Edo State is at a cross-road. Even if the house has not fallen, it is self-evident that the edifice is tottering. We are in the grip of a collapsed system of values, general disillusionment, self-doubt and apprehension of the reality, that something just has to be done before we can re-discover ourselves by setting in motion a process of rebirth and rescue of our dear state. The sense of impunity which pervades the Edo society has since been complicated by large scale corruption. It is becoming realised that the problem with Edo State was not really paucity or lack of laws, but their enforcement.
A situation where hunger has deprived the poor of sleep at night and the rich in turn can only sleep with one eye open on account of night marauders can only be symptomatic of one thing, a society in the pang of atrophy.
Since self preservation is said to be the first law of nature, any government that is unable to guarantee security of life for its citizen forfeits the right to exist or enjoy the respect of its citizens. This is why security is the first charge in any society otherwise we would witness a descent to the jungle of survival of the fittest and a situation of might is right.
So pervasive, is corruption in Edo state today, that there is hardly any sector that is immune from the corrosive effects of the proverbial cankerworm.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hand the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human misery. To those people across Edo state struggling to break the bond of mass misery, this government should pledge its best to help them, help themselves. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich in term of security of life and property.
So with this present administration on board and with the integrity and honesty it holds, let us begin anew. Let our road construction begin anew with better road design network.
Let Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole take a holistic approach in fighting poverty, let him take a new approach in our educational system. Let him for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposal for the inspection of government projects.
In the quest for the development of Edo State, all this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days, nor in the life of this administration, but he should begin.
Now the trumpet summons this present administration not as a call to battle, though embattle we are, but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemy of man, Poverty and disease.
There are mothers and fathers in Edo state who lie awake, after the children have fallen asleep and wonder what they will make to pay doctor bills in term of illness or enough for their child’s education.
But for Edo State, there’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to be built by this administration. The road ahead will be long. Climbing will be steep. But I have never been more hopeful than I am today, we will get there. There may be set backs and false start by this administration, but we will join hands in supporting this administration in remarking this State, block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand, by calloused hand.
This victory at the appeal court alone is not the change we seek, it is only the change for us to make that change, and that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. In this State we rise and fall as one people and as such we should resist the temptation to fall back to the same partisanship and politics for so long.
Today, Governor Oshiomhole proves once more that the true strength of justice comes not from the might of our hands, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideas, democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That is the true genius of Edo State that our State can change. Our union can be perfected.
What Governor Oshiomhole already achieved from the electoral victory gives us hope, for what we can and achieve tomorrow. This election had many stories that will be told for generation.
What we have seen — The heartache, the hopes; the struggle and the progress, the time we were told, is it worth the fight, and (by Adams Aliu Oshiomhole and the people pressed on with that creed; YES WE CAN. When there was despair in the dustbowl and depression across the land, seeing a State conquer fear itself with a new deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose, YES WE CAN. We shall overcome. Edo State has come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do.
This is our chances for this administration to answer that call. This is their moment. This is their time to put our people back to work and open the doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace. To reclaim the Edo State dream and re-affirmed the fundamental truth, that out of many we are one, that while we breathe, we hope. And where these administrations are met with cynicism and doubt, those who told them they can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people; YES WE CAN.
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