In this tete-a-tete, Haruna Yusuf, the former Chief Security Officer(CSO) to Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, poured encomium on his former boss praising him for what he described as his numerous achievements.
“There are so many standard projects that Governor Obaseki has done. After his tenure Edo people will look back and thank God that they had him as a governor. He is a quiet achiever. He has done so much and he is not making any noise about the achievements,” Yusuf stated.
Excerpts:
For me the only country that we have is Nigeria. We all owe it a responsibility to make Nigeria work. Wherever we go we must always come back to our country. It is only in Nigeria that we are first class citizens. If you acquire other countries international passport you are only a second class citizen there.
What made the advanced countries what they’re today is because they let democracy to triumph. For me as regards the recent Presidential and National Assembly elections Governor Obaseki is a hero in the sense that if we have many governors like him Nigeria can only get better. Truly, power is supposed to belong to the masses and the day they say that they don’t want you you go. When they want you they vote for you and you serve them.
You will be loyal to the masses when you know that it is their mandate that is keeping you there. When they rig you into office you are loyal to those who perpetrate the crime and not to the members of the public. Governor Obaseki has really achieved a lot in Edo State as far as I know because I have served two governors of the state back to back. I can tell you that there are fundamental achievements and progress that Governor Obaseki has made continuing a foundation of continuity that was laid by his predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
There could be political differences but that has not derailed Governor Godwin Obaseki from those core developmental issues that were agreed upon between him and his predecessor. For me, that is how it should be. This last election people voted the way they wanted for Obidient Movement and all that in Edo State. Nobody was harrassed on account of that. That’s full democracy in play and that should be where Nigeria should be.
Nigeria is the leading country in Africa and if our democracy is marked with all kinds of violence and irregularities we are only but ridiculing ourselves before those other countries in Africa and even beyond that see Nigeria as the giant of Africa. If we have the likes of Governor Obaseki across Nigeria the country will surely get better where people decide who lead them without rancour or fear of intimidation.
There are so many standard projects that Governor Obaseki has done. After his tenure Edo people will look back and thank God that they had him as a governor. He is a quiet achiever. He has done so much and he is not making any noise about the achievements. My advice to him is that he has to ring his own bell even louder. Some people don’t like him to talk about what he is doing so that they can be using his silence against him. That’s what they have done in this last election using his quieteness as if he has not done anything meaningful. When I read in social media that he has not done anything I marvel. What about what he has done in education, infrastructural and human capital development etc.
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