In 2008, N1.9 billion was expended on MDG projects in Edo State. Edo State Government contributed 50 percent while Federal Government contributed the other 50 percent.In 2009, the MDG Office in Edo State awarded contracts to the tune of N1.8 billion. Edo State government contributed 50 percent while federal government contributed the other 50 percent. The 2010 and 2011 MDG projects have not been executed in Edo. Why' Oshiomhole is yet to approve it. You may wish to know that some other states have since executed their 2010 and 2011 projects as the programme is expected to end in 2015. What this means is that Oshiomhole is not interested in developing the health sector even though the federal government provides half of the funds. If he is interested, he should declare how much he has committed to the development of the health sector since he came to power. Oshiomhole's government has not only shown gross incompetence and lack of commitment to the security of lives and property but has continued to admit this failure with dignity instead of with remorse. Today, Edo has the highest incidence of kidnapping, armed robbery, rape and other violent crimes in Nigeria. You can hear him say today over 400 persons have been arrested and have confessed to violent crimes but have not been prosecuted. The question is: What is Edo Judiciary, under Oshiomhole, doing' Does he need the federal government to prosecute these cases' Today, despite Oshiomhole's self-acclaimed performance, the economy of the state is still stagnating. For most workers in Edo, incomes are lower than they were three years ago; health prospects are poorer; infrastructure and social institutions are breaking down. The level of rot and financial recklessness has degenerated into a state of bankruptcy as revealed on the floor of the Senate by Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi representing Ekiti North Senatorial district. An array of factors has been suggested to explain the apparent failure of development which includes: social pluralism, corruption on the part of the governor and incompetent management of our natural and human resources. The issue remains that, not that development has failed, but that it has not actually been in the agenda of the government in these past three years. For instance, General Charles Airhiavbere, a gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that free education for children of 18 years and below is possible, that the rebuilding of the dilapidated infrastructure in all our tertiary institutions including the State University, is possible, that our children and pregnant women and adult 65 years and above could still enjoy free medical services in our time. His party has long keyed into the programme on account of the campaign promises, as they believe that the people that are awake educationally cannot be lulled back to sleep again. These are neither the things Oshiomhole thinks of nor do they mean anything to him. Today, Edo stands tall as one of the six richest states in Nigeria and still one of the poorest six in terms of development. What a contradiction! The people have no regular supply of water, education and health systems are in chaos. All state industries have virtually collapsed. In the midst of this miasma stands Oshiomhole, a sole warrior in our socio-economic whirlpool, throwing his punches, right, left and centre, with every punch hurting Edo people's back for three years now. It is a matter of one person against the people and this will be resolved next year. The ceremony was, therefore, nothing short of Egbe ni rie we collections of goat eaters, a noisy festival of flowing robes and jeweled frivolities, which was why it ended up with night parties and live band to shatter the relative fear-induced tranquility which Benin City has become since the recent incidences of kidnapping, robbery and assassination which Oshiomhole has failed to address as Chief Security officer of the State, thereby subjecting the over taxed citizenry to another regime of official irresponsibility. Like it is in Newton's third Law of Motion, for any action, there is always an equal and a possible reaction. The Newtonian Law of dynamics played out on the day Oshiomhole decided to mock Edo people with his achievements, as a group known as Enu'nuedo, an umbrella body of the people of Edo South, and a collection of Bini interests also held a meeting at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre in Benin City to effectively counter the lies that were fed to the people by the Comrade Governor. At the meeting, the group, speaking on behalf of the Binis of Edo South, resolved to use their vast population within the political entity called Edo State to empower one of their own with the requisite franchise in the next governorship election. This, to many observers, presents hope that there is going to be light at the end of the tunnel and that the dawn of a glorious era is imminent. But far from being a solemn occasion for sober reflection and a regenerative dialogue of a failed government, it was a monologue of a showman in which the performer speaks ex cathedra to, at and above his audience for a stipulated time, then packs up his tomes and leaves without much as a query, or even dissident whimper from his captive hearers. It was a grand pretence, a noisy theatricalisation of absurdity rather than a solemn celebration of achievements. With its costumed costs, rooted lines, clownish orthodoxy and captive audience, the ceremony boasted all the ingredients of the Ekaba theatre ' a farce of the most unflattering variety.ConcludedIhimekpen sent in this piece from Benin.
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