No Governor, No Minister, We Can’t Keep Quiet Any…–Community

We can’t keep quiet any longer that no governor, no minister, in fact, no party chairman has come from our community in the last 35 years.

These and more are the contentions of the Owan and Akoko-Edo Local Government Areas of Edo State, who spoke under aegis of Akoko-Edo and Owan Alliance.

Rising from a meeting held to advance their course today, they bemoaned that while other communities were being encouraged to develop, that their areas have remained marginalised and suppressed for 35.

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“It is sad to note that in 25 years, we only had eight years in Senate (Yisa Braimoh and Domingo Obende), while Etsako dominated the remaining years.

“No Governor, no Minister, no ambassador, no state party chairman of major political parties, no established tertiary institutions.

“For years, the Sasaro-Igarra-Ibillo road had been in bad shape and both state and federal government is doing nothing about it,” the stakeholders, who also expressed their frustration in a statement issued later by the convener of the alliance, Mr Sunny Ifijen said.

According to him, for both sons and daughters of the councils, home and abroad, the message is that: We can’t keep quiet any longer over what he described as multi-faceted marginalisation in the past 35 years.

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They thus appealed to the federal and state governments, religious and traditional leaders and other relevant stakeholders, to as a matter of urgency, accede to a special concessions for the plight the Akoko-Edo and Owan people.

According to the alliance, aside the absence of government presence in the two council areas, there is zero government relevance at all levels, as opposed to the situation elsewhere.

The Eagle reports that last September, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki hadcalled on political leaders across the country to step up and assuage the pains of Nigerians on many fronts.

He said such pains had been due to poor governance and inefficiency, and that failing to do so, the political class should expect a surprise from the electorate in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.