By Dan Osa-Ogbegie, Esq.
For decades, Edo politics remained trapped within a narrow and predictable cycle of political recycling. The same ageing actors moved endlessly from one office to another, from one administration to the next, and from one political alignment to another, as though leadership in Edo State had become the exclusive inheritance of a permanent political aristocracy.
Meanwhile, thousands of intelligent, energetic, and capable young Edo people watched helplessly from the margins while opportunities for leadership, governance, party administration, and public service remained tightly controlled by individuals whose political relevance dated back several decades.
That unhealthy political culture is now gradually changing.
Today, one of the most important political transformations taking place within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State is the deliberate transition from recycled political gerontocracy to a younger generation of political actors. That transition is unfolding under the leadership of Senator Monday Okpebholo, Governor of Edo State and Leader of the APC in Edo State, together with the State Chairman of the party, Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.
Predictably, such a shift has unsettled entrenched interests.
Those who became accustomed to monopolising political relevance naturally feel threatened by the emergence of a younger generation that is increasingly assertive, visible, influential, and institutionally empowered. Yet, history teaches a simple lesson: no political structure survives indefinitely without renewal.No serious political party can continue recycling the same exhausted political machinery forever while expecting innovation, grassroots energy, modern governance ideas, and long-term political sustainability.
That reality appears to be clearly understood by Governor Monday Okpebholo and Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.
Much of the criticism unfairly directed at Khalifa Jarret Tenebe in recent times stems from the fact that he has become one of the visible faces of this generational transition within Edo APC. Beneath the noise, propaganda, and political bitterness lies an undeniable truth: the party is consciously opening spaces for younger people in ways not seen for many years.
From the youthful Deputy Chairman of APC in Edo State, Sylvester Aigboboh, to several younger commissioners, Special Advisers, members of the State Executive Council, board chairmen, local government administrators, and strategic appointees across government, the evidence of deliberate political renewal is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.
In Uhunmwode Local Government Area, Hon. Austin Imafidon, has emerged as one of the young faces of focused governance and grassroots administration. Beyond politics, he has already established himself successfully in business, bringing into governance the mindset of productivity, enterprise, and modern administrative engagement.In Etsako, Hon. Sunny Ekpeson has continued to attract national attention as the youngest ALGON Chairman in Nigeria, representing a clear departure from the era where local government leadership was treated as the permanent preserve of ageing political operators disconnected from younger demographics.
In Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Hon. Eric Osawaru represents another example of the younger political generation now entrusted with leadership responsibilities, while in Oredo Local Government Area, Engr. Gabriel Iduseri equally reflects the growing confidence being reposed in younger administrators within the APC structure.
In Owan, Hon. Aitalegbe Ernest, popularly known as “China Boy,” has also emerged as one of the prominent young political figures gaining traction as the incoming Chairman of the local government, further reinforcing the expanding generational transition currently taking shape across Edo State.
The same pattern is visible across government institutions and strategic agencies.
Pastor Stanley Dave Ighodaro, a successful entrepreneur with thriving business interests in Europe, now heads the Edo State Parks and Gardens Agency. His emergence reflects an increasingly important shift towards bringing professionally exposed and globally minded younger individuals into governance and public administration.
Similarly, Kassim Otono, who serves as Special Adviser on Oil and Gas to the Executive Governor of Edo State, represents another example of younger technocratic involvement within the present administration. His inclusion within such a strategic sector underscores the growing confidence being placed in younger professionals and politically aware technocrats within government.
This is how enduring institutions are built.A political party that refuses to regenerate itself eventually becomes intellectually stagnant, structurally weak, and electorally disconnected from evolving social realities.
Governor Monday Okpebholo deserves commendation for recognising that governance in a rapidly changing society cannot remain permanently tied to political methods and leadership assumptions developed several decades ago. Contemporary governance demands adaptability, technological awareness, stronger grassroots engagement, administrative energy, and a deeper connection with younger populations.
Khalifa Jarret Tenebe equally deserves credit for helping stabilise the party while managing this difficult but necessary transition process. Generational shifts are never easy within political systems historically dominated by established interests. Resistance is inevitable. Political resentment is expected. Internal anxieties naturally emerge whenever old monopolies begin to weaken.
Leadership, however, requires courage. The recently concluded primaries further revealed this evolving direction within the APC. The emergence of candidates such as Rt. Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Osazee Igbinovia, Dr. Emmanuel Paddy Iyamu, Omosede Igbinedion, Sir Lucky Eseigbe, and Odianosen Okojie reflects a growing political philosophy that increasingly values capacity, grassroots relevance, contemporary appeal, and generational continuity.
Equally symbolic is the emergence of several young Acting Local Government Council Chairmen who are now candidates of the party in the forthcoming local government elections. That development sends a powerful message across Edo State that political participation is gradually becoming more accessible to younger people with competence, commitment, and organisational value.
For too long, many young people in Edo politics were reduced to political spectators, social media defenders, praise singers, or election-day foot soldiers while actual power remained tightly guarded elsewhere. Such a model was never sustainable.A society that continuously sidelines its younger generation ultimately weakens its own political future.
The ongoing transition within Edo APC does not amount to hostility towards elders or experienced political actors. Experience remains valuable. Elder statesmen still possess institutional memory and political wisdom that younger actors can benefit from immensely. Mentorship, however, must never become political suffocation. Guidance must never evolve into permanent political domination.
Every generation deserves the opportunity to participate meaningfully in shaping the future it will eventually inherit. That is precisely why the current direction of the APC leadership in Edo State deserves objective acknowledgement rather than emotional hostility.
Many of those attacking Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe today are not truly angry about party administration. Their deeper discomfort arises from the reality that political influence is gradually shifting away from old centres of control towards a newer generation of actors who may no longer depend entirely on traditional political gatekeepers for relevance or survival.
Societies evolve. Political cultures evolve. Leadership itself evolves.
No generation owns political power forever. Ultimately, the future of Edo State cannot be built exclusively around recycled political veterans whose greatest political moments belong largely to the past. A forward-looking society must continuously create room for younger leadership, newer ideas, fresh administrative energy, and modern political thinking.
That future is already unfolding within the APC in Edo State. History may eventually remember Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe and Governor Monday Okpebholo as central figures in the difficult but necessary political transition that began moving Edo away from recycled political dominance towards a broader and younger leadership culture capable of preparing the state for a different era.
Daniel Aroren Noah Osa-Ogbegie is a Benin based legal practitioner and public intellectual from Uhunmwode Local Government Area.
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