Obaseki Headlines Diaspora Dialogue at York University, Calls for Urgent Rethink of Nigerian Statecraft

The former governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has called for urgent rethink of Nigeria’s statecraft, noting that entrenched elite capture and systemic dysfunction was threatening the country’s future.

Obaseki made the call while delivering a keynote address at York University’s Harriet Tubman Institute, during a high-level public dialogue titled, ‘From Edo to the Diaspora: Power, Policy, and the Politics of Statecraft in Nigeria’.

The session convened policymakers, academics, students, and members of the Edo Diaspora community in Canada for a rigorous examination of the systemic crises facing Nigeria and the opportunities for reform.

Hosted in partnership with the Tubman Institute and local diaspora groups, the event featured Obaseki as the keynote speaker in a wide-ranging discussion that traversed Africa’s demographic shifts, Nigeria’s governance dilemmas, and the transformative efforts he led in Edo State between 2016 and 2024.

In his remarks, Obaseki decried Nigeria’s deep structural dysfunction, adding, “Nigeria’s statecraft is caught in a web of elite capture, patronage networks, and ethno-regional fissures.”

Citing executive overreach, a weakened judiciary, and dysfunctional federalism as core impediments to development, he further warned that despite Africa’s demographic promise, Nigeria remains the epicentre of the continent’s growing poverty crisis.

According to him, “While extreme poverty is slowing globally, Africa and particularly Nigeria, remains an outlier. This is a wake-up call.”

Drawing from his tenure, Obaseki presented Edo State as a model of what deliberate, data-driven governance could achieve. He outlined several bold reforms across security, education, health, infrastructure, and land administration.

Key highlights of his administration’s successes, according to Obaseki, included the creation of over 300,000 jobs through EdoJobs and targeted skills training; the establishment of EdoBEST, a mass-scale education reform program; digitisation of the Edo Civil Service and land registry systems;  strategic investment in fibre-optic infrastructure, connecting over 2,000km across the state and a pioneering oil palm programme (ESOPP) to reposition agriculture.

“We focused on strong institutions, not strong men,” Obaseki emphasised, calling his administration’s approach a shift toward governance for citizens, not patrons.

Obaseki also used the occasion to deliver a clarion call to diaspora communities to move from observers to actors, adding, “You cannot afford to be mere commentators.”

“The Edo Diaspora must see itself as part of the architecture of reform. Remittances, advocacy, and transnational engagement are essential to reclaiming the Nigerian state,” Obaseki noted.

The former governor’s remarks were met with a standing ovation, sparking an energetic Q&A session that explored the role of technology, the future of federalism, and mechanisms to resist elite capture in Nigerian politics.

On their part, the organisers hailed the event as a pivotal moment in reimagining Edo State’s and Nigeria’s futures from a transnational lens.

“The dialogue served as both a reckoning and a roadmap,” said one participant.

“Obaseki reminded us that statecraft is not just about managing power—it’s about confronting the forces that threaten the very legitimacy of the state,” the participant added.