Entrants of credible candidates for election will enthrone lasting democracy
By Bilulu Ojeifoh
We leave in a time and in a country where it is very difficult to find good things to say about men and women in public life, especially in the political circles, because many of them do not inspire same. While some came saw and conquered, others conquered before they saw.
Many might be genuinely convinced that some politicians are credible considering the fact that the best performed politicians are technocrat, judging from their life experiences and their administrative exposure.
It is a fact that when we have credible candidates for election, lasting democracy will be enthroned.
In Edo State for instance, there is a fresh cool political air which is currently blowing across since the entry of Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi into the political discourse in Edo State. Sooner had he retired from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as a Group Executive Director, after a meritorious service, was appointed in the waiting hands of President Goodluck Jonathan, who was eagerly searching to have the best hands in his cabinet after he had assumed the mantle of leadership as the President , Commander in-Chief of the Arm edForces in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
His retirement suffice to say has some element of goodluck and providence at a time Nigerians were tired of recycled political vuvuzelas. Chris as he is fondly called by his friends is a self made man, who by dint of hard work, planning and well aided by providence and conquered all his challenges, had his early education at a very young age.
Chris, a product of Harvard Business School, after virtually holding all the available positions in the NNPC got the very last one which is the Group Executive Director, GED, Exploration and Production in 2007.
Engr. Chris loves challenges and takes them seriously. By nature, he is not pedestrian. He does extra – ordinary things in ordinary ways, and he strives to make a difference in whatever capacity he finds himself.
The revolution he has brought into the political discourse in Edo State since coming into politics is an eloquent testimony of what the party stand to gain as long as he remained in politics.
When he decided to go into politics on retirement from NNPC, after so much pressure from different groups, in 2009, Chief Tony Anenih and the leadership of PDP in Edo State in their characteristic wisdom wasted no time for Chris Ogiemwonyi to be admitted in the folds of PDP family in the state. So far with his committed unalloyed loyalty to the party leadership he has been able to galvanize contending groups in the party. And in the words of one of the party leaders “the coming of Chris Ogiemwonyi into the P.D.P in the state has signaled to them the good things to come and the much awaited total reconciliation is already on its wayâ€.
Edo State is known for its homogenous culture, common identify and linguistic heritage. There are three main intra-ethnic groups that make up the state. The Binis, Ishans and Affemaes. The Bini language is widely spoken and understood. The adopted catch phrase is the (Heart Beat of the Nation), while the traditional occupation of the people includes Farming, Trading, Raffiaworks, Carving, Poultry, Blacksmithing and Craft.
Edo State has about 12,412sqkm landscapes known for high culinary taste. Their food ranks among the best in the world. The present administration is the 5th democratically elected and the first opposition to rule the state since its creation. The state has 18 local government areas. The dispersal among the three sub-ethnic groups are as follow:
The Bini axis, that is Benin speaking language, is made up of eight local government areas. The Ishan axis is made up of five local government areas while the Affemae axis, is made up of six local government areas. In the national political demographic, the Binis are known as the Edo South, Ishans is the Edo Central while The Affemaes is the Edo North. Chris Ogiemwonyi is from Edo South which is the majority among the three ethnic groups that made up Edo State. All the groups have had their fair share in terms of political distribution of party positions in the past.
Chris no doubt is an interesting new breed politician for any intellectual discourse. He is a recognized technocrat and Petroleum Engineer turned politician. For him issues about politics and administrations are another area of his exploits which is not known to most people and that must have been his sources of inspiration and motivation to delve into politics aside from the successes he has recorded in his careers.
He has the baptism and political support of the leaders across the ethnic groups that made up Edo State and he is already enjoying the full support of his people who has already taken political solace in him. And to Chief Tony Anenih and the leaders of PDP in Edo State, Chris Ogiemwonyi is a political assets and he has prove that by reinvigorating the political consciousness and vibrancy the P.D.P is known for.
In one of the interviews with some state house correspondents, Chris said, he believes in the indivisibility of the Nigerian Nation and the need to eschew bitterness and sectional biases in the nation’s body politics. He advised Nigerians to support President Jonathan, emphasizing that the best thing that has happened to this country in recent time is the emergence of President Jonathan as the President of this country.
In the wake of the deplorable state of the Federal Roads, Chris on assumption of office as Minister of Works, State, along with his Minister of Works, Senator Daggash went round the six geopolitical zones in the country with a view to having a personal assessment of the roads in readiness for a blue print in fixing them.
What more came we say about the person of Engr. Ogiemwonyi than to welcome him and his wealth of valuable experience and his sense of humility into the partisan politics as we watch the unfolding of political events in the months to come in Edo State.
* Bilulu Ojeifor is a lawyer based in Benin City, Edo State
