Is Governor Monday Okpebholo a saint?

The response to this question is not a definitive Yes. Because the answer is very complex. I arrived at it after a long, tedious Socratic process of reasoning and looking at the history of his predeccessors. After they leave office, their pandora box of alleged corruption is opened.

Just name them. All the occupants of Osadebey Avenue, Benin have not really been Biblical holy saints who obeyed the commandments of God while in office.
Indeed, people often praised their public accountability index not knowing their level of misgovernance is nauseating.

When their tenures elapse, those who succeed them out of political hatred or curiosity look into the books and inform us that the leaders we earlier celebrated as saints were from hell. They were fantastically corrupt to use the words of Tony Blair, former British prime minister. How you are, says the Indian at surprise moments!!

Has Okpebholo completed his tenure of four or eight years? Has anyone opened the books on him? No!! So, tell me why it is difficult to conclude now whether Okpebholo is a saint or not. Let us give him all the benefits of doubts Right now, he is a clean governor. All correct.

Are you confused? Then, hold it. Follow me in my long journey of explanation as I illustrate what I mean.

Chief Lucky Igbinedion left office in 2007 and Prof Oserheimen Osunbor took over from him. He didn't check Igbinedion's books because they were both in the Peoples Democratic Party.

In 2008 when Oshiomhole became governor, he examined the records of Igbinedion and Osunbor. Here are what he discovered. It was that Igbinedion wasn't a saint. Oshiomhole on January 4, 2009 during the flag off road inspection in Benin Metropolìs alleged that the books showed that Igbinedion paid N5.9 bllion for Ogida/Teachers' Hòuse Road; N1.5 billion for a project in Okada; and N200m for Medical Road. All the jobs were abandoned, not done.

Also, Oshiomhole further revealed that lgbinedion allowed his father to be collecting N40m tax from five yoruba communities farming in Okada. Lastly, Oshiomhole said that Igbinedion was using the services of the state- owned Central Hospital, Benin for the pratical training of nùrses and doctors from the private Igbinedion University. All serious allegations.

Die-hard lovers of Ĺucky Igbinedioñ took up the gaintlet in high-decibel defence of him. They cited his legacy achievements which included the establishment of the first-ever Edo State Polytechmic, Usen. The louding of promoting Igbinedion's works acted as a powerful counterpoint to the corruption allegations delimiting them to a large extent.

You heard people saying: “Abeg make una leave di man. E no try?.. . Shebi e do some-tins when good wen everybodi day benefit from. Na where man dey work, man dey chop, na e make dem call am workshop. No bi Africa we day? Abeg, leave matter for Mathias. No mind Oshiomhole. Na bad belly day worryam."

In Africa, if you perform as a leader most people ignore your corruption profile but Prof Oserheimen Osunbor's case was different.

He was sworn in as governor of Edo State on May 29, 2007 by electoral default for eighteen months. As a governor, his credo was EDO FOR EXCELLENCE which he expected to actualize with 'a new convenant of seventeen agenda.

A highlight of his plan for the state was his avowed commitment to run a prudent, accountable, transparent and result-oriented administration.

Oshiomhole who succeeded him opened government books and told us that Osunbor really did achieve any of his agenda but only engaged in unsaintly squandermania of public funds.

Here is a brief, summarized narrative of what Oshiomhole reported: “Edo Assembly approved a supplementary security budget of N5.4 billion for Osunbor in late 2008 of his departure. As at when Osunbor left office on November 11, 2008 he had spent N4.5 billion of the amount. N1 billion expenditure was incurred in the month of October alone. Also, Osunbor approved N355m for the renòvation of thè Government Lodge. The project cost was too much. So, it was reduced to N130m.

Furthermore, Edo State Assets Verification Committee Report discovered that Osunbor took a loan of N10 billion without the knowledge and approval of the state executive council.

"Another investigative panel uncovered a rice scandal of how Osunbor administration paid N135m, not N100m, for 1000 trucks of rice but only 700 trucķs were delivered at a cost of N6,000 not N8,500 quoted...."

Once again, trust our sense of warped African reasoning. Most of us like in the case of Igbinedion saw nothing wrong with how Osunbor allegedly abused public office. Their major pain is that he did not leave behind enduring egalitaranian legacies while he 'ate' government money. Neither did he heip his own ancestral people in Iruekpen.

Too true, in retrogressive Africa, the general thinking is that the office you occupy is not a public trust but a bountiful gift of the omnipotent God for helping yourself, family, friends and your community. If there are more funds, you undertake legacy projects so that people will speak in your defence when you leave office and the unveiled records by your successor reveal you were corrupt.

You can see that Osunbor's reported conduct fell below public expectation. That is why the allegations of corruption against him was heavy when Oshiomhole spoke about them. Only a few people manageably pardoned his sleaze but in contrast multitudes celebrated the conduct of jailed former Bendel State governor, Prof Ambrose Alli, who gave all Bendelites as well as Ekpoma people a university, free education and good road networks.

Oshiomhole who accused Osunbor his predeccessors of corruption was not a saint either. He was equally accused of corruption as a governor. Chief Dan Orbih, then PDP cheirman in Edo State, made several allegations of corruption against him. One of them is that Oshiomhole built a mansion worth N10billion in Iyamoh, his country home. Orbin questioned: "Where did he get the money from?"

Obaseki, on his part, was not satisfied with how Oshiomhole spent the 25 billion dollars loan disbursed for the Benin Storm Water Project. So, during an inspection tour of roads in Benin Metropolis on the 29th July, 2021 Obaseki vowed to order a probe into the issue. . Also, Obaseki revealed that inspite of the humongous public funds spent on Edo Specialist Hospital in Benin it was not completed before Oshiomhole invited President Muhammadu Buhari to hurriedly commission it in 2016.

Obaseki's loud cries about the corruption of Oshiomhole to a large extent fell on deaf ears because a lot of people saw Oshiomhole as an icon of development in Edo State whom no allegations of corruption can dent. Indeed people are not in a hurry to forget his legacies of magnificient Airport Road, walkways, red roofs of schools and Edo State University, Iyamoh to mention a few. Such achievements, to his many admirers, dwarfed any bad reports on him.

Now, let us consider the case of Governor Godwin Obaseki. He came into office with an agendum to enrich himself which he did with technocratic finesse. The noxious smell of his corruption as revealed by Okpebholo can be sniffed many kilometers away and only a handful of people are willing to defend his record of service. Most people are asking: “What is there to defend for a governor who didn't even leave a good legacy even in his home town of Oke-Nisi in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of Edo State?".

It is because Obaseki knows that he is not loved that is why he fled to join Diezani Allison- Madueke in the United Kingdom, a country where deportation is difficult.

So far, so good. All I have done in this piece is to showcase that no past governor of Edo State is a saint. Similarly, it is illogical to expect that Governor Monday Okpebholo will be one. If you are looking for a saint, all you need to do is to die and go to heaven.

Thank goodness, Edo people understand this law of existentialism. Yes, atleast, you can see that Edo people, like most pragmatic Nigerians, are not looking for saintly governors in public office but governors who though unsaintly still deliver the dividend of democracy.

So, listen Governor Monday Okpebholo. Be guided by what both the vast majority of Edo State citizens and your own people will remember you for. Let your projects speak for you just as your war on kidnappers, cultism and violent crimes in the state. Great projects endure, outlive you and are always there to visibly speak with a loud voice for you after you leave office. But even your best propagandist today loses his voices at death and can no longer talk about your greatness again.

Okpebholo, be like late Dr. Emmanuel Oduagan, former governor of Delta State who passed on few days ago. His legacy projects, not sainthood, are speaking for him today. His pallbearers and grave are in tears as they unwillingly await his last rites of a loved governor.