Pushing opposition politics beyond acceptable limits

The Biblical King Solomon is famed for his wisdom. He displayed this gift in one instance when two women who were fighting over a child were brought before him.

While one of the women agreed to the proposition that the child in dispute be cut into two equal parts so that each of them could take one half, the real mother of the child kicked against the proposition. King Solomon was able to decipher who the real mother of the child was, as no genuine mother would allow her child to be sawed into pieces.

The woman who is not the child’s mother wanted the child killed. A way of saying if she cannot have the child, then let the child be killed. In much the same manner, the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resorted to playing the spoiler after losing the last gubernatorial election.

In politics, opposition political parties engage the ruling parties on issues that are germane to the wellbeing of the people and the overall growth and development of the state or country.

They conduct extensive research and investigations into issues and enrich the developmental debate with their scientific findings. That way, they raise their value in the political space despite their status as parties in hibernation.  

The parties initiate bills for Acts, contest policies and programmes to serve the interests of the people. They defend their political ideologies when the need arises and would not trivialise issues associated with national security.

They criticise constructively, as co-stakeholders in the state or country.

Edo Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unfortunately represents the direct opposite of the model opposition party in their desperation to tell a new and false story of their activities while they ruled the state.

After their failed aggressive state-wide campaign of calumny against the current government in the state, their new resolve is to destroy the state.

Convinced that the party does not stand a chance in the forthcoming local government elections, members of Edo PDP have given up on their main goal of securing political power, and have resorted to playing the spoiler role through litigation, dissemination of falsehood to the electorates, meddling in security issues by sponsoring fake audio-visual materials on the internet, to create a sense of insecurity in the state.

But Edo State, under the current administration is way past the mundane politics of desperation as promoted by the Edo PDP.

The driving force of the current administration is the enhancement of the socio-economic status of all Edo people through time-tested development models such as industrialisation, skilled man-power, a secure and safe society, respect for human dignity and the Rule of Law, a sane social milieu that will allow everyone to attain any height they desire in life.

These informed the administration’s commitment to projects like Azura Power plant, first phase now completed and functioning, the Benin Industrial Park and the Gelegele Seaport that will create the decent jobs which Edo people have been yearning for since the creation of the state. The ongoing revamp of the former Benin Technical College to serve as a science and technical college as well as an Information and Communication Technology hub, will equip the youths with modern skills and knowledge to play in the global ICT industry.

The influx of global development partners like the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other specialised international agencies and the international media into Edo State, in recent times attest to the state’s rising profile on the global scene.

The emerging Edo State under Governor Godwin Obaseki, has established enduring structures that promote the core values of good governance, namely; transparency, accountability; zero tolerance for corruption and indolence in the civil service; trained and skilled work force with Key Performance Indicators that serve as basis for reward.

A word for the Edo PDP to conduct its opposition activities in a decent and responsible manner, should be taken to heart by members of the party, as no dance drama, no matter how professionally choreographed by Dan Orbih and his co-dancers can displace, in the hearts and minds of Edo people, the reigning ‘Wake and See governance’ around them daily, across the three senatorial districts of the state.

At best, Edo PDP’s deliberate denial tactics further seals their fate as political group with a clearly terminal destiny. Real leaders own up to their sins, seek forgiveness and do not play the ostrich.

By

Azeez Aza

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