7th anniversary: Oshiomhole commends Edo people for confidence, trust repose in him

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Thursday commended the people of the state for the confidence and trust reposed in his government since the past seven years.

Oshiomhole, who made the commendation in Benin City, the state capital, at a town hall meeting with the theme, “7 Years of Restoring the Lost Glory of Edo State” to commemorate his seven years in office, noted that the confidence also created a huge burden on the administration to discharge and approach governance to the betterment of all and sundry in the state.

The governor, who gave a graphic highlight of the achievements of the administration in the past years, however, promised to lay a solid financial foundation for his successor come 2016.

He promised to replicate what the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu did during his administration by laying a solid financial foundation and policies that shored up the state internal generated revenue from a mere N600 million monthly to about N20 billion monthly.

“My appreciation goes to the great people of this state for the support you have graciously extended to me in this past seven years, and in 2012 across the 18 local government areas when you voted overwhelmingly in my favour along with the deputy governor to continue to provide leadership for our great state.

“It is the first time in this state or even during the defunct Mid West Region that a steward at Osadebey Avenue has the overwhelming mandate of the majority of the people in each of the local government that constitute Edo State.

“I remained humble by that expression of trust, but it also create on me a huge burden to discharge and approach governance in a way that justify the confidence that you have continued to repose in our stewardship,” he said.

He also expressed appreciation to members of the trade union movement for the values, struggles, street fights and protests that helped to shape and deepen his understanding of the level of inequalities in the society.

He disclosed that the experiences were tools of mobilisation without which many Nigerians wouldn’t have known that people like him existed not to talk of being a governor.

The governor, who also disclosed that the state government in a matter of deliberate policy decided not to invest in the establishment of industries, posited that establishment of industry was the responsibility of private sector.

He added that the sole duty of government worldwide was to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and attract private investors with the necessary policies and programmes.

He further disclosed that in the past years there had been a lot of capital inflow into the state, and assured that in the next 12 months his government would put machinations in place to complete all the ongoing projects across the state, initiate new ones and collect taxes in accordance with the relevant laws.