Edo is presently locked in a political war of attrition, nuanced by deceit, subterfuge, gerrymandering and manipulation, as the Edo state Governor, Godwin ObASUEki, struggles to implant, foist, and land his godson, Asue Ighodalo on Edo people, as his successor. Curiously though, Governor Obaseki hasn't been seen campaigning with this his handpicked godson; most presumably because of the former's abysmal showing and correct calculation that featuring Obaseki in his campaigns, will be his albatross. Edo state, as a result of Obaseki's dehumanising style and iron-fist politics, has made Edo State the homestead of "ngwo-ngwo" politics, a potpourri of several ugly scenarios aimed at railroading the people to swallow the bitter pill, Asue Ighodalo. Promoters of Asue Ighodalo, knowing how much baggage he has on his heels, now vaunt his so-called good spoken English language, without cognizance of the content of what he is saying or the character of the man speaking; and I ask “ na English we go chop, to make Edo better?” David Ogilvy said, “it seems to me that if you are trying to persuade a people to do something or buy something, you should use their language. The language they use everyday, the language in which they think. We even try to write in the vernacular.”

He was a well renowned British advertising agent. They are trying to sell a product that carries with it, a hunchback of deceit, subterfuge, and artifice and they are vaunting his “ oyinbo:” For seven years, Mr. Ighodalo has been Governor Obaseki's adviser-in-chief, and we are where we are; so whatever disrepute the outgoing government suffers today, is largely traceable to Mr Asue Ighodalo; for the agenda, schemes and actions and or inactions usually has his imprimatur, till date. The general rating of Obaseki’s government in Edo state is poor; his tenure is gouged with rot; causing life in Edo under him to be a treadmill of misery: stark underperformance and a near debacle are not just enough to rate his time in office. That is the naked reality. It is not debatable, even though government apologists tend to argue otherwise. It is indeed an insult, a slap on the face, a sneer at us Edo people, and indeed derisive of obASUEki and his cronies to even in reverie conjure the thought that we will allow another unconscionable homo erectus be at the helm of affairs in the state. The aura in the land is palpable exultation at the reality that Obaseki is leaving. He and his people are the exact antithesis of what we need right now in Edo State.

His “Ngwo-Ngwo" politics, is a combination of the ridiculous and bizarre, the obscene and the bestial, flagrant shenanigans and the crass opportunism that is oiled with praise singing, steeped in communal tomfoolery guided by drums of adumbration. Those who play "ngwo-ngwo" politics like the Edo state governor, are often shameless even when their desperation drives them on the path of infamy. What matters to them is the singular mercenary goal of planting a successor by hook or crook; they are cutthroat in their pursuit to cover the perfidious path of their political trajectory. In Edo, I have followed the narratives of Ighodalo's gubernatorial excursion, and what I see is an aspiration that is anchored on Obaseki's failed promises, which Asue Ighodalo countenances. Ighodalo has been Obaseki's adviser and chairman of the Alaghodaro heist, a disguised platform that is ostensibly there to generate ideas for leadership and development engagements in the state but failed abysmally; it is actually a shell for profligacy and malfeasance. Edo State government has now earned a moniker that summarises the idiosyncrasies of Obaseki’s faulty leadership: "Government of MoU". This is borne of the disaffection developed by the people after several failed promises, unrealized targets, and intentionally bogus ideas that were never meant to reach their crests. Rather than showcase real achievements to his credulous citizenry, who are just regular citizens yearning for real growth, Governor Obaseki has only a cosmic proportion of MoUs to show as his achievements since he became governor.

If the huge resources and allocations of Edo state were employed for confronting developmental challenges in the state, Edo State would have acquired the looks of a state on the path of growth; but the plundering, pillaging and squandering of state resources, has left the state unfortunately, supine. Edo citizens are frustrated beyond reproach wondering why a governor, who ought to be the purveyor of growth and prosperity is their major undoing. He is unrepentantly quarrelsome and combative. He runs a toxic system, and tells anyone who asks questions about his style to go to hell. He wants his words to be law and inviolate, and his voice reverberating beyond the relics and vestiges of decayed infrastructure. His smile presents an awry brawl of an Idi-amin of post colonial Uganda, twisted within the illogic of a season of menacing unreason. He hollered, "if anyone dares arrest my boys, Nigeria will burn;” professing his grititude with a threat of reprisal should there be any attempt to bring his erring acolytes within the ambits of the law. He emboldens them, with a turncoat mien, sprinting around town with frowns and unfriendliness. When he smiles, it is difficult to distinguish it from his frown. I have never seen a supposedly elected governor coming up in arms against his own citizenry, his own people, from whom he got his power ab-initio.

Governor Obaseki's "ngwo-ngwo" politics has serially put Edo State in the news for the wrong reasons. It is a state governed by executive recklessness and the bizarre actions. It is a state with two deputy governors, because of Obaseki's contempt for the rule of law. Respect for rule of law is a forbidden fruit in the state under Governor Obaseki. He governed the state with only nine members of Assembly; a minority against a majority, who were driven by an unquenchable thirst for the ridiculous. He quarrels with the monarchy and breeds lawlessness with perfunctory ease. Asue Ighodalo his godson is now preaching about what he intends to do if he becomes governor. He doesn’t realize that he is not new to us. We know he is a scribe of Obaseki’s government; he has been an adviser there for eight years. If he meant well for Edo State, it would have shown in this ample time when he worked with Obaseki. On Arise TV's The Morning Show, Asue underscored and emphasized the failures of this government in which he serves. He said the Edo "people are suffering; no water, no infrastructure.” That alone is an indictment on himself, as chief adviser to Godwin ObASUEki. Asue Ighodalo has just admitted his failure as an adviser. If in eight years, his advice hasn't been able to yield anything positive for Edo State, then his being put forward as a candidate for governor in the next cycle is a malicious act with impunity. Obaseki's administration has left us in a mess and he is trying to bring in his godson to tamp the mess further. Clearly, they have both gone rogue. If as he says, he prioritises insecurity and has it at the top of his manifesto, it then goes to suggest that the State Government has failed in that sector. Why couldn't he over the years, dish out quality ideas that could have helped Governor Obaseki to chart a workable and utility-driven security architecture that would be a direct response to our present insecurity? The entire occupants of Osadebe Avenue must be sent away from leadership positions in the state. They are emblems of the debacle that threatens us. They should be relegated to minions in the verticality of state affairs, and some, declared pariahs for their nefarious acts.

Following Asue's account, Governor Obaseki is a failure. He talked about water supply challenges which Obaseki's government has not been able to surmount. Ugboha and Ekpoma dams are not working, according to Asue Ighodalo; ditto for Ojirami dam. The question then is, what has the state government which he, Asue, is a part been doing to resolve this logjam? He said about N67bn is now needed to solve the water issue. How come the state government hasn't been able to solve the problem before now with her IGR of about N64b YEARLY. A mature mind will understand that Asue Ighodalo is already talking about him borrowing more money, when Edo already ranks second in the hierachy of states in debt. At present, Edo is owing N570bn, and $143m dollars. On the Arise TV program on Monday, 26 August Asue told some bogus lies about the incident that happened on 18th July at the Benin Airport area of the city: he said they saw people carrying guns and shooting. Is Asue Ighodalo denying the fact that those people who carried guns were his supporters, and the supporters of the government he serves in as Adviser? Does he remember that a security aide of the APC was killed by gunshots fired by agents of the government he serves? Those who are being arrested now are persons who are culpable of the unholy act of that fateful 18th July. If they have nothing to hide, they should report themselves to the law enforcement agents.

Since Ighodalo says “the people of Edo are really, really suffering,” he drives home the general conclusion that the present government has failed to provide democratic dividends for the overwhelming majority of our people. On Education, he talked about curriculum and agreed that the learning environment needs to be improved upon. Each time Obaseki's lacklustre administration is put under scrutiny, they get easily provoked, but Governor Obaseki's candidate, Asue Ighodalo had just told the world the degree of suffering and infrastructural decay the state is in. This is a state where he is also an adviser. Do we need to reinforce failure by supporting a candidate who has admittedly confessed to the failure of a government he serves as Adviser? We need a new paradigm in Edo state, to promote a sense of communalism and homogeneity of purpose in the true spirit of the oneness of the people. Thank you Asue Ighodalo for speaking to the rot and decay in the state. Kindly take a bow and leave the stage for now. Governor obASUEki's "ngwo-ngwo" politics cannot help to deepen positive governance in Edo state; certainly not now. Imagine the arrant nonsense of signing a supplementary budget of N450b barely two months to the end of his tenure. What does that tell anyone?