Oshiomhole: Agenebode Hasn’t Benefitted Infrastructure Devt, Democracy Dividends under Obaseki 

Ugo Aliogo

The Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, in the Senate, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has stated that Agenebode, the headquarter of Etsako-East Local Government Area, has been marginalised by the administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

He  therefore, said  the region has not benefitted in terms of infrastructural development and dividends of democracy.

He lamented that there are no schools, and the few schools that exists, there are no teachers, adding that the indigenes of the region do community service to be able to pay the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) teachers, which is a responsibility that the Edo State government should able to handle.

Oshiomhole, who disclosed this weekend in Lagos during Weppa Wanno Pyramid Club of Nigeria 8th biennial retreat with the theme: ‘Politics as a Veritable Tools for Community Development,’ said he doesn’t know why the state government has neglected the region in this manner.

“There is no tertiary institution, a tertiary institution can be galvanised by the State. The general hospital is supported by us. We donate medical supplies to them from time to time. These are responsibilities that the state should bear. We do them because the state is nobody. It is not somebody that is called a state.” 

“Those who attend the hospital for treatment are not governors, or Benins, rather it is our people. So, we need to provide the hospital with the needed support,” he said.

Oshiomhole, who was represented at the event by a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Benin, Prof. Marcel Okhakhu, stated that everyone must all be active in politics in order to attract development, and politics is not for card-carrying members alone, but everybody is a politician.

He further explained that the region is almost like a back town, noting that if the region had a bridge across the water from Agenebode, it would open up the town for developmental and growth.

 “So, we obviously need a bridge. But that bridge is not something that the Agenebode indigenes can bankroll on their own, government would put that infrastructure in place,” he said.

In his words: “We are hoping that our current senator and myself would be able to call attention of the federal and state government to that infrastructural deficit in the area. Another missing infrastructure is that there is no tertiary institution. The secondary schools were schools that were established in 1967 and the pockets of private schools that has shown up. The community also needs a tertiary institution to catalyze growth and development. The only tertiary institution that was there was the College of Agriculture I was brought by myself at the time, and it has been long closed down by Governor Godwin Obaseki and nothing has happened till date.

“Those that you have sent by way of mandate, must not be left alone even after you have voted for them, you must call them to account. You must call them to give a shopping list of what is possible. You may not know what they know, that is why you must have a town hall meeting, so that you can brainstorm, you can share ideas and prioritize the things that needs to be done. No man, nobody knows it all. They need ideas and support, information and they too will be willing to carry your message for free so that the world can know that life doesn’t stop in Abuja or Lagos, but also life resides in Agenebode.”

Earlier in his remarks, the President of Weppa Wanno, Dr. Austine Aipoh, said the pyramid retreat came into being in 2008 and was espoused to hold biennially with hosting rotated between the four chapter of the club to brainstorm on contemporary issues impacting on the well being of members and community at large.

He also stated that the retreat provides the opportunity to appraise the journey of the pyramid dream and formulate the way forward for the advancement of member’s welfare.

According to him, “This retreat is the eight editions in the series of biennial retreats. The first edition was held in the city in Warri in 2008, the second retreat in 2009 was held in city of Benin.  The third retreat took place in Abuja in 2011; the fourth edition was in Lagos, Lagos State in 2015. The Fifth retreat was held in Port Harcourt, River State in 2017 while the sixth was in FCT, Abuja in 2019. The seventh edition, the first by this administration was in Benin City in 2021 with remarkable achievements. Between the last retreat and now, the club has achieved giant strides in many spheres. We are here once again to discuss and deliberate on very important issues affecting the club and members fashion out ways to make the club better.

“Politics affects all facets of our lives, and all sectors of the economy are subjugated to political power play and control, community development being no exception. Members therefore will benefit immensely from this theme which will bring to our consciousness the need to venture into politics or lend support to political players.”