The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has linked the aggravating socio-economic challenges bedeviling the nation to the failure of the federal government to live up to its responsibilities. Obaseki thus called on citizens of the State to help themselves in developing the State, as the Federal Government has thrown the nation into economic crisis. Obaseki made the call when he met with stakeholders during a workshop to discuss the implementation of the State’s new Land Use Charge Law, with the theme: “Joint Implementation of Land Use Charge by State and local governments,” at the new Festival Hall in Government House, Benin City.
Obaseki, while speaking to journalists in Benin City, decried the bad state of federal roads in the State, calling for urgent action to salvage the situation and reduce the sufferings of the commuters and other citizens. The governor, who described the condition of the roads as appalling said he travelled through the federal roads linking Uromi in Esan South East to Agbor in Delta State and saw over 1,000 trailers stuck with goods as a result of bad roads. He said, “I went to Esan land a few days ago and I passed through Uromi in Edo State to Agbor in Delta State and saw almost 1,000 trailers stuck on that bad Federal Government road. But it took a few minutes to traverse our State roads when we entered from Igueben, Ujogba to Ugoneki in Edo State.” Obaseki added, “The problem today is the failure of the Central Government. The road network in Edo that ought to be a blessing to us is not. The Federal Government roads in Edo are connecting several locations across the Country but the roads are bad. You can’t go from the West to the East from the North to the South without passing through Edo State. That is why we have many federal roads here but none are motorable as all are bad because of the failure of the Central Government.”
He said his administration is working round the clock to ensure the state’s economic development, noting: “As a State, we can’t fold our hands and make excuses. We have to do something for our people. We will do all to ensure our people are very comfortable. “We can do so much in Edo State. The country is in crisis economically. We can’t continue to fold our hands and wait for a country that can’t help us. Rather, we will do all we can to help ourselves and our State.” He continued “from our revenue, we have decided to take money from our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to look after those that can’t feed – the poorest of the poor. We are doing our best as an administration to make things easy in Edo State for our citizens who have trust in this government.”
On the need for self-reliance, he said “if we are a truly thriving country, states will survive on their own, without relying on Abuja. Whether they give us or not, we would survive as a State. We have been surviving before now. Our administration is transparent and accountable, that is why the World Bank trusts us.” Noting that the State is working on a 30-year Regional Master Plan, he said the plan focuses on how to bring development to Edo State, linking the rural areas to the urban centres.
