If the Edo people are tired of governance failure and are sincerely looking for a visible hand to pull the levers of transformational development for their state that has made unenviable progress in spite of the revolving oil revenue at its disposal, destiny has thrust up a vibrant young egghead in the person of Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine to do the job. There is time for everything says the wise Jewish King Solomon. Having passed through the struggles for the emancipation of the ordinary people, it is now time for him to manifest in the public interest.
Odion-Akhaine is an untainted egghead with a medal touch for equity, justice and fairness. His potentials have, over the years, manifested in no small measure in his unrelenting pursuit for law, order and good governance in our beleaguered country Nigeria. Akhaine, in his aluta struggles, has passed through the crucible of fire, which prepared him for this day, indeed for the task at hand. Edo people must be lucky and destined to shine, given its acclaimed historical reckoning to have Odion-Akhaine to graciously accept to serve them. For across Nigeria today, it is difficult to have men and women of integrity in the political space. Corruption stinks deep in people’s conduct. Selfishness, greed and avarice are the order of the day. But here we have an exceptional fine gentleman in the persons of Odion-Akhaine coming out to serve. Ordinarily, he would have preferred to stay at the corner as praise singer to pick the crumbs falling from the official table.
And so, Odion-Akhaine is not an opportunist seeking self-gratification. As a matter of fact, he has taken more than enough time to prepare himself for the assignment ahead. Unlike many others who just dabble into seeking political office without the slightest knowledge, preparation or experience, Odion-Akhaine is an accomplished political scientist with diverse experience. With a PhD in Political Science from the Royal Holloway University in the United Kingdom, after graduating from the University of Lagos, Akoka, where he bestrode the campus as a critical students union activist, he is currently a Professor of Political Science at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos.
During his days on campus as student union activist, Odion-Akhaine was fearless, bold and articulate; uncommon qualities that shot him up to the limelight even at the national level. He was not afraid to confront the military political forces that held sway at the time. With his graduation coinciding with the oppressive military regime, he launched himself in the fray of anti-military struggle. The struggle earned him a place in the unenviable hall of fame of leaders of the frontline pro-democracy movement in Nigeria. At various times, he served as the general secretary of the Campaign for Democracy (CD) and the United Action for Democracy (UAD) in the battle to force the military junta and their boys to return back to the barracks. He fought for the return of democracy and is therefore fit and proper to lead in a democratic government he now desires.
Prior to the days of anti-military struggle, Odion-Akhaine had created a political slogan around himself popularly called Odionism. What is Odionism, one may ask? It is an idealism that aimed at changing the immediate environment, changing the Nigerian society and the international situation. Odionism saw a nexus in the dynamics operating at these three levels. The immediate environment captures the university environment and the need for drastic transformation aimed at giving greater autonomy to both the students and the academic staff guided by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Charter of Demands. These ideas resonated with the students who saw Odionism as the rallying point of new campus dynamism.
Without doubt, the conceived ideology is still alive, which explains why Odion-Akhaine joined the off-season Edo guber race to give vent to his progressive ideas that have remained latent. The beauty of Odion-Akhaine’s adventure is that it has taken a long time to prepare and so the time is ripe for its full realisation. One could imagine what the political situation in Edo State would be when a guru like Odion-Akhaine assumes the leadership. It is expected that law, order, justice, equity and fairness would prevail. And above all, the much needed development lacuna, especially, in the area of infrastructure would manifest.
It needs to be pointed out that Edo State, despite having been led by some prominent politicians, has not recorded the much needed progressive feat. The archaic cityscape remains unchanged. With the exception of Samuel Ogbemudia, a military man, and Professor Ambrose Ali, who during their times impacted the state to some extent, the rest of those who ruled Edo State appeared to have played more of politics with the people’s fate. On this note, mention must be made of the poor state of infrastructure, especially, roads in the Central Senatorial zone. It is unimaginable how Edo State has continued to be in the news for bad reasons. The objectionable condition of the ever busy Benin bye-pass is a case in point. Though seen as a federal highway, the state government ought not to close its eyes to a disaster happening right at the centre of its domain. The state government ought to have taken action to alleviate the misery on that highway especially during the rainy season.
But here is a man who through long-standing research has articulated an agenda for the transformation of Edo State. Odion-Akhaine has in his unrelenting activities promoted unity of Edo people, which is critical in any worthwhile development of the state. The task at hand is how to salvage a distressed state. How to turn the pervading misery plaguing the people into happiness is the task ahead. It is on that note that the right-thinking elites of Edo State are beckoning on Odion-Akhaine to join the guber race because of his pedigree to salvage the state.
Interestingly, Odon-Akhaine happens to be the second professor to show up to lead the state. The first, Professor Ambrose Ali who governed the state from 1979 to 1983 left remarkable strides. Under Ali’s leadership, people from the old Bendel State considered his administration as a golden era in the state. And today, we have another Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine, who was an acolyte of Professor Ambrose Ali on the verge of emerging to impact the state once again like his compatriot. There is reason to believe that the good legacy left by Professor Ambrose Ali would motivate Odion Akhaine to even do more.
The large turnout of guber contestants, about 30 on the last count, shouldn’t be an issue to worry about by a distinguished scholar cum political guru like Akhaine. It is like students in a class who have to take an examination. Definitely, there will be sifting after the exam. There will be first, second, third, positions and so on. And of course, there will be last, yet all of them were in the same class. From experience, it is obvious that on or before the primaries, many of the contestants will drop and declare for the best and most outstanding contestant of which Odion-Akhaine stands a good chance of emerging on top.
We are talking of a man who has gone through political torture for the sake of the suffering masses of the people. After he became the general secretary of Campaign for Democracy (CD) under the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, in January 1995, he was arrested by the State Security Service (SSS) and clamped into detention in faraway Kebbi State. Despite the adverse conditions and torture he faced, he never recanted instead he remained sturdily unshaken, focusing on his mission goal which was to force the military out of power.
It was in the heat of his incarceration that Odion-Akhaine made the popular declaration, “I believe in the revolutionary transformation of the Nigerian society. With the abundant resource endowment, we believe that another Nigeria is possible, and it is possible today, despite the rot in the system. With ideological orientation which is eternally pro our people, I hate to see people suffer. I hate injustice; I hate cheating; I was ready to die to save our people. I live daily in pain seeing the mass suffering of Nigerians, more painful as I know it is not natural, it is manmade.” The ball is in the court of Edo people to harness the expertise of their illustrious son and make their state liveable for all.
