The most important subject for any aspiring leader is history because as a young person they do not have the benefit of experience, rather they tap into the experiences of others and the only chance of avoiding certain mistakes is to study those who went before them.
In the same vein, every good leader, however, is expected to learn a lot from history, even though history teaches us that most people do not learn from it,
Now, there is an unfolding political scene in Edo State which reveals that some members of the political class do not have the slightest idea that they are part of a cycle ignorant of the proverb that ” those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”
Political Pundits are watching history repeating itself following the public apology by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC to Senator Matthew Urhoghide, when he officially decamped to the APC recently. Senator Ughoghide has announced his decamping and ambition to seek for the APC governorship ticket a few months ago.
It would be recalled that Oshiomhole, the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial district, who has become an harbinger of defeat, apologized in 2020 to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu (PoI ) for supporting the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki in 2016 and the apology became a reminder that fueled more outrage against them and garnered more support for Godwin Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Before this apology to Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Edo people are already aware that Urhoghide left the PDP because he failed to get a 3rd term bid to the Senate and he failed to get assurances for the PDP Governorship ticket because it was zoned to Edo Central. Recall that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, POI, left PDP in 2019 when he too failed to secure support for his governorship ambition from PDP power brokers including Senator Matthew Urhoghide.
Senator Urhoghide having exhausted the opportunities in the State, went to Abuja where APC is calling the shots, hoping to get a Federal Appointment. It is stating the obvious that it was his Senatorial ambition that moved him from APC to PDP in 2011, and when that expired he moved in search of greener pastures to APC.
With these inconsistencies of a politician who is supposed to be a leader, are we still looking for the description of opportunism and self-centered scheming. These are the kind of politicians who will avoid the real issues in the Campaign and for their selfish interest and preservation, manufacture stories and lies.
Interestingly, Matthew Urhoghide that just decamped has automatically been appointed the Campaign Director General because they need an Edo South politician without integrity that they believe can be used to achieve what they want and they forget that one of the criteria which Edo voters will consider is a test for consistency and selflessness.
Edo voters will no doubt weigh up concrete achievements of the Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration and consider the Candidate that is in the best position to intensify the completion of the mega projects across the state and build on the existing infrastructural and human capital development with integrity.
Some of the issues that will be on the front burner will include basically, What the two candidates from Edo Central , Barr. Asue Ighodalo of the PDP and Senator Monday Okpebholo of the APC have to offer? What are their preparations for this challenging role? The five P’s: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
Where and what did they learn; because learning goals must precede outcome goals and that is where their historical background will be of immense importance to the voters to enable them make the right choice
What are their peer comparisons; comparisons with previous Governors in the State and external comparisons with incumbent and previous Governors in other sophisticated States and based on these comparisons, are we pushing forward with their Leadership quality?
What track record or momentum will each be building upon and their level of integrity and exposure will also play vital roles in determining their leadership qualities. Integrity is wholeness. It means being totally or completely sound. To have integrity means they must be upright, sincere, loyal and pure. They need integrity to be a good leader.
However, their integrity will be shattered by lies and deception. The reason why very few people believe in politicians is because their integrity has been greatly compromised by deception.
Importantly, the voters will be wary of a Candidate that can be hijacked by their godfathers because the weaker a candidate, the more vulnerable to being hijacked by politicians.
Senator Matthew Urhoghide in a trending video awakened our worst fear, he devised a sharing formula with which Edo resourses would be allocated to the APC leaders amongst and within themselves, he openly castigated Governor Obaseki for refusing to “share the money” questioning if street lights, fixed roads and infrastructural projects vote. He implied that its politicians that bring out the vote and as such Godwin Obaseki was wasting his time and state resources. His new friends, who once chased him out of APC were so impressed with his presentation, they rewarded him with DG!
Who better to execute the heist, than the brains behind it?
Just like Pythagoras, Senator Matthew Urhoghide has his own formula, a theorem is presented to APC leaders, How to Share Edo State Money!
