Buhari Campaigns With Edo Transformation

Nigeria’s former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) has said the transformation of Edo State by Governor Adams Oshiomhole is a testimony of how the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the federal level will turn the fortunes of the country around when voted into power in 2015.

Buhari, who is a leading presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC made this known at the inauguration of the Ayogwiri-Apana-Okpekpe road in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state, ThisDay reports.

He said having inaugurated some other projects in Benin City, he had no doubt that Edo State was blessed with one of the most dynamic governors in the country.

“A road like this Okpekpe road will boost the economy and it is something that only government can provide as it has been done by the Edo State Government. When the roads are bad, farmers cannot take their products to the city for sale because it is expensive. It is so expensive because transporters will not come. They will find out that it is not worth it. When they come and they go back they will discover that the repairs will be more than the money they earn from the farmers. And the farmers themselves will think they are working for the transporters. There is no doubt that this road will give accessibility to this community. Without accessibility, it will be difficult to convey farm produce and buyers will not want to come since it will increase cost. Only the government can intervene to ease this problem. May God in his infinite mercy pay you back,” he said.

According to him, projects like Okpekpe road is a testimony of the high level thinking of the APC and how the APC government will transform the country for good when it wins the election at the federal level  in 2015.

Speaking also, Oshiomhole explained that the project posed some challenges, revealing that to survey the road was quite problematic. He said at the end it was done although the amount required to construct it was frightening.

“If government should touch everybody, that we should spread development to every nook and cranny of the state, then no terrain should be considered too expensive to develop. So we decided to construct the road. As you have seen, we decided to do the commissioning  here and not in the village so that you can see the amount of work done to achieve this level. I feel fulfilled that God has used us to make a difference in the lives of very ordinary people and there is nothing that is good that any leader wants to do that he won’t be able to do and that the poverty we face as a nation is not poverty of resources but poverty of ideas and poverty of commitment,” he said.

The governor alleged that other parties believe that constructing roads to the rural areas is dangerous to their instrument of rigging, adding that when the place cannot be accessed, both INEC and the police are not in a hurry to go there and they will vote for them in the city and announce the result on their behalf.

“By constructing this road, we are doing damage to election riggers and dismantling their rigging infrastructure by providing access for election materials to get to their location irrespective of where they are,” he said.

In his remarks, the traditional ruler of Okpekpe Kingdom, said in the past, several politicians have used road construction as a bait to win votes in the kingdom but would disappear as soon as the elections were over.

“At a time some politicians made us believe that the construction of our road was an impossible task to be done. The Holy Book tells us that there is time for everything under the sun. So when the time came, a great unionist turned politician called Adams Oshiomhole appeared on the political scene. He is the messiah that God ordained to provide a solidly built road for Okpekpe community,” he said.