EDO 2024 IN THE ERA OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
There are exciting times ahead, reckons Austin Isikhuemen
Edo gubernatorial election is scheduled for September 2024. The umpire,
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), blew the whistle
to mark the take-off of formal campaigning by the political parties and
their candidates on 24th April 2024. Very soon we will begin to see the
candidates on soapboxes throwing light on their manifestoes and
explaining their strategies to better the lot of Edo people. There are
exciting times ahead. Some will throw opacity as is their way in politics.
It is only the undiscerning that will not know that informal campaigns
have long started at townhalls, palace engagements, visits to community
leaders, campuses, bars and staff clubs, talk shows and social media
platforms, social events like burials, coronations and birthday gigs as well
as party secretariats across the state. These have been devoid of party
slogans and noisy truck-mounted loudspeakers that make it impossible for
folks to avoid what is being said and who is in the village square. But the
message was so clear at this stage and the questions-and-answers part so
enlightening that the grains are already being sieved from the chaff.
Let us have a look at what has happened so far. It is said that it is with
the first grain of corn that you tell the mouth that food is on the way. That
is an Esan proverb. The English also say the morning tells the day. In
order words, the initial step is indicative of the final outcome. Social
media platforms and orthodox media including Television, Newspapers,
Radio Stations are all being used by the candidates and their surrogates
and opponents to market themselves and their candidates and his ideas or
de-market their opponents. This methodology was used to devastating
effect in the 2020 elections. This will even be more so in this era of
artificial intelligence and ubiquity of broadband in which Edo leads most
states of the Federation.
One of the characteristics that will make this Edo off-season
Gubernatorial Elections very interesting for the voters and onlookers is
the independent mindedness of most voters. A state with high proportion
of well-educated voters that do not need an interpreter to understand what
is being said without the risk of interpreter slant that is inevitably
introduced when used. The pidgin English, widely spoken and understood
by majority of our people, is going to take centre stage and any candidate
who cannot speak it well should better enrol for night lessons.
I say this because making mistakes even in pidgin English would be taken
by our people as a massive sign of unseriousness. Even capacity and
capability deficit. Mark my words! So, better go and prepare even if you
have to use AI which is highly used in learning these days. By AI, I do
not mean Asue Ighodalo. I mean artificial intelligence. It is a mere
coincidence that the acronym matches not only that of one candidate, it
also matches my own as Austin Isikhuemen is also another type of AI
though not yet of the gubernatorial hue!
So, how far did the pre-campaign period go? How did the candidates fare?
Have there been faux pas where any of the candidates put their foot in the
mouth, in a manner of speaking? Which candidate has been up and about,
visibly, and which has been mostly crawling around in the dark? Which
candidate has shone like a thousand stars as his own man? Which has
shown up as a dull, uninspiring and follow-follow puppet of behind-the scene string pullers? Which of the candidates has been honouring all and
any invitations and answering every question thrown at him by any
medium? Which candidate, in your own view, has been unafraid to face
any audience?
All the candidates in this race have pedigrees and track record. But can
we also dispassionately judge which of the candidates has the required
pedigree and track record to lead Edo State to a prosperous future where
everyone, and not the godfathers alone, will benefit and enjoy the
dividends of democracy and good governance? Which of these
candidates can hold a meeting one-on-one with a Japanese or an American
investor, understand what they are saying and not sell Edo State short out
of ignorance or greed? Tell me!
Which of the candidates comes from a background of word-class good
governance and management excellence rather than backdoor loot sharing and opaque disbursement of largesse? Which of the frontrunners
is likely to have receipts for all his transactions and be unafraid of leaving
an audit trail or indeed, deliberately leaves traceable documented
evidences of what took place and how?
There are so many questions still. Which of the candidates has
demonstrated youthfulness and made the youth the centre-stage of his
quest for leadership? I will not tell you, ask the youth. Real youth. Not
the 60-year-olds parading themselves as youth leaders! How familiar are
the candidates with the things that the youth are passionate about?
Football, sports generally, learning, technology including AI.
Contemporary dress sense too. Did you see the engaging sessions at some
of the venues where the youths asked probing questions and were inspired
with glowing words about what they can achieve based on their
knowledge of principles and not who they know? Have you listened well
to the ideas the candidates are sharing on women, people with disability,
the elderly? It is the way a government treats the most vulnerable in its
society that determines how good the government is.
Recently, President Tinubu delegated Governor Obaseki to represent him
and Nigeria at a global forum The 60th International Art Exhibition
(Biennale Arte 2024) organised by La Biennale di Venezia in Italy.
Which of the candidates in this race can be delegated such responsibilities
without giving the President and Nigerians high blood pressure and a
sense of underwhelming outcome? Olu, Manday or Asue? Think on that!
What did the President see that made him send an opposition governor?
That is the man they say the Federal might would be massed against in
September? What do I know?
During this pre-campaign period, one or two certificates hit the social
media. This is not new in Edo politics. It was centre-stage in 2020. There
was an unprecedented appearance of an official of a foremost university
coming out to attest to the authenticity of an alumnus of whom they are
very proud! That had not happened before and has not happened again
since. So, every candidate had better prepare for this sort of politico academic manoeuvre. Saying “e no mean”, pidgin for “it doesn’t matter”,
may not work in this time of technology and knowledge engineering!
Analogue has given way to digital. We are tired of living in the past.
As we head into the political campaigns proper, and later, elections in
September, let Edo people and voters shine their eyes. Edos have actually
left the era of mere political parties to candidates who can perform.
Capacity, competence, capability, modernity and youthfulness derived
from the heart and not chronology! Carrying a bag for a potentate has its
benefits but it also comes with its own baggage! It cannot in itself be a
sufficient condition for effective leadership and performance excellence
as extant evidence has shown.
Some may not consider this next point as important. But I do. This is
because the quality of a First Lady can determine the outlook and
performance of a male governor. Did everyone not see what Mitchel did
for the Obama Presidency? Or the impact of Dr. Jill Biden (who still
teaches today) on the flavour of Biden’s White House? So, Edo people
must see and evaluate the spouses of the front runners to see which of
them can add value to governance and not just be an Aso-Ebi organizer at
State events.
Track record that can be above par, that can come out tops even at global
scrutiny, that’s what Edo needs at this time to continue the match to
stardom among the thirty-six states. The same way the Midwest, and later,
Bendel State, were among the regions and later, states of this Federal
Republic. If my use of AI brought Asue Ighodalo to your mind, it is a
mere coincidence. Asue is big A and small i. Afterall, this writer is also
AI by name and I am not running. Yet.
