…Twisted Tale of Falsehood.
By Dr. Prince Francis Omo-Osunde Iyasere
I read the aforementioned article with total disdain for the twisted truth as contained therein. And I am duty bound to put the records straight as they were because lies told repeatedly takes the likelihood of truth if not attended to.
First, Nseobong Okong-Ekong raised a false alarm with the intention to malign the character of the governor through a tiny warped narration. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global concern and every single caring leader would take it with all mustered seriousness. As posited in the article, there was no court order stopping the plan to make sure people get vaccinated. The purported court order was a fraudulent one which has been terminated as the signatures of the presiding judge was forged. As the security officer of the state, the governor has the right to protect the citizens of the state from the ravaging pandemic. The lonesome article writer is trying to downplay the death of even a single citizen, well, the governor cannot. Every single life is important. All medical investigations has shown that even those that have been vaccinated can be infected by those who refused to be vaccinated and the virus has been mutating to deadlier strains. So it’s within the moral rights of the governor to see that people are protected from the pandemic. Edo do not have to be the epicenter before cautious decisions are made to protect the lives of its citizens.
Again, it is a peddled falsehood that dangerous weapons were deployed during the 2020 gubernatorial election. The election was adjudged to be one of the freest and fairest election in the country. It was free of violence as results from polling units where transmitted live. I live here in Edo, went out to vote in a peaceful atmosphere and went back home without any sign of intimidation. Where the writer got his story of violence from must be a darkened space full of lies.
Its unfortunate that the writer wish the governor should allow illegalities of the past to fester on because he would not want to gore some oxen. There have been years of defacing the town planning works in the state where those with connections to government or could bribe town planning officer to built wherever they wish to. The governor has insisted all of those are in the past, whether it was built by himself, Victor Ighile or by Tony Kabaka. No physical reforms are made without stepping on toes. We can cast our minds back to the era of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a lot of properties were destroyed in a bid to construct infrastructures and the heavens didn’t fall. Even a known property belonging to General Ogbemudia was hauled down during this era. I wonder why it should be an issue now if this is not a sponsored article veiled in deceit as if it was independently done. Yes, there is need for the Garick Memorial School land and that of Izi-Iyamu(that was said to be illegally acquired) to be put to better use for the common good of general public. All the legal process of acquisition and compensation will be done.
The mention of Governor Godwin Obaseki accusing the Federal Government of printing money is not only laughable, it is hugely foolish. The governor stood by what he said and his claims were validated by the Minister of finance and the CBN Governor, Emefiele, as well as other notable financial experts. What should have interest this article writer is the caution by the governor on the reckless spending by the federal government especially in this period of scarcity. To go back to the issue of printing money as claimed and validated is a disservice to the nation. The article writer should have done his own independent findings first before publishing this notorious article.
It will amount unnecessary distraction on the part of the governor if he would need to respond to byway plots to malign his person. If a working governor need to be called tyrant, so be it; the concorted idea inside the insidious mind of the writer cannot be changed. As reference to the inauguration where only 12 members out of 24 members-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly, the writer will do well to ask those who refused to present themselves for the inauguration as Obaseki is the head of the executive arm of government, not the legislative arm.
Oh, how I wish the writer is able to understand the complexity in naming a cabinet after the hasty decamping of the governor from APC to PDP and the associated problems with the harmonization of both parties, he would attempt to criminalize the inability of the government to form a cabinet. Well, for his notice, names have been forwarded for confirmation and they will hit the ground running as soon as possible.
And on this note, the writer, in my own advice, ought to change his brown envelope journalistic ways to the path of truth using investigations for fact finding.
