ONE  of the cardinal virtues that Pastor (Barrister) Osagie Ize-Iyamu will be bringing into the Edo State guber race this year, 2016, is his redemptive Pan-Edo Vision and outlook that has put him in pole position to wrest the governorship diadem with a fair election process and triumph overwhelmingly. He possesses that leadership  qualities which would   deploy the state’s available and scarce resources to areas of utmost need in the 18 local government areas.

It is not sheer coincidence that all the contenders for the ticket  of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2016 guber race are from Edo South Senatorial District which played a pivotal role in the initial installation of the outgoing Oshiomhole/APC administration.  This senatorial district is also expected to use its prime position to determine who will unlock the suffocating tenterhooks of Adams Oshiomhole’s pseudo-welfarist pretensions in the past seven years.  It is also expected that  Ize-Iyamu, considering his pedigree, political and social sagacity and visible acceptance across the political divide, will lead this liberation exercise that will  usher in a new lease of socio-economic existence and development.

Ize-Iyamu will be following in the tradition of many of his eminent Edo South kinsmen and women who have provided leadership and inspiration in the past and present without flaunting the tag of being Local champions.  That Ize-Iyamu is of Bini stock and with no baggage hanging on his neck like an albatross, is an indication that the era of the repressive and dictatorial APC administration will end on November 12, 2016.

No discerning practitioner or candid observer of Edo politics will deliberately discount the primacy of the core Bini ethnic stock in any state power matrix or organogram.  Not even now that the two major parties in State’s politics, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are subtly, ceding the governorship candidature to aspirants from Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba Okha, Ovia South West, Ovia North East, Orhionmwon, and Uhunmwode Local Government Areas that make up Edo South Senatorial District, as some will say, for political survivalist reasons.

Many factors account for this: (a) A population figure that accounts for over 50% of the state’s official population tally   (b)  An early encounter with both British and Portuguese explorers, missionaries and merchants.  This encounter jump started and developed a flourishing economy, the advent of European religious practices and exposure to and practice of Western education  (c)  With a historical link dating back to many centuries, the Benin Kingdom is the source and the political and cultural entrepot of the Bini  stock from which ironically, the Afenmai (Edo North) and the Esan (Edo Central) draw their natal roots from and (d) from the pre-colonial days to the present era, the Binis, in conjunction with other brother-tribes, have played a leading role in the political development and politics of the old Western Region, Midwest Region, Midwestern State, Bendel State and now Edo State through adroit and focused politicians like Chief Humphery Omo-Osagie, Mr. Vincent I. Amadasun, Mr. H. O. Uwaifo, Chief S. O. Ighodaro, Mr. D.E.Y. Aghahowa, Chief D. N. Oronsaye, Senator Dalton Asemota, Mr. Gabriel I. Oviasu, Chief Abdul Y. Eke, Mr. E. C. Imafidon, Dr. S. O. Ogbemudia, Chief Gabriel  O. Igbinedion, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Pastor (Barrister) Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a former Chief of Staff to Edo State Governor, ex-Secretary to Edo State Government, a proud scion of the Chief Robert Osayande Izevbizua-Iyamu family and the front-running aspirant in the PDP quest to regain the governorship of Edo State and hundreds of others too numerous to be listed here.

As a result of Benin City being the cultural, commercial and political capital of the geographical area now known as Edo State, the core Bini ethnic stock (Edo South) plays a crucial role in determining where power swings in the state.

Ize-Iyamu’s game plan tallys with the expectations of the average Edolite that a post-November 12, 2016 Governor of Edo State should not be one that has been soaked in and weaned on Oshiomhole’s shopworn and empty “revolutionary” acapellas that are mainly designed for the garrulity and rabble-rousing antics of labour rostrums than actual people- focused good governance and advancement of Edo people who are desirous and famished for a government (and a governor) with a human face.  One that will actualise his set vision of enabling the economic and entrepreneurial advancement of the state and its teeming population of jobless youth, not the cosmetic “beautification” exercise that has not raised their living standard for the better since November 12, 2008.

Ize-Iyamu, as a focused servant of his people has the welare and uplift of the larger mass of Edolites as the cornerstone of his vision and mission in seeking the seat of governance in Edo State in order to adapt or adopt those policies, programmes and projects that are in the interest of the people of the state.

As one who has been opportuned to operate at the highest echelon of governance, he has the requisite with intellectual savvy to power good governance as he is conversant with the Rules of Engagement in the management of men, ideas, finances and materials, equitably.

Furthermore, Pastor Ize-Iyamu is humble detribalized, accessible and pervious to workable ideas, suggestions and advice, while not flaunting sectional interests or platform but rewards hard work accountability loyalty and dedication.

Mr.  Bright Aidenojie, a political analyst,  wrote from Benin City, Edo State