Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
A frontline Labour Party (LP) governorship aspirant in the September 21,2024 Edo State governorship election, Mr Kenneth Imansuangbon, yesterday, promised to create jobs for Edo youths and provide qualitative education for every Edo child.
Imansuangbon, who made the pledge in Benin City, Edo State when he paid homage to the Oba of Benin to declare his intention to contest the governorship election and to seek for royal blessings from the Benin Monarch, also pledged his allegiance to the traditional institution in the state if given the opportunity to govern Edo.
The governorship aspirant who was accompanied by top LP chieftains in the state, insisted that a state wherein the youths were gainfully employed would be a secured state.
He added: “Mine is to create jobs for the younger ones, enough is enough for joblessness. If you create jobs, you have created a secured state. I will swiftly and quickly secure the state through job creation.
“I am from the private sector, what I have learnt over the years in the private sector is how to create jobs; how to fix schools; how to make people happy through regular payment of salaries.”
The governorship aspirant, popularly known as ‘Riceman’ because of his yearly free distribution of rice to the needy, further promised to make education accessible to all Edo children if given the opportunity to govern the state.
“I want to make sure that education is not a burden to parents in Edo State. Children who should be in school must be in school under my watch as governor. Also, I want to make sure our teachers are well paid as at when due. This is what I have been doing as a proprietor of a private school,” he said.
Promising to return the state to the good days of General Samuel Ogbemidia of blessed memory, the Edo governorship hopeful further said: “My priority is to take away the suffering we are experiencing today in Edo State; the bad roads that are in every nook and cranny of the state; the pains and shame of bad roads in our state, I am concerned in fixing them in the first one year in office.”
Responding, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, while declaring that the Benin throne was apolitical, said: “We have heard all you have said. We’ll pray for you; I have mandated the Chiefs to pray for you.”
According to the Oba, “The Benin throne remains apolitical. We cannot accept one and leave the other. So, we will endeavour to pray quietly for a man that will respect the people, make them happy and put food on their table. A man that will respect the traditional institution.”
