Perhaps it would have passed for a Campaign Council, because it had cleverly copied PDP’S Campaign Council’s structure and had a public function of empty jingoism to advertise it. But as has become APC’s new found custom they only ended up Cancelling any hope their few supporters might have had of giving PDP any challenge at the September 21 polls. They only succeeded in proving again that this was Another Problem Coming (APC), which Edo people must avoid through the ballot!
You would expect that an inauguration ceremony like that would afford the APC the opportunity to give us cutting edge alternative strategies they have to meeting the Edo needs that would arise post September 21, and show new thinking within their ranks to encourage an anticipation of a Edo vision, should they, in a highly unlikely situation ever, win. But what do we find? They sent up Jarrett Tenebe, the Acting Ignorance of the Party in the State, to, as usual, set up the Party for ridicule! After some strenuous effort at cogitation, Jarrett would stutter that Governor Obaseki has failed woefully in hospitals, schools roads, jobs, food, farming and security!
I have no intention of using negative inversive arguments against Jarrett Tenebe ‘s gross ignorance of what is going on in Edo State, but to simply respond to his list one by one and expose the fact that his party does not even know the Edo State they are dreaming to take over its reins of governance!
Hospitals/ Health Care. Governor Obaseki has put in place a Health Insurance Scheme called Edo State Health Insurance Scheme EdoHis for short! This serves all Edo citizens, who are encouraged to enlist with it and get their illnesses of any kind treated with the most minimal cost ever. EdoHis is further taking full care of our pensioners and aged citizens, as well as the vulnerable with a sizable number enlisted free of charge! Jarrett doesn’t know this!
Governor Obaseki has vigorously pursued the policy of establishing Primary Health Care clinics PHCs in the 18 LGAs of the State to cater for primary illnesses and serve as referral points to secondary facility as the case may be! Jarrett doesn’t know this! I make bold to say and stand to be countered that Stella Obasanjo hospital, at completion will be second to none in the subregion, given the sophistry of medical equipment that are already purchased and available for anyone to see at the OPD of the hospital right now! But, even more so, by the fact of the world class medical personnel been trained at the State of the Arts Edo State School of Nursing Sciences! Obviously Jarrett doesn’t even know this!
Jarrett Tenebe, the Acting Ignorance of Another Problem Coming (APC), would have been wiser and discussed other matters of stomach infrastructure (food), because that is what he knows very well, but he also decided to overreach himself to the domain of Education or schools which in his highly limited mind, means painting all school roofs red! It never for once crossed his mind, that the world class, first of its kind Education hub Governor Obaseki is building in Iyaro, Benin City, is connected to Schools.
He has no idea that the equally State of the Art School of Nursing Sciences is s school. It was tasking his lazy imagination too much to relate schools to Obaseki’s success in linking Edo State Polytechnic to Chinese tertiary institutions for academic exchanges that would greatly enhance our engineering and ICT education. How then can we expect him to connect a fully built and running Edo Technology Park in Okhoromi, partnering with decagon as school? Since Obaseki has not painted these roofs red? Just the same way he has failed to provide animals in the museum he built? I guess we can forgive Jarrett Tenebe. But not before he travels to College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences in Iguoriakhi, College of Education in Abudu, Benin Technical College, Benin and come back to tell us what his eyes saw! APCs ignorance of Edo State of today, truly rankles!
Roads
Of course, Jarrett Tenebe, doesn’t know that Governor Godwin Obaseki has constructed about 540 roads covering over 730 kilometres in the past eight years. He has no idea that even till moment, Obaseki is still constructing roads! If Jarrett is blind to concrete things like roads, is it technical jobs support structures like Edo Jobs and enabling systems for jobs creations by the private sector he will understand? How do will expect Jarrett to know that Edo State government has a standing policy of offering automatic jobs to all Edo State young ones who graduate with first class from any university in the world? And that Edo has a skills training and enhancement centre that is unique in the sub region, called John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA!)
Farming
Jarrett doesn’t know that Edo State has the largest Oil palm plantation with over 60,000 hectares in the Continent. He has no idea of Green Hill farm with capacity to produce 400 metric tonnes of cassava and the value chain from it that benefit our local farmers.
Security
Jarrett Tenebe’s Federal Government has become a world spectacle of failed security and home to kidnappers and banditry, with a particularly sore case of the Kaduna train kidnapping! So it is understood why in his confusion, his psyche is haunted by insecurity. He needs not be so harassed for Edo State because his Party will never be allowed to come and afflict Edo State with their woeful failure in security. To help his ameasia, let us remind him that the only time bandits hit a train in Edo and kidnapped about 30 people, the Government of Edo State under the leadership of Governor Obaseki supervised their release in less than 3 days. Again, Auchi – Benin road was a daily kidnap run for the bandits and kidnappers, and people traveled in dread, until the Edo State combined vigilante and security forces commanded again by Governor Obaseki’s authority as Chief Security Officer of the State, said No More! Today Jarrett can go to his home town in Edo North without fear because of that! The only inconvenience in traveling would be the road his APC Government has yet failed to fix! Jarrett doesn’t even know this! . We sleep with relative peace and have night life in Edo today because of these measures and the Governor’s attitude against cult related and criminal activities, quite unlike Jarrett Tenebe’s open romance with violent tendencies! He once said he will mobilize his thugs to stone Governor Obaseki. You see, you can only give what you have! APC gives stones, how then can he keep track with developments in the State? Acting Ignorance Jarret and his Siamese Ignorance Okpebholo need to take a tour of Edo State to know the present situation and status they are pretending to Campaign for its governance. That way they can at least learn two lessons. One that schools goes beyond red roof tops and two, that animals are not kept in mesuems!
