Let us even assume that Oshiomhole romanced PDP before berthing at the ACN. Is that in itself against any known law in the land? If Ihimekpen is sincere with himself, he should be bold enough to tell the people of the state that the real truth Oshiomhole abandoned the PDP is because of the fraudulent conditions they wanted to impose on him.

Or is he telling me that if Oshiomhole were to be as compliant as Igbinedion, the party would not have given him the ticket without fuss? Ihimekpken should know that some lies can make people conclude who one’s father is. Definitely, whoever read his piece will not need to look for where he is coming from.

Ihimekpen described Igbinedion as Oshiomhole’s sponsor. I find this very interesting indeed. But my argument is this. If Igbinedion could not do anything for the state for all the eight years he spent in office as governor, allowing his protégé every opportunity to be himself also presupposes that he actually would have done something for the state if he was truly in charge during the years he spent in office.

I am making this assumption in the light of Ihimekpen’s argument that a sponsor’s image is better appreciated in the light of his protégé’s performance. If that is true, we can only conclude that Igbinedion did not perform because Chief Anenih, his godfather is not known to have the interest of the people at heart anywhere he is. Is that what Ihimekpen and his likes want the state to go through again?

We are familiar with the notoriety with which the PDP turned the dreams of the founding fathers into a nightmare. Ihimekpen knows the details of this disservice to the soul of the state. Yet, he wants people to swallow his claim that Oshiomhole is not getting much from the dream. Is it not obvious that with his people-oriented projects, Oshiomhole is on the right track in the process of reinvigorating the fulfilment of that dream? The answer is too obvious to be subjected to further details.

Sadly enough, Ihimekpen has continued to predict that the state would face an imminent disaster if the PDP, represented by Professor Osariemhen Osunbor and Lucky Imasuen, can avert it. I am beginning to hold the opinion that he is taking his delusion beyond the ordinary. If the truth must be told, the only disaster the state could possibly face now or in the future is if the PDP rig or attempt to rig itself into power in the state.

With Oshiomhole’s performances so far, God has made it possible for the people to reject that disaster. Ihimekpen wants to know about what is happening to the Airport Road construction work even after alleging that the Governor has not constructed more than two unidentified roads across the state. He also claims in his second article in the Daily Independent that the Governor has wasted over N100 million in rehabilitating about 20 roads.

I find it amazing that he is asking after the state of the Airport Road in particular. In any case, I attempted to clear the air with the little I know about it in an earlier article. Ihimekpen is aware that the contractor in charge of the road is a PDP member who has been paid for the job.

He is equally aware of that fact that the contractor mobilised his men and materials to site long before the one that did the Sapele Road. Midway into the job however, he stopped work and at the moment, even the finished part of the road is already riddled with deadly potholes. In stopping the job, he probably assumed that as it was during the PDP era, the contract would be re-evaluated and the cost jacked up. He is actually said to have made the proposal to the Governor. But Oshiomhole refused and later revoked the contract when the contractor refused to continue. Is that the same road he is asking questions about? I thought it would have been better if he directed the question to the contractor who the PDP is already lining up as one of its contestants in the 2012 governorship elections. Why would Ihimekpen and his likes calculate that the state of the road will become a veritable source of blackmail during the elections?

By the way, why would Ihimekpen assume that intellectual impudence is the same thing as rational thinking? For his intellectual deficiency, he fails to realise that by the provision of the Nigerian Constitution, Professor Osunbor was never a governor.

To assume he was and indeed address him as such is the height of intellectual defect. And to even assume that the man whose only legacy is the train station-look-a-like roundabout in Akpakpava Road is the most qualified to oust Oshiomhole from his seat is the grandest of all delusions. I advise him to wake up.

Mr Ernest Omoarelojie is a media aide to the Edo State Governor.