19th April, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Following the positive outcome of the State Assembly election and the general elections for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says he is fulfilled that Nigeria has finally joined countries that could be counted to successfully change their Government through the ballot box.
Oshiomhole made this disclosure while speaking to the leadership of the State Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Government House in Benin this past weekend.
The governor who was particularly happy that the coffin of godfatherism in Edo politics has been finally nailed, however said that more work needed to be done in the South-East and South-South to eliminate miracle votes “so that overall, Nigeria will begin to grow.”
“I believe across the country democracy has now been formally consolidated because the real test of democracy lies in government changing, of government being elected in office, of being voted out of office courtesy of the ballot not the gun.
“Indeed when President Obama visited Africa and Nigeria was not on the list, few of us were in the US on the platform of the Nigeria’s governors’ Forum and visited the State Department and we expressed our disappointment that Obama would not visit Nigeria.
“The Secretary of State for Africa now said, Obama will not come to Nigeria because they do not encourage bad behaviour. He said those of them who are friends of Nigeria, each time we think you are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, they will say let us encourage these people to get there, that when you wake up the next day you will find out that the tunnel has been removed.
“So it is so disappointing for those of them who see Nigeria as the key to Africa’s development, both politically and economically. He said Obama will go to Ghana because though Ghana haven’t solved all their problems, they have shown some capacity and their democracy has matured. And the test of that maturity is that the people of Ghana have been able to remove a government through the ballot and elect a government. A ruling party has been defeated by the opposition party and opposition party that formed the government have been defeated by another opposition party. That is the litmus test of democracy, unlike in Nigeria where in one election you deepen the rigging in the next election. Nobody want to go and appear to seem to endorse or support such a situation. That was why Obama will rather not come to Nigeria and will prefer to go to Ghana to encourage them to consolidate.
“Today we are happy that Nigeria has joined those nation states that can now say it is possible that a government has been replaced by very ordinary people equipped and armed only by their PVC. So as a Nigerian I am very proud of this country. For all those who struggled and also died in the struggle for democracy we can now say finally we are here. But of course, there are still couple of things to be done, to completely clean up the electoral process so that those part of the country where you still have the miracle votes, where the ancestors come out to vote in the South East and part of the South South, those are areas we need to clean up so that overall, Nigeria will begin to grow.
“And if you recall where we are coming from in this state, you will appreciate how I feel when I came in, every councillor in this state, local government chairmen, House of Assembly members, the governor and of course you have the Presidency, now to imagine that from ground zero we came in to challenge this order and of course, we must not forget that when they talk about god- fatherism in Nigeria politics, when they talk about the power of godfathers, a small powerful, unaccountable, unelected group, Edo is their home base. That is something every body knows so much that people from outside this state come here for consultation to consult with the Edo god fathers.
“To imagine that very ordinary people like me and few others who are convinced that this order can be over thrown and liquidated and we started fighting with our bare hands and today we have effectively buried the god fathers, for me the four chapters are closed. For me, the real import of this is that never again will anybody in this state look at any one and say who are you, because you don’t have a god father. To now imagine that when we liquidated the god fathers in this state and somehow Abuja put them on life support, they were still able to harass us and even intimidate us and even threaten us even when they are not on ground in the state, but that life support was switched off by Nigerians on March 28, which is why the final political funerals of the god fathers was such an easy task on April 11.
“To survive these god fathers and preside over their own liquidations only a nation blessed by God can achieve that without any shot, except the PVC. Honestly I am fulfilled and if I vacate governance today and retire from politics I will be happy. Like I told somebody, right now I have nothing to prove and I thank God for shielding me from the evil machination of the opponents,” he said.