By Simon Ebegbulem

Mr. Lucky Imasuen, a former Deputy Governor of Edo State, is the Chairman of the Forum of Deputy Governors of Nigeria. In this interview, he describes Governor Godwin Obaseki as a silent achiever, saying that though it may not be a good moment for politicians in the state, his policies and agricultural programmes will make the state the economic hub of the nation in the next two years.
You are the Chairman of the Forum of Deputy Governors. What is happening with the forum? The forum is doing very well. It caters for members’ welfare and also helps to proffer solution to crisis in the system. The forum assists government to communicate its policies to our people. Even on the Niger Delta crisis, we have been very active by persistently calling on our brothers in the region to lay down their arms and embrace dialogue. That is why we were very happy to see the Vice President visiting the region.

• Imasuen

The visit, we believe, will help douse tension in the region and thus lead to increase in the volume of our oil export which is what we need right now as a nation in recession. Again, we have been involved in donating relief materials to IDP camps across the country. Above all, we have been intervening in the feud between Muslims and Christians in some parts of the country.  We have been able to achieve all these because we have members who are well respected in their various states.
You worked very closely with Governor Obaseki during the electioneering campaign. How do you view his activities so far in office?
I give thanks to God for giving us Godwin Obaseki as governor. We also thank God for giving us Adams Oshiomhole who built the foundation that Obaseki is building on today. The people of Edo can see that we did not deceive them when we said Obaseki is the right man for the job, that he is an economist, a banker who has worked in different parts of the world managing financial institutions. The moment he was sworn-in, he hit the ground running. He is in office from 8pm-11pm every day dealing with governance and holding meetings with investors. He has brought in a lot of investors to Edo.

And we are particularly happy over his effort to bring back the Benin Technical College which we believe will create manpower and skills in the state. He has asked the people who built the school years ago to come and revamp it and this will help solve the problem of unemployment in the country. This is part of his strategies to take our children off the streets.
And in terms of using agriculture as a tool to check unemployment, Obaseki visited China recently to bring investors in that sector. He has nominated Chief Osaro Idah to head that committee on agriculture. I recall during our electioneering campaign, each time we travelled together and he looked at our forest, he would shake his head and he would engage our youths in agriculture and use agriculture to check unemployment. As we speak today, people are being trained in different parts of the state on the agricultural programme of the state government. He has equally gone in search of investors for Gelegele Sea Port which is another huge project in Edo. If that place is brought to life, that will hugely improve the lives of the people of the state. As a party leader, I am proud that we have a working governor like Obaseki in Edo.
But there is currently unease among APC leaders who feel they worked hard for the governor’s election but they are not benefiting anything today. Don’t you think that is an issue that may cause problem in the party? There is no problem at all. But let me tell you, Nigeria is currently going through recession and it affects every body. The situation is worse than when Governor Oshiomhole was in power, therefore you do not expect the governor to take the same decisions Oshiomhole took then. Secondly, Obaseki does not act without taking advice from the party.

Last December, he visited the three senatorial districts of the state to brief party leaders about his programmes. So I know that things may be tough for everybody but we should know that the man is re-organizing government for the benefit of Edo indigenes irrespective of party affiliation. He is focused now to come up with programmes that will benefit everybody. He wants to build institutions, groups and not individuals. He believes that when institutions are there, they will benefit the generality of the people.

He invited APC leaders last Christmas and informed us about what he intends to do, he told us he intends to get the best hands from every nook and cranny of Edo to help him pilot the affairs of government. I want to appeal to our political leaders to be patient. I had a frank discussion with the governor recently and he told me that he made a lot of promises to Edo people during electioneering campaign. And that, unfortunately, the money may not be there and he has no intention to go back to them to start crying. Now he wants to make the funds available, he wants to make the people happy because the end of one election is the beginning of another. And he made it clear that if he performs well, future elections in the state will be easier because people will see what he has done.

I have appealed to our party members to be patient. Obaseki is focusing right now on how to improve the socio-economic and political lives of our people. Unfortunately most of what he is doing is not in the media because he is not really a media person. He is one person who believes that his work speaks for him, though some of us are advising that he should use the media to showcase his work, otherwise, the people in Kaduna, Lagos or even Abuja will not know what he is doing. But he is a silent achiever. If you notice right now, most of the roads in the GRA Benin-City have been fixed and he has said it that by the next dry season, most of our roads will be tarred. He has great plans for the state and I believe he should be given the support to succeed.   Ban on collection of government revenue by private individuals
The governor apparently banned the collection of revenue by private individuals because of the embarrassment they had been causing the people of the state, especially when you see touts harassing innocent citizens under the guise of tax collection.

Now the state government is compiling the names of those youths who were collecting revenue then and want to make them government staff so they can now collect for government. He wants collection of tax done in a civil and responsible manner and also stop multiple taxation in the state. By the time he completes the reforms in the area of revenue collection, our IGR will improve and it will be for the benefit of all of us. Political implications I know the people, including politicians, are not enjoying the moment due to the ongoing reforms but we believe that it is a sacrifice to make to secure our future.

It is true that the people collecting the revenue before now were APC youths,  but the governor has said they will not be jobless, it is the same boys that are being trained today to man the collection of revenue. And this new approach will improve their lives so that they will earn more money. It will not affect us politically because they will continue to support the APC government that improved their lives. I am aware that some PDP leaders are hoping that they will cash in on the current situation in future elections but it will not be so.

By the time Obaseki who intends to improve the economy of the state right from the grassroots finishes his plans, there will not be PDP in Edo. Our people will live good lives, they will have jobs even in their localities so that they don’t need to come to Benin any more. That is the Edo Obaseki is building and he must be encouraged. In the next one or two years, Edo people will begin to see the fruits of what Obaseki is planting today.