By John Mayaki
When we speak of life after office, especially for politicians, the thinking are often familiar. We have seen ex-governor Godwin Obaseki who with his wife, now roam aimlessly around European cities and at some point, appearances at self-sponsored gatherings but for Senator Monday Okpebholo, “I will retire home peacefully.”
Governor Okpebholo says his retirement dream is even far simpler. Just like myself who has retired into farming, Okpebholo said he would return to his village and live among his people peacefully.
How does a man who after governing his state and her resources for 8 years flee to an unknown location like one being troubled by conscience? Can Obaseki truly say he is at peace with the people he governed in Edo state? Or he simply governed Edo people in Diaspora and abandoned those who voted him into office? Where does Obaseki lives today? In Canada? Or in the United States? In the United Kingdom or in Europe? Where exactly?
A man who ruled for 8 years without a road to his ancestral home cannot have a place to retire into. A man who rode roughshod on his people does not have a place to retire to. He must necessarily roam aimlessly in the wilderness, unfortunately with his wife. But here is a contrast.
“When I leave office, I want to return to my village and live among my people with pride, knowing that I would leave Edo better than I met it,” Okpebholo said.
That was a sharp contrast to the man who is now a wanderer abroad. The governor made his intentions known during a meeting with the leadership of the inter-party advisory council (IPAC) at Government House in Benin City.
Was Governor Okpebholo drawing a quiet contrast with his predecessor or it was an intentional political jab, when he said he would retire home peacefully and with pride? Or it is me that is reading meanings to the harmless words of the governor. Note the words, peacefully and pride. Can Obaseki say today that he is at peace with his people residing in Edo state? Is Obaseki proud that he refused to take development to his own village and as such he has now made himself a “castaway”?
For Okpebholo, his focus would not be to travel because he would be proud to stay with his people and he would do so peacefully because he is impacting on them. He has extended development to Obaseki and his hometown because according to him, “I am not a governor of the APC alone; I am the governor of all Edo people. My focus is development and not division.”
Whoever has impacted on his people must be contented staying closer to home. Leaders like Okpebholo do not want to be remembered for the number of flights he took abroad or the number of countries he has visited. His remarks about retiring to his village were quite brief but touching. It strikes a chord in a country where leaders often leave behind both office and people once the spotlight dims. Here, Obaseki personally dimmed his own spotlight and fled into the oblivion.
For Okpebholo, he wants to be remembered for the roads he built, the flyovers, the schools, the farms, the hospitals, and for the quiet conviction that leadership, especially in its truest form, should end where it began; at home and not abroad.
Either retire home or roam aimlessly abroad, the choice is yours. This is the contrast between Obaseki and Okpebholo.
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