AN issue that is generating so much  interest now in Edo State is the Oba of Benin’s purported endorsement of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for a second term as the Governor of Edo State. While the ACN machinery and the Governor himself are going the whole length to drive the point home by articulating it in as many print and electronic media as they possibly could, the opposition, it seems, is waking up to check them in their strides.

The drama, which resolution is earnestly anticipated, started when Oshiomhole, in his characteristic style of doing the ingenious, took all the ACN candidates who won the last National and State Assembly elections to the palace to thank the monarch for their victory. The usual counter-responses having taken place, Oshiomhole and his men found political capital in the Oba’s statement. The story line was created for the media: “Oba of Benin endorses Oshiomhole for second term”.

Although, the Oba has tried his best in his more than three decades on the throne not to be publicly partisan, I guess Oshiomhole’s kindness or is it generosity or magnanimity towards the palace may have been very overwhelming to have tempted the highly revered king to lose his guard, if indeed he used the words ascribed to him. The palace has not denied the report, however.

Probably thinking that the endorsement story needed more drama for maximum effect, the Otaru of Auchi, Oshiomhole’s direct royal father, led a group of other traditional rulers of Edo North to the palace of the Oba of Benin to felicitate with the Oba on the occasion of his birthday celebration and apparently, most importantly, to thank the Oba for the endorsement of their son, Adams Oshiomhole, to rule over all Edo people for the second time as the governor of Edo State.

The incumbent Otaru of Auchi is not a regular visitor to the palace of the Oba of Benin. If an incident in the not so distant past is anything to go by, it will come as a surprise that the Otaru could “stoop” to appreciate the gesture of the Oba. It is rumoured that the Otaru had once wanted to sponsor what looked like a palace rebellion against the Oba in the period of Chief Lucky Igbinedion’s rule by agitating for the rotation of the chairmanship of Edo State Council of Traditional Rulers, of which the Oba of Benin has been a permanent chairman since the days of the Midwest Region.

There have been grumblings here and there in the camp of the opposition that the ACN are using the Oba to gain more grounds. In a related development, a bold attempt to put the ACN in check manifested in a press statement advertorial by a group which goes by the name Benin Youth Council in the Vanguard of July 1, 2011. The group which claimed to be the Apex Youth Organisation of Benin Kingdom, warned the Edo North traditional and political leaders to stop drawing the Oba of Benin into partisan politics.

The question this group should answer is: What is their headache if some traditional rulers from Edo North came to thank the Oba of Benin for the endorsement he is reported to have given to their son, Oshiomhole who is doing wonderfully well. Would the Oba  not be justified to endorse Oshiomhole for his respect, consideration and patronage of the traditional institution?

Oshiomhole, a non-Benin has far exceeded the performance of the PDP governors in the matter of taking care of the Oba and the traditional institution. Perhaps it is pertinent to remind them about things that the Oba should be grateful for as to be justified in declaring a no vacancy in the Edo State Government House come 2012.

Who has forgotten Oshiomhole’s act of magnanimity in sparing the walls of the palace in Benin City that was supposed to give way for his proposed six lanes Airport Road. Oshiomhole had drawn up a plan that included the demolition of the palace walls. In the heat of the moment, the Oba in submission to the hierarchy of authority had told Oshiomhole to only inform him of the day of demolition so he could relocate his valuables.

However, Oshiomhole then realised that the walls were monuments of a great kingdom. He changed his plans but still the Oba has to be grateful because no law prevented Oshiomhole from going ahead to fell the walls in the construction of an infrastructure of public benefit.
And then, it is reported that Oshiomhole had discovered that Lucky Igbinedion as governor had short-changed the Oba for eight years, a pattern maintained by Oserheimhen Osunbor in the payment of the Oba’s monthly allowance.

It is said that Oshiomhole increased the monarch’s allowance from the state treasury from N2 million to N10 million. First, he paid up the arrears accumulated over the nine and half years of PDP rule. Imagine the incumbent governor surprising the Oba with a full payment of the arrears in one fell swoop. This was at a time the Governor wanted to take from everybody else to make sure the state had money for development. Salaries of teachers and civil servants were slashed in the form of high tax deductions.  If you were the Oba, would you not be eternally grateful for such magnanimity?

Why would the Oba not endorse Oshiomhole, if indeed he did so? Oshiomhole has brought the Oba into the governance of Edo State whereas in other places the traditional rulers are still fighting to be relevant through constitutional declarations. Or what would you make of the fact almost all the princes have been engaged by the State government in one way or the other. If one is not as a Special Adviser, he is either a board member or contractor.  So why would the Oba not be tempted to become partisan, if he indeed he had become?

Away from the direct benefit to the Palace, why would the Oba not be well pleased with Oshiomhole for adding value to some visible roads in the city, only if the choice of the roads as some claim is to please the eye and captivate the mind? At least, now Edo people can point at these roads as an indication of the modernization of the city. It does not matter that the majority of the roads have not been mended in the almost three years of this administration.

Some cynics may want to point at the cost and the bondage value of the modernized roads. What does it matter if we can point at roads that entitle us to pride in the assembly of states? And why would the Oba not be pleased that the ongoing modernization of Airport Road with walkways has brought the palace walls to better view when the entire G.R.A. with all the big men has been neglected to decay so that the common man can relish the sight of how a road should be as he walks the pedestrian lane.

Why would anyone for that matter not endorse Oshiomhole when he has renovated some schools so the children of the poor would know how a school building should be like? Who is complaining of standard? How many people can see or feel standard? Say why should the Oba not endorse Oshiomhole if indeed he did, so that Oshiomhole could double his road beautification project in his second tenure. Do not ask how many roads he has worked on in the city.

Mr. DANIEL UGIAGBE, a  commentator on national issues, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.