I am afraid of Asue Ighodalo’s lies on ARISE TV, By KASSIM ÀFEGBUA

First of all, let me officially welcome Asue Ighodalo to the murky waters of politics, as an aspirant in the Gubernatorial Election of Edo state. I took time to listen to him on Arise TV, The Morning Show, where, in trying to respond to some questions had to follow Governor Obaseki’s litany of lies and propaganda about EdoBest and the issue of broadband services in Edo state. According to Mr. Ighodalo, every nook and cranny of Edo state has a broadband facility to facilitate e-learning and et al. I cringed when I heard such a declaration; broadband in every nook and cranny? I shrugged in utter disbelief. In fact, this is not just a lie from the pit of hell, but to hear such declaration from a man of Ighodalo’s stature is graveously underwhelming. Edo state education is presently at its lowest ebb since Governor Obaseki came on board. There are so many schools without sufficient teachers. The four secondary schools in Okpella, my community, that boasts of two cement giants, have four teachers in one, and three teachers in the remaining three schools. In Governor Obaseki’s 7 years of being in the saddle, no government attention has been given to these four schools beyond what Adams Oshiomhole did under his Red Roof Revolution.

When I heard Asue Ighodalo talked about broad band in every nook and cranny of the state, I knew exactly that Edo people were in for serious trouble; another era of propaganda and lies packaged in edible prose to confuse Edolites about the realities that stare us in the face. Internet connectivity from mobile phones are still within the reach of maybe 40% of the towns and villages across the state, yet Asue Ighodalo could come up with such a declaration. Oh my world!!. I needed to know exactly what he meant when he mentioned broadband and Wikipedia offered me an explanation of what broadband is:

“In telecommunications, broadband is the wide-bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast internet connections. The medium can be coaxial cable, optical fiber, wireless Internet, twisted pair, or satellite”

The Obaseki administration has not installed optical fiber, twisted pair, coaxial cable or wireless Internet in Edo state. I remember Comrade Oshiomhole set up the ICT Agency in government House which was supposed to be expanded in terms of installing optical fiber, but was stalled before the expiration of that administration. When Obaseki came in, he was supposed to recruit and distribute about 2,500 teachers who were interviewed and ready to be absorbed into Edo Civil Service as teachers. That never happened. The next thing we started hearing was EdoBest this, EdoBest that, which was carefully and masterfully crafted to hoodwink developmental partners of Edo Government as though the government was working. The idea of broadband in every nook and cranny of Edo state as declared by Mr. Ighodalo is outright red-herring. How can? I just hope Edo state are not going to fall into another cesspit of MoU driven economic pathway that yields nothing on ground but heavy on paper.

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Asked about who invited him to join this race, Mr. Asue Ighodalo sculptored another image of a lie, denying Obaseki’s influence, and not man enough to state the truth of the matter. Having been economic adviser to Obaseki for seven years plus, it would not be out of place if he told a simple truth that the Governor influenced his entry into the race. It is a fact that is audible to the deaf and visible to the blind. Denying such barefaced fact is a huge minus on his credibility, especially in connection with a man whom he had served for 7 years as an adviser. If Ighodalo must care, each time he visits any community in Edo state, he should stop at any school be it Primary or Secondary, and ask of their broadband connectivity and also the number of teachers. I expected him to develop a research-based data collection that will guide his understanding of a state he’s practically a stranger of. He exposed that gap when he said one passes through Agenebode to Auchi, ouch!, such an undercut. Agenebode is a border community between Edo and Kogi at the Idah end of the River Niger. There is nothing “through” Agenebode to Auchi. You get to Auchi first before you proceed to Agenebode.

Edo state is ranking 6th position on the hierarchy of states in debts with a whooping N325b at a time when Federal Allocation is increasing by the day. That is something to worry about, especially when there is nothing tangible on ground to complement the huge revenue of the state. Governor Obaseki came up with the lies of building a brand new road that will connect Benin City with Edo North, and was ready to toll the proposed road. In 7 years, that road is still left at the level of MoU. I heard Asue Ighodalo repeating such debauchery. For me, I do not see any difference between Governor Obaseki and Mr. Asue Ighodalo. Their facial expressions of trying to simplify serious matters with churlish smile is peculiar. Their facial looks are similar, which also means that their nuances might convey the same impression. This could explain away the similarity in their lies and propaganda.

Asue Ighodalo has been an adviser to Governor Obaseki for seven years, yet they demolished the State Library for Shoprite. He has been an adviser, yet state roads in some areas are in parlous state. All these years, Ighodalo could not advise Governor Obaseki to fix the Federal roads through green financing. What an adviser could that possibly be. For three years, Governor Obaseki has been struggling to possess the Benin Artefacts, yet Ighodalo didn’t see anything wrong in that. He also with-held the statutory allocations to traditional rulers for six months, what did Asue do about it? Asue must learn to be his own man, and not the alter ego of an underperforming Governor whose hatred for the Edo people has germinated across the state. Failing to endorse the Governor’s performance, a man for whom you’ve served as adviser, is a confirmation that the Governor has failed, and Edo people cannot reinforce failure. Governor Obaseki’s performance has been abysmal and dismal. It is all about propaganda and MoUs. So awful. And Asue Ighodalo is Godwin Obaseki’s third term project. Simplicita!