Edo Election: What Lessons from the Campaigns? 

Perspective

Josef Omorotionmwan

Admittedly, there are no vacations in war. This is what the Binis mean when they say, “Aghagbowe yokpan ne, aighi lele ede eken’. 

This is also one way of appreciating the fact that for about three months now, politicians have been trans versing the entire Edo State, asking the electorate for their votes in the forthcoming gubernatorial election.

As usual, the campaigns have been tumultuous but in spite of all that, it is heartening to note that there has been no incidence resulting in the loss of human lives. 

Again, there must be spices of goodness, even in things evil. There must have been a few lessons derived from this campaign, which we intend to explore briefly here.

What is good for Sapele Road is also good for Ugbogiobo. For good or for evil, successive administrations have concentrated their attention when it comes to the question of development. 

There is a joke built around the siting of the major State Courts on Sapele Road, Benin City. The joke holds that in the old Bendel State, most of the major litigants were from the core Delta, Sapele, Warri, Ughelli areas and their environs, hence it made sense to site the courts on Sapele Road so that the litigants could come in to Benin City, transact their court business without being entangled in the city centre traffic, and return to base. 

Apart from the Courts, the State Secretariat, the Police Headquarters, the State School of Nursing, the Specialist Hospital, the School of Health Technology, and other major projects, are all concentrated in the Sapele Road axis.

Evidently, every city has its Broad Street, but the point here is that the overconcentration of facilities in one area should not amount to stoically neglecting any other part of the state. 

For instance, to the extent that those facilities at Sapele Road must be manicured and maintained, with all the scarce resources of the state, we soon get to the point where such over concentration might depict an aggravated assault on the collective sensibilities of the Ovia North East Local Government in general, and the Ugbogiobo Community in particular where the “Pig Hole” called Egbomisi secondary school is located; this is one facility that has been totally neglected. 

In fact, the feeling here is that it would be better studying under the shade of trees than to be hanging perilously under this disaster waiting to happen!  

One lesson here, is that the scarce resources of a state must be thinly spread around to give all citizens a sense of belonging. 

The moment the local governments died, rural life also died. Time was when the farmer at Oghada, after eating his dinner of pounded yam hopped on his bicycle and went to Eguaeholor to do palm wine with his friends. After having a pleasant time, he returned home before midnight to have a good night sleep. 

On Ugieghudu market day, there was a time when trade and commerce flourished among the rural communities. Our mother left Oghada early in the morning for Ugieghudu. That was where they procured “Ebevberie” (small small smoked fish) “Uloka” (corn cake) and other items for their retail trade. They returned early enough to cook the evening meal for their families.

Today, all these have become totally obliterated, no thanks to the death of the Local Governments that once maintained the connecting roads with their annual grading. Quite recently, some local governments performed wonderfully. We remember the Oredo Local Government of under the chairmanship of Chief Lucky Igbinedion as he then was, and the Owan East Local Government under the chairmanship of Hon. Pally Iriase.

They constructed tarred roads, built solid markets, and provided pipe-borne water for their people. Today, such luxuries are no more, thanks and no thanks to the greed and avarice of present day governors. 

This is however without prejudice to the few governors in the country who may be doing the right thing. Everything flows from the type of elections we have. A bad election will invariably produce a bad government. 

You may celebrate the recent so-called independence of the local government as enunciated by the Supreme Court to the high heavens, if you want. But for all we know, nothing has changed. The setting is such that any local government chairman that wants to keep his job now has to bear the added responsibility of how to return the money to the State after getting it directly from the Federation Account.

In the past, the local government chairman could look the governor in the face and talk to him. After all, the elections that produced both of them were more or less the same. Today, the elections that produce a local government chairman is less than the process of electing a class monitor in the primary school! So, what do you expect?

Even in the midst of all rhetoric, we have seen a measure of issues-based campaigns. This also puts a big burden on the electorate to make their votes issues-based as the era of selling their votes for pittance is over.

No matter how we look at it, election in Nigeria is war by another name. That is one way of appreciating the fact that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun says he has sent 35,000 police men alongside over 8,000 other security personnel into Edo State for the purpose of maintaining law and order during the election. 

This feat has been made possible by the fact that the Edo State election is an off season event. In fact, the number of security personnel deployed to Edo State for this election is by far higher than the standing army or most countries of the world. 

At this election coming up on Saturday September 21, there will be winners and losers. We have a word or two for each category:

To the victor belongs the spoil of office. This is an age-long philosophy. On the winning side, it will be jubilations galore. The jubilation will continue far into the future. But as the winners bask in the euphoria of their victory, they must not allow their jubilation to degenerate into violence and destruction.

They must not take the law into their hands. No matter the amount of jubilation, the truth remains that jubilation cannot develop Edo State. The development of the State requires something else. It requires earnest, patriotic and ceaseless work from all of us. Every Edolite, irrespective of party affiliation and irrespective of religious and ethnic differences, must quickly banish from his heart, all feelings of disappointment, all sense of chagrin, and, like the gallant soldier, fall in line, salute the colours and face the common enemies.

Our enemies are many: They include unemployment, bad roads, extreme poverty in the midst of plenty, insecurity, fragile health and educational institutions, infrastructural deficiencies, environmental degradation and so on.

On the debit side, people must constantly bear in mind that he who has never failed has never really succeeded. It is not falling that matters but the ability to rise each time you fall. Evidently, losers must lick their wounds, particularly in the face of the prohibitive cost of running elections in Nigeria today. The important thing is not to allow their loss to tie them down.

Neither must they allow their loss to becloud them into perpetuating violence and wanton destruction. Rather, they must pick courage and return quickly to the drawing board. After all, there is always another election.

We remember Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) who was the flag bearer of the Democratic Party in the 1948 and 1952 presidential elections in the United States of America. On both occasions, he lost to his Republican Party opponents. After the 1952 contest, while maintaining a very high spirit, he wrote a best seller titled “How to come second”

His advice is today as relevant as it was when it was given more than 70 years ago: “Even more important than winning the election is governing the nation. That is the test of a political party; the acid final test. When the tumult and the shoutings die; when the bands are gone and the lights are dimmed, there is the stark reality of responsibility”. This we commend to Edolites in particular and Nigerians in general.

Beginning from the outcome of Saturday’s election, we see Edo State through the candidates, showing the way that the Election Petitions Tribunal is not a casino where gamblers go to try their luck. The tribunal is a serious business for serious-minded people who should approach it only on those rare occasions when they have good cases to pursue.

We hope the judiciary will give the election cases accelerated attention so that only the final winner will be sworn in on November 12.

Happy voting, Edolites!

• Omorotionmwan writes from Canada