PARIS, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016: (DGW) As Edo State gubernatorial election draws near, Edo voters have been urged in a piece sent in an email to our newsroom here in the French capital of Paris to ponder the questions raised below before electing a new governor to lead the state again in the coming years, according to the writer, after the abysmal failures of the outgoing governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.
In the piece below, many searching questions were raised by the undersigned, a social critic, political analyst and a public commentator on national and global issues.
Read the piece below:
''Edo people are no blocks and are no stones nor are they mindless zombies or robots to fall again for the antics of the Buhari-led Federal Government. This piece is more of searching questions Edo people would be better advised to provide answers to.
Common sense demands that you study the obviously sad situation and ask yourselves the rationale behind the continuity which the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state seeks. I have heard Buhari is also asking for continuity come 2019 general elections.
On what basis are these men seeking continuity if one may ask when:
Nigeria's foreign reserves have dropped abysmally from over $30 billion to less than $24 billion in one year with no visible or tangible evidence of service infrastructures on the ground where the money was utilized;
When Nigeria has lost its prestigious position as Africa's largest economy to South Africa within one year under Muhammadu Buhari;
When the naira is now worthless and continues to fall all-time low against all major currencies;
When the naira under Buhari has become the lowest in African currency ranking;
See Table Below:
Naira Exchange Rate as of today
Versus Other African Countries:
*South Africa: Rand 1 = 13 Naira
Versus Other African Countries:
*South Africa: Rand 1 = 13 Naira
*Angola: 1 kwanza = 2 Naira
*Botswana: 1 Pula = 18 Naira
*Cape Verde: 1 Escudo = 2 Naira
*Algeria: 1 Dinar = 2 Naira
*Egypt: 1 Pound = 25 Naira
*Eritrea: 1 Nakata = 13 Naira
*Ethiopia: 1 Birr = 9 Naira
*Ghana: 1 Cedi = 50 Naira
*Gambia 1 Dalasi = 5 Naira
*Kenya: 1 shilling = 3 Naira
*Liberia: 1 Dollar = 4 Naira
*Lesotho: 1 Loti = 14 Naira
*Libya: 1 Dinar = 146 Naira
*Morrocco: 1 Dirham = 146 Naira
*Madagascar: 1 Ariary = 4 Naira
*Mauritius: 1 Rupee = 6 Naira
*Malawi: 1 kwacha = 11 Naira
*Mozambique: 1 Metical = 4 Naira
*Namibia: 1 Dollar = 12 Naira
*Seychelles: 1 Rupee = 12 Naira
*Sudan: 1 pound = 32 Naira
*Swaziland: 1 Lilangeni = 13 Naira
*Tunisia: 1 Dinar = 100 Naira
*Zambia: 1 kwacha = 18 Naira
*Even the worst economies of Africa now have more valuable currencies than Nigeria.
*As of today $1 = N430; *Euro is = N470
*Botswana: 1 Pula = 18 Naira
*Cape Verde: 1 Escudo = 2 Naira
*Algeria: 1 Dinar = 2 Naira
*Egypt: 1 Pound = 25 Naira
*Eritrea: 1 Nakata = 13 Naira
*Ethiopia: 1 Birr = 9 Naira
*Ghana: 1 Cedi = 50 Naira
*Gambia 1 Dalasi = 5 Naira
*Kenya: 1 shilling = 3 Naira
*Liberia: 1 Dollar = 4 Naira
*Lesotho: 1 Loti = 14 Naira
*Libya: 1 Dinar = 146 Naira
*Morrocco: 1 Dirham = 146 Naira
*Madagascar: 1 Ariary = 4 Naira
*Mauritius: 1 Rupee = 6 Naira
*Malawi: 1 kwacha = 11 Naira
*Mozambique: 1 Metical = 4 Naira
*Namibia: 1 Dollar = 12 Naira
*Seychelles: 1 Rupee = 12 Naira
*Sudan: 1 pound = 32 Naira
*Swaziland: 1 Lilangeni = 13 Naira
*Tunisia: 1 Dinar = 100 Naira
*Zambia: 1 kwacha = 18 Naira
*Even the worst economies of Africa now have more valuable currencies than Nigeria.
*As of today $1 = N430; *Euro is = N470
*one and half years ago it was N200.
*N1,000,000 is now less than $2,300
*N1000,000 is less than £1750
*N1,000,000 is now less than $2,300
*N1000,000 is less than £1750
*N1000,000 is less than 2,100 euros
When the Buhari-led Federal Government rose from an emergency meeting yesterday and okayed the sale of the country's national assets , first time in Nigeria's chequered history;
When three square meal a day is no more affordable in many homes and now an exclusive reserve of the likes of Aliko Dangote;
When suicide rate has increased marvelously in Nigeria as a result of hunger and frustration;
Back in Edo State I ask yet again, on what basis is Oshiomhole seeking continuity of his visionless and directionless party that has plunged Nigeria and Edo State into abysmal depths;
When Edo State has lost its prestigious position in Nigeria as the most educationally advantaged state to the most educationally disadvantaged state;
When our teenagers are perishing in rapid succession in the fiery Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea in a bid to make it to Europe in search of greener pastures as a result of the harsh and intolerable condition at home;
When there is no single factory built by Oshiomhole in the past eight years of his ruinous rule to absorb our teeming school leavers which has doubtless swollen the unemployment queue in the state;
When there is no good road network in the state to open up the remotest outposts and agricultural hinterlands;
When Edo State is saddled with a massive debt burden up to the tune of a whopping N500 billion; the money which he diverted to establishing a university in his hometown at the expense of Edo taxpayers;
When Edo State has been marvelously reduced to an economic backwater with no viable infrastructure on the ground to generate or create wealth;
When workers' salaries are irregular amid heavy taxation;
When the crime rate in the state is on the ascending order of magnitude;
When Oshiomhole is reportedly floating an airline in Cape Verde with Edo people's money;
The only thing I heard him say during their party's mega rally at Ogbe Station in Benin is the re-roofing and renovation of schools in the state and the rehabilitation of roads in Benin City.
Edo people, I ask you here, was there any new road constructed like the ones which his predecessors particularly late ex-Governor Ambrose did? No! If you ask me. Is Benin City the only civil division that makes up Edo Sate? No! Come to think of it, how many roads did he rehabilitate when washouts abound in many roads today in the state capital capable of forcing a pregnant woman into involuntary abortion as motorcyclists and motorists navigate or wade their way through the pools of water dotting the roads? Are the few, half-baked rehabilitated roads what will put food on your table, create wealth, give you employment, give you decent housing, give you safety nets for the unemployed as it is done in other countries? No!
Is the Labour Party, Peoples' Democratic Party, All Progressive Grand Alliance responsible for any of these setbacks and underdevelopment in the past eight years? Have Edo State monthly federal allocation and 13% derivation as an oil-producing state ever been held back under any guise in the past 8 years? No! Edo State has been under Oshiomhole in the past eight years which is more than enough to right the wrongs of the former ruling party, if any, which he often sings about in his campaign of calumny designed to bamboozle some gullible Edo voters, some of whom are blinded by primordial sentiments or peanuts from Oshimhole to mortgage their future.
It is for you to ponder these questions objectively before casting your vote come September 28 which is only 5 days from now. It is either you use your voting power to change your life forever or remain to thrive on dirt and dirty surroundings. Oshimhole's game plan is to plant his adopted godson at the Government House to cover up his excesses. If you allow his antics to get the better of you, you would have only succeeded in mortgaging your future , your children's future and generations yet unborn.''
*Iyoha John Darlington, a social activist, political analyst and public commentator on national and global issues wrote from Turin, Italy.
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