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| Adams Oshiomhole |
Benin City stood still as Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was sworn
in as governor of Edo State for a second term, today.
The event which was held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
witnessed a large turnout of guests, political stalwarts, party leaders,
captains of industry, market women and students amongst others.
The governor and his deputy, Dr. Pius Odubu subscribed to
the relevant oaths of office and allegiance administered by the Chief Judge of
Edo State, Justice Cromwell Idahosa.
Speaking shortly after the oath-taking ceremony, Comrade
Oshiomhole thanked the people of Edo State for the confidence reposed in him,
attributing the success story to the will of God.
Oshiomhole said, “With the power of God on our side and our
sheer determination to change a situation we began the journey of mobilizing
and inspiring the people to accept that if something is wrong, time cannot make
it right.”
“With the support and guidance of God we are here as free
people to participate in the swearing in ceremony. Only God in his infinite
powers could have helped us to defeat those forces of darkness so that its
light can shine. So I ask you to join me to give thanks to Almighty God for all
his mercies and for all he has done not only for me, not only for Action
Congress of Nigeria, but indeed for the good people of Edo State and Nigeria,”
he said.
Outlining his blueprint for the second term, the governor
said, “the challenge for the next four years is for us to learn and avoid the
mistakes we have made in the past four years.”
The governor explained that, “we are now determined to shift
focus to industries. We are now determined to do all of those things we need to
put in place, not only to retain the investors that are already here but also
to attract new foreign direct investment.”
He expressed joy that with the positive and enabling
environment that government is creating, the private investors are responding
positively.
On water supply, Oshiomhole said, “we are determined to
rescue the water supply in Benin City and sustain our borehole projects in our
rural communities.”
“We will build a new Benin layout and place more order to
the whole use of land use. We will ensure that the local government
headquarters became centre’s of development so that our people need not travel
to Benin to witness civilization,” he remarked.
The governor assured the people that the conduct of the
local government election would be based on one man one vote, adding that those
elected must reside in their local government headquarters.
Reiterating his commitment to education in the state,
Comrade Oshiomhole said, “We would make massive investment in tertiary education.
We would renew emphasis on technical education and rebuild the Benin Technical
School so that we can imbibe our youths with the skill they need to provide
that middle manpower which every country needs if we are going to transform
from an importing nation to a producing nation.”
“I think where we are coming from is important, but where we
are going to is far more important. If we learnt the lessons of yesterday and
stand to defend democracy then we can reassure our children that we can inherit
a state that works.”
The governor who urged Nigerians to imbibe lessons from the
Obama’s election said “ even at this time we still have Nigerians who believe
that leadership should be defined on the basis of the accident of your birth
place not your competence or demonstrable ability or pedigree. We must move
from the era of sharing to that of producing.”
Comrade Oshiomhole assured the people of Edo State that they
have made a statement by the way they have voted, stressing, that they have not
voted on the basis on the place of birth.
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