Tag: Oshiomhole

GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has apologised to the widow whose wares were confiscated at the Oba Ovonramwen Square, Benin City last week. Speaking to a delegation of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria in Government House Benin City, yesterday, Oshiomhlole said: “I regret my action.” According to the governor, “Last week, I had an encounter with a young lady at Oba Ovonramwen Square by Mission Road. She was trading on the road and too many people have been doing this. They block the road with their wares. Part of the problem of Benin before now is that it was so difficult to drive round the city. “That also affects the economic, social and commercial life of the city. The people cannot move from one place to the other. Where you could have spent thirty minutes, you are spending hours. We have various officers we have assigned to keep the roads clean, to keep the walkways clean so that people can walk. As you may have noticed in the past, there was no street in Benin City that had a walkway. “But you find some of our women; they just convert the road to trading post. For years, we have been sermonising. I came across this young lady who chose to put her wares right on the road, thereby creating blockade and obstruction. We are all human and in my anger I said to her, how would you be doing this? I asked them to confiscate her wares,” he said. Explaining further, Oshiomhole said: ”She told me ‘I am a widow’ and I said if you are a widow must you do things that would make other women widows? By this obstruction you have caused, you could cause accident. You could actually get knocked down. “In the process, I probably said something that I should not have said. I want to say that I do appreciate that I come from a very poor background. I understand the pains of the poor. We also need to be careful so that the poor do not create more problems. “Just to say to our women that I regret having said what I said to her. But I am troubled by what I see sometimes. We spend tax payers’ money to build roads so that people can walk and yet some of these things happen. I regretted that particular action but help us to preach to our women to try and respect the right of way,” the governor urged the FOMWAN officials. The governor further charged the women thus: ”I would encourage you to propagate the virtues of Islam and as mothers, you should preach peace and love which Islam represents. By your actions you are helping people to recognise that we are all brothers and sisters belonging to one large family.” Earlier, the President of the Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajia Amina Omoti, expressed delight at the amazing transformation in the state in the last five years and commended the governor for turning Benin into a modern city.

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said the former President of the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU), Prof Festus Iyayi, gave his all in the struggle and led by example.

The governor said he was shocked by Iyayi’s death.

Oshiomhole spoke yesterday in Benin, the state capital, when he condoled with the family of the late writer and activist.

He said: “I am here on behalf of the people of Edo State to condole with you and your family on the death of Prof Iyayi. The Iyayi family cannot be defined in terms of the wife, the children and relations.

“Prof Iyayi was a member of a much larger family that cuts across the length and breadth of Nigeria. For me – and I believe for all those who knew him – it was a shock. In fact, I was extremely shocked. It was extremely shocking when somebody showed a text message and suggested that Iyayi might not have survived that accident. I told the man not to spread a false rumour.

“A week before then, I saw him on television with his colleagues; they were providing an intellectual backing on why the Federal Government should deliver on its commitment to ASUU regarding the agreement it signed in 2009. I played a part in the signing of that agreement, after both parties shifted ground.

“When I learnt that our comrade died in such gruesome manner, only a stone-hearted person would not be moved. I do not know how to convey not just my feeling but also the feelings of those who have known him.

“I had known him when I was in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). ASUU, at that time, was not part of the NLC. Iyayi, with his colleagues, provided the intellectual backing and encouraged the NLC to articulate its position on a variety of socio-economic and political issues. So, he was always there.

“In line with the ASUU tradition of selfless service and sacrifice in the truest sense of that word, he would always travel by road, covering long distances where even junior officers and lower people would rather take flights. ASUU leaders would always go by road to any part of the country, leading by example.

“When people talk of selfless service, commitment to the nation, leadership by example, giving your all to what you believe in, constituting yourself to a one-man liberation army driven by national passion to reposition our great country to lead the continent to the way God had intended, Iyayi represented the best of that tradition.

“Even those who disagreed with his logic could not fault his position. Even those who faulted his logic could not fault his patriotism, which informed those positions. This is the kind of leadership every community needs, if Nigeria would be different from what it has been.

“When I came here, I was troubled by the position of Ambrose Alli University (AAU) and I wanted people, who have dedicated their lives to the cause of education. Prof Iyayi and Dr Peter Ozo-Eson are people I knew all their lives have been persuading the government to accord the appropriate recognition and sufficient allocation to the university system to build competent human capital.

“I approached them to be members of the Governing Council, which they readily accepted and offered their time with others to provide leadership for the AAU. When I say that we feel the pains, it is not a matter of rhetoric.”

On behalf of the family, Prof Austine Ebewele thanked the governor for the visit.

He said Prof Iyayi’s death was a big loss, not only to the family, but also to the university community.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has laid a foundation stone for a N7.4 billion ($45 million) ultra-modern shopping mall (Shoprite) in Benin City.

He assured that government would create a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive.

Oshiomhole said government’s investment in infrastructure and the urban renewal programme were to make the state attractive to investors.

He said: “Our investment in urban renewal and other infrastructure is to make Edo State attractive.

“During my campaign in 2007, anytime I was coming from Lagos to Benin, there was only one old aircraft with about 15 or 20 passengers’ seats. Rent in Benin was low, many houses were abandoned. This is to make a point that as we speak today, we have two or three airlines, which now fly to Benin.

“Edo people are moving in and out of the state doing businesses. There is no better way to measure the progress of a community, a neighbourhood and a state. We have also witnessed the building of new hotels; you hardly find accommodation in the hotels, which means more people are coming to Benin to do businesses.

“Today, we are witnessing the ground-breaking ceremony of a facility that would be the first modern shopping mall anywhere in Edo State under a group, which has built a reputation for itself, popularly called Shoprite.”

The Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Frank Evbuomwan, said the coming of Shoprite and other international brands to the state was an endorsement of the urban renewal drive of the Oshiomhole administration.

Spokesman for the company, Mr. Huarden Marshall, said the choice of Edo followed its economic viability and the need to create jobs for the people.

He said the project would cost about $45 million to be completed in 18 months.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has accused Governor Adams Oshiomhole of engaging in self-aggrandisement during his fifth year anniversary celebration.

It said there was nothing worthy of celebration by the governor since nothing had been accomplished in the state.

PDP’s state Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, who spoke yesterday at a news briefing in Benin City, decried the presence of the Edo State Chief Judge, Justice Cromwell Idahosa, at the launch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State.

He said Oshiomhole inaugurated about 200 metres of road despite spending N136.7 billion on road projects in the last five years.

Idahosa alleged that the Oshiomhole administration had received over N400 billion since 2008 and collected loans worth several billions of naira.

But Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Louis Odion, said it was the PDP-led Federal Government, which had been unable to pay states their statutory entitlements for the first time in the country’s history.

Odion, who said he wondered where the PDP got their figures from, added that the state had paid more than half of the N25 billion bond it raised from the capital market.

He said: “We would have been surprised if PDP was happy when Edo State people and lovers of democracy gathered in Benin City to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Edo indigenes by Comrade Oshiomhole from the toxic bondage of the PDP.

“Although the drainage projects have not been completed, Benin residents are already enjoying the benefit as flood has become history on the Ugbowo axis, Teachers’ House, Five Junction, Mission Road axis and other areas. The people are happy, but PDP is sad. Talking about bankruptcy, I think it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

“It is the Federal Government, which is unable to fund the Federation Account. For the first time in our history, the Federal Government under PDP’s watch cannot pay states their statutory entitlements. But through prudent management, Comrade Oshiomhole has paid workers and met his obligations to the contractors. So, who is broke? You can see that the PDP is merely hallucinating.

“We urge Edo indigenes to continue their victory dance and ignore the latest tissues of lies by the PDP. As for Oshiomhole, the people’s governor will not be distracted from his good work.”

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said the late Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe was a friend of the masses, who fought against military decrees enacted to weaken the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

The governor, who eulogised the late Akhigbe during a condolence visit to his widow yesterday, said his death was a loss not only to the people of Edo State, but also to Nigeria.

According to him, “Admiral Akhigbe, even when I was in the NLC, pushed our cases as if he was one of our members, even when the military enacted laws that were designed to weaken our voices.

“He is a loss to all of us, not just Afemai, but to all those, who look up to leadership that has courage even at this moment when most people will go for what is convenient.

“It hurts, but we ask you to take heart. There are people, who are ashamed to mention their father’s name or their husband’s name in public. I think our brother’s name can be mentioned anywhere. People know what he stood for.”

Governor Oshiomhole said: “For me personally, it was extremely painful. Although we were not in the same party, we were united by a common commitment that our people must get justice. Our people must get development and we will defend those who have no voice at any point to compromise what we perceive to be our collective interest at the altar of political exigency.”