Of Obaseki And His “Benin-By-Air” Brand Of Politics

By Isaac Asabor

At some major motor parks in Lagos state, bus conductors and their drivers are wont to beckon at travelers by laying claim to facilities their vehicles are not equipped with. For instance, it is not unusual to see a conductor screaming “Benin by A/C (meaning that intending travelers to Benin-city would be transported by an Air conditioned equipped vehicle). But alas! Having fallen into the lap of the transporter, the traveler would even before getting to Mowe in Ogun state become unbearably uncomfortable as a result of heat and foul smell emanating from the vehicle contrary to the claim made before he or she boarded the vehicle. The traveler, without option, would travel the long distance without experiencing the cool and soothing breeze that an Air conditioner is characterized with.

In a similar vein, they are wont to also beckon to intending travelers by screaming “Benin by air” to the disbelief of many who already know their stock-in-trade at Lagos motor parks. However, since passengers never took them serious over their claims, they are usually not surprised when they travel through the pot-hole riddled and sometimes, circuitous Lagos-Benin-Ore Road, and not by air as deceptively announced by the bus conductor and his driver. Ostensibly as a way of making intending travelers believe that the buses that were originally manufactured to ply the roads can also fly in the air, road transport operators are wont to seemingly engage in the monkey business of issuing branded tickets to passengers, enter their names in the manifest book, and allocate seats to them to tally with the serial numbers on the manifest.

Some of the established transporters even go as far as offering take-away foods which the payment for the ticket has already taken care of to each of the passengers.

Without resort to smear campaign, it is expedient to opine in this context that the foregoing intros metaphorically explains the situation Edolites have found themselves as the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki is not living up to his promises. Metaphorically put, he is obviously running the state with promises that sound like “Benin-By-Air”.

For instance, the governor, during the Alaghodaro/Inauguration 2020 Thanksgiving Service at the New Festival Hall, Government House, Benin, in November 2020, promised that he would, in his second term; focus on strengthening the civil service, the engine room of government, and added that his administration has concluded plans to recruit 725 new professionals into the state’s civil service. He stated thus, “About 725 vacancies have been declared. Within a month, the recruitment of a new generation of professionals would commence in earnest. By early next year, we would have completed the process.”

Against the foregoing backdrop, and given the present state of Edo State Civil Service, particularly when seen from the perspective of the ongoing ‘No-Vaccination-No-work’ Policy’, it is doubtful if the way and manner the exercise is being carried out appears to be an exercise aimed at strengthening the civil service.

In as much as the Compulsory COVID-19 vaccination in Edo State aims to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the state, there are plethora of abnormalities that would compel one to conclude that the exercise has been mismanaged.

Also in October, 2020, the governor promised the youths who ostensibly paid him a courtesy visit on account of his victory at the gubernatorial election that his administration had plans to reward them with 60 per cent of appointments, particularly to those of them that would be under the age of 40 in his second tenure. Ostensibly massaging the collective ego of the youths, the governor said his administration recognizes the role played by youths in his re-election.

As expected, since the governor was inaugurated for his second term, his administration has for the umpteenth times been carpeted by not few Edolites for not forming a cabinet. Against the foregoing backdrop, it is not unfair to say that he deserved to be carpeted particularly when understood from the fact that he has only announced the appointment of the Secretary to State Government (SSG) and promised to make more appointments by February, 2021.

It would be recalled that just recently in the month of June, 2021, the governor once again somewhat pleaded to Edolites for understanding over the delay in the appointments of commissioners as he explained that the last six months, as at then, were used to restructure the civil service, and that the state was ready to have commissioners. Apparently assuring that the promise would be kept, the governor added that he has directed wards and local governments in the state to submit names to be nominated as members of his cabinet.

To those that may be reading this piece, and in the same process biasedly analyzing it with partisan mindsets, it is expedient to let them know that the inspiration to express this view is not about APC and PDP as they were wont to think. It is equally expedient to remind them that electioneering is over, and that what is on ground now is about the progress of Edo State and its people.

That said, it is germane to say that a commissioner assigned to a sector of the state’s economy is the head of that sector, followed by a Permanent Secretary, and that the civil service carries out the work of government and delivers public services. Civil servants are the permanent staff of departments of state, but they may also work for other public bodies.

The civil service has three main functions that cut across advising the government on the implementation of policy and is responsible for implementing agreed policy even as it helps prepare and draft new legislation as well as helps the government to run the state in line with extant legislation.

At this juncture, permit me to opine that the Civil Service which Obaseki is toying with in the guise of fighting COVID-19, and the appointments of Commissioners which he has unarguably politicized are the most vital machinery of government policies and programmes.

In fact, for the sake of clarity, the machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) means the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government. The term is used particularly in the context of changes to established systems of public administration where different elements of machinery are created. The phrase "machinery of government" is thought to have originated with John Stuart Mill in Considerations on Representative Government (1861). It was notably used to a public audience by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a radio broadcast in 1934, commenting on the role of the National Recovery Administration (NRA) in delivering the New Deal. A number of national governments, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom, have adopted the term in official usage.

In as much as one is not by this view condemning the efforts of the governor and his team in totality, It is expedient to let him know that he should not toy with the Civil Service and the appointments of commissioners as they are collectively the most vital machinery through which government delivers its policies and programmes to its citizenry.

To my view, not few political observers and analysts are looking forward to Obaseki working with civil Servants that would continually evolve new ideas that would form the main bridge between the state government and Edolites. Therefore, to meet all the expectations noted in this piece, the governor should for the sake of the betterment of the state and Edolites eschew the “Benin-By-Air” Brand of Politics he is unarguably playing.

Disclaimer: "The views expressed on this site are those of the contributors or columnists, and do not necessarily reflect TheNigerianVoice’s position. TheNigerianVoice will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here."