SIR: Even the most acerbic critic of Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, the Edo State Governor, will hesitate in calling for his head over allegations by his political opponents that he fell short of expectations in providing development for the state.
Noticeably, the manner he generated funds for development and managed same attracted on-the-spot assessment visits by both local and international development-conscious organisations, including UNICEF, World Bank and agencies of the European Union. Without any difficulty, they passed a vote of confidence in his overall performance both in fiscal prudence and management of the state’s lean resources. Against this background, the World Bank agreed to offer $150m soft loan facility to the state.
The loan is divided into two tranches of $75m each and tied to specific projects. Instructively, the state has collected the first $75m and has applied it as specified, hence the decision by the bank to approve the second tranche.
Unarguably, the judgment by the World Bank that the governor prudently applied the loan is the reason President Mohammadu Buhari did not hesitate in transmitting a letter to the National Assembly, requesting its approval for the second $75m. Unfortunately, however, it elicited hostile reaction from politically motivated mischief makers who ignored its inherent benefits for the state by projecting the assumption that the governor only requested for the facility for unscrupulous reasons, including claims that it will end up as dubious severance package for himself and officials of his administration, particularly now that his tenure is winding up.
But facts about the loan speak for themselves and they are verifiable. Only Lagos and Edo received approval from the global financial powerful for the soft loan of $150m tied to specific projects. Only Edo is applying for the second tranche for now having been certified to have prudently applied the first part to specified projects.
In any case, opponents of the facility seem to forget that the World Bank is never known to giving out frivolous loans. Indeed, the widely respected international financial institute is globally reputed for sticking to due diligence, prudent management, etc, in its assessment of whoever it deems fit for its facilities. In other words, the organisation would never have approved the first $75m if it was convinced that the Oshiomhole administration did not meet the requisite standard, let alone approve the second tranche. In approving the second, the bank simply emphasised the point that the administration’s reputation for prudent resource management is very intact despite claims by his opponents to the contrary.
Secondly, let us not forget that President Buhari rode into the seat of power because of his reputation for standing for anything that is right. Like the World Bank that is not given to frivolities, he will never support any course that is meant to swindle either the country or its people. Indeed, there is hardly any doubt that he is very unlikely to agree to transmit a letter to the National Assembly, as he did, knowing that in doing so, he is lending his hard-earned reputation to a dubious process designed to con the same people he vowed to redeem.
In the final analysis, I am of the opinion that rather than oppose, condemn or politicise the issue, everyone, including politically motivated mischief makers, should be more concerned with the need to ensure that the facility is deployed solely for the benefit of providing development for the people of the state.
Indeed, we should be proud that in a country like ours where government officials are notoriously corrupt, both the World Bank and President Buhari adjudged our governor qualified in matters relating to prudent management of our collective resources.
In any case, we all are aware that government is a continuum. As true as it is that the Oshiomhole administration is winding up, it is doubly true that his exit will not mean the end of the state’s development process. Therefore, just as it is true that a continuation of the development process is assured even after his exit, it stands to reason too that the reason for which the state acquired the loan will continue. It would therefore appear puerile for anyone to conclude that the loan is irrelevant to the state just because the present administration will be gone in less than two years. In that case, mischief makers calling for a wholesale disapproval of the loan must know that the right thing to do at the moment is to work towards making sure it is judiciously applied as specified. That is the most sensible thing to do.
- Ernest Omoarelojie wrote from Benin City.
