By Emeka Osagie

In this era of gender equality  it sounded most  unbelievable   to read in the dailies about   a lady Managing Director of a power distribution company being sent out of a meeting of legislators and VIPs in the power sector in the Benin Governor’s  office by Governor Godwin Obaseki himself.

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Mrs   Funke Osibodu   was, according to reports, representing her company, BEDC, when   the governor   allegedly   asked her to leave and later explained to the confused   and embarrassed visitors   that the BEDC   had been solely   responsible for persistent   power failure in the state   for  months   and had  frustrated moves by the state   government   to   source   for other     vehicles of power generation   and distribution .

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki

Investigations on the matter   have, however, revealed that the sending out was a hoax     to   ridicule     the BEDC   and   belittle the MD who   is   an   accomplished   banker   who   held fort   successfully   in a leading Nigerian   bank   some years ago       But       then , while       the governor has every   right to be angry   for     poor   power availability like all Nigerians and indeed   all state governors , it   is quite unkind and ungentlemanly to treat anyone , most   of especially   a lady,     the way   the Edo       authorities     made   out     the   false   impression   that the BEDC   Managing   Director     was sent   out of the Governor’s   Office   when   that   was not the case.

The       purported   and   fake news   of   a sending out     however   is a lesson   in how   not to solve a problem   and it is also   a chilling example of not only abuse of office but misuse   of power . Indeed   it was obvious at the meeting with the stakeholders that the governor     was purportedly fed up rightly or wrongly   with the BEDC   and  its   boss   .Yet     that   should   not be deliberately     or     mischievously     misconstrued as a sending   out of  a   meeting with its   CEO .

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Incidentally   power distribution   was   the grouse   of the Edo   State governor with   the   BEDC ,   but   the governor has used   political   power   to humiliate       and         dent       the corporate     image   of a corporate   entity in the cause of the performance of the lawful   duty   of that entity .That     is not only   unfair     and unjust    but not right at   all . For   an   elected political   leader , the governor   has sent a wrong   signal     in   Edo   State   on power distribution and     its     challenges   , and has   put the lives and dignity of workers in the power sector on the line in the way and manner he has     maligned   the CEO   of       the major   power distributor in his state .   One expects   the governor to have a rethink   and do   the needful and extend   an olive branch to   Mrs   Osibodu as what ever differences       there were   between   the state and the BEDC   should     not be taken     as   personal And  she should not   have been       berated   so       publicly   and   aspersion  cast     falsely  on her   company’s     performance by a   governor   responsible   for   the maintenance   of law   and order in the state , in which   her company   BEDC,     has       legitimate     jurisdiction for   the distribution of electricity .

The   problems   of power generation   and distribution in Nigeria   are   well   known   and not peculiar   to   Edo   State   . The   Minister of   Power , Mr Babatunde   Raji   Fashola   spends   most   of his briefings asking Nigerians to bear   with the government to have power and light at the end of the tunnel   if not   the day .

Nigerians   know he is not deceiving them   and we   have not heard   that   the Minister has been   shouted down or stoned or     treated   like   a pariah     at     any meeting   on the challenges of the power   sector   .   So what   right has a state governor to     refuse  to     dialogue       with       a relevant   corporate   body   and   enabler       looking for ways to make a state have power regularly   like the Power   Minister in Abuja who   knows what is     at stake ? I   think   the Power Minister   should intervene to let the Edo   State   governor know that   he has overreached himself   in making scapegoats of those responsible Nigerians working hard in the power sector like the MD of BEDC with     whom   he     bitterly refused  to have a meeting with rather so unceremoniously, because   he has not had light   in his office   for some time

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The   issue of power   availability     involves power   generation , transmission   and distribution and the governor certainly is   aware   that there   are   problems of vandalisation of power plants and aging infrastructure and ancient grids in place ,   creating serious constraints in power delivery chain at which   the discos   are the face of the problems of the entire power sector before   the Nigeria public . Certainly   a governor should know better   than   the average suffering Nigerian and should be more circumspect   and more responsible in apportioning blames for lack of power in his domain .   The   Edo State Governor  certainly   owes the MD of BEDC an   apology   for embarrassing her for the problems of power   failure in his state .That   is the only way   to show   that he is not a military governor as even   such  people   often refer   to  each   other   as –   an   officer and a gentleman –   a claim we believe  the governor too  can should   be able to make     more   so   as a   democratically   elected governor.