By Pharez Okpere
I read with much amusement the press statement signed by media aide to the Governor, Crusoe Osagie, on behalf of the Edo State government.
Let me start by saying that I seriously do not intend to engage the Edo state government on needless media rumbling, but I do feel it is very imperative that I respond to some of the watery allegations leveled against my person in the poorly scripted press release by the said aide.
The recent video of the dilapidated, deplorable, disgraceful, and shabby Holy Aruosa Primary School should only provoke a sincere remorse and response from a responsible and proactive government who should first and foremost be answerable to the people.
The flimsy attempt by the State government to divert attention from the core issues of the inexcusable and disreputable condition of Holy Aruosa Primary School by employing an obvious blatant tactics to ignore the message and blackmail, intimidate, and harass the messenger is condemnable and makes absolutely no sense to animals let alone humans.
For those who know me,they can testify without equivocation that I will never embark on a campaign to depict the embarrassing, and ignominious level of decay of public infrastructure in Edo State with the aim to get money from members of the APC who are finding it a challenge to meet their own personal needs. It is laughable and a reflection of very childish reasoning which Crusoe Osagie is known to excel in!!
As a noble citizen and more importantly as a father, I genuinely felt the pain and agony the little children of Holy Aruosa Primary School went through in the rain on the said day.it must have been such a horrifying experience just to get an education in a State where their parents pay taxes and all manner of levies impressed on them to pay as they carry out their businesses.
I am a proud member of the People’s Democratic Party and a strong and vocal voice in the opposition party, I have never at anytime served as an aide to any minister let alone the former minister of Works, Chief Mike Onolemenmen who by all standard served excellently and earned the nickname” The Bulldozer”. We are proud of what he achieved while he served and we will ask the government to show Edo people the report card of who they currently have in the Federal executive council.in any case, can we as Edo people say we currently have a minister from Edo state in Buhari’s government?
Mr. Crusoe Osagie is alien to Edo state and we understand the sheer ignorance that have enveloped his small mind,he is obviously very bereft of quality information relating to the history of governance in Edo State in that he’s worked all his life as a clerical staff with different establishments in Lagos,If he was properly schooled and rightly informed he will know that The PDP government of Professor Oseriemen Osunbor Paid the counterpart funding for UBE in 2007.
The decaying condition of Educational infrastructure in Edo State in the last 9 years should be worrisome to anybody who truly loves Edo state. From Ambrose Alli University, to Tayo Akpata, University, to the secondary schools and primary schools across the state can we sincerely say Education has been improved in Edo State over the years? Despite the obvious fact that the government of Former governor Adams Oshiomole and the current Governor Godwin Obaseki have presided over the richest governments in the history of Edo State and Sadly accumulated the greatest debt which our children will be forced to pay for the next 40 years while their own children are enjoying the spoils of their fathers brazen theft.
We all know that, I have recently dragged Governor Godwin Obaseki and Edo state government to court for the obvious disregard for the rule of law in the appointment of a sole administrator in the management of SUBEB instead of a Board, which is the legal operational requirement for running SUBEB and I expect all sorts of attacks simply because I am demanding that the right thing be done.
Finally, it is generally agreed by all especially those in the APC that the media team of the Governor is weak and filled with easy going sycophants who even fall short of the required experience to speak for a village head let alone a Governor. Let me use this opportunity to advise Governor Godwin Obaseki in his own interest and if he wants to be taken seriously to immediately shop for a press secretary who has a sound mind and a good command of written English and discard the junkyard dog Mr. Cursoe Osagie who has done nothing but to continuously embarrass and disgrace the state government with half baked, poorly scripted press release devoid of simple reasoning which has done nothing but provoke negative reactions towards the government who is already swimming against the tide and at the verge of drowning.
I sincerely hope that the government will wake up to her responsibility and stop the inglorious attempts at buck passing and blame games.
God bless Edo State.