness, foresight, transparency, reliability and credible political
leadership, the driving force of which is the improvement of the collective well-being of citizens
through well-designed and effectively implemented economic policies and human development
programmes. The focus on people will be our primary goal of governance.
It's my desire and plan to transform Edo state and make it recover it lost glory and shine again
among comity of states.
“We shall get to the promise land. Never again will you see Edo state being dirty. Edo state will
not be out of electricity again, Edo will never go dark again. There will be regular power supply
through alternative energy. We are going to lead with the fear of God,
We urged the people of the Edo to cultivate the habit of support in any capacity they find
themselves in.