ASUE IGHODALO; PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL RUNNING FOR GOVERNORSHIP POSITION- Professor Chris Mustapha Nwokobia jnr

A prominent social political affairs analyst, Professor Chris Mustapha Nwokobia jnr has said that nations are built when leadership is centered around Competence stressing that Barrister Asue Ighodalo is a presidential personality contesting for a Governorship position in Edo.

He made the disclosure over the weekend in Benin City, the Edo state capital, in a symposium organized by the OBIDIENTS movement for Asue Ighodalo with the theme " Role Of Leadership In Attaining Edo Of Our Dream"

According to Prof Nwankobia, "nations are built when the criteria for the choice of leadership is centered around Competence, Character and credibility of leadership not on incontinence of mundane considerations of partisan politics and other pecuniary considerations adding that Asue Ighodalo is a presidential material running for a Governorship position in Edo State.

 "Peter Obi has been accused of anti-Party activities because of the infusion of the OBIDIENTS phenomenon in another party, but I ask them, how do you transform a nation when all that matters to you is your political party, or the consideration of what people would say or your personal interest rather than the overall interest of the country? But I have said it time and again that I will live and die for the basis and foundation on which the OBIDIENTS movement was built which is Competence, credibility and character and the fundamental structure of Justice, Equity, Fairness and the commitment to the common good of all and all these and more are what Peter Obi stands for and for which Asue Ighodalo holds dear to heart and coincidentally here is Barr Asue Ighodalo born on the same day and month with Peter Obi and both of them investment bankers 

" When I met Asue Ighodalo in Abuja and I told him that he must not fail Edo people and he told me that if the South East today has an Alex Otti and perhaps a Peter Mbah, then he wants the South South to have an Asue Ighodalo that delivers on the promises of dividends of democracy and he further said to me that if we were to have thirteen governors committed to delivering on the promises of democracy then we would have a country to be proud of .

He further added that Asue Ighodalo is a presidential material running for a Governorship position in Edo.

Asue Ighodalo who was not billed to be part of the event however walked into the event unannounced and was ushered to the high table and he said that the OBIDIENTS movement has began to change Nigeria through a form of a revolution which will encounter enormous challenges but admonished the conveners not to relent.

 According to him, "the core values of what OBIDIENTS movement stands for which is justice, equity and fairness is about to be tested in Edo state governorship election . It doesn't matter when the problems of Nigeria started but what truly matters is that we must solve the problems .

He said that since 1960 that Nigeria has made so much money in oil to build seven Dubai's in Nigeria but all that money cannot be accounted for urging the OBIDIENTS movement to forget about the past and focus on building a future Nigeria that all should be proud of.

" I have said it time and time again that Nigeria will not start changing from Abuja but if we have about 6 States working and doing the right thing, that will be the beginning of the turn around for good that we all are look forward to.

"We must never allow a revolution that we cannot control to happen in Nigeria because the consequences of such would be too enormous for us to contend with and you OBIDIENTS movement are the ones to stop such crisis through a sane and controllable revolution that would deliver a first class Nigeria and on my part, if you give me the mandate to govern Edo, I will build a first class state out of Edo that all Edo People and Nigerians will be proud of.

"Singapore as a country doesn't have the resources Edo state has. The only thing they have is a barren land which they turned to a land flowing with milk and honey but we have a land flowing with milk and honey which we are turning into a barren land. We are blessed with good things but we create our bad things.

"Even if we don't want to work at all but just want to sit around and enjoy our lives, we can use our tourism potential to drive development in Edo where people around the globe will bring their dollars just to come and see our Oba and billions of dollars will be earned annually through that alone.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Governor of Edo state, Marvelous????? Said that the OBIDIENTS movement is the moral compass for Nigeria's greatness adding that OBIDIENTS is bigger than any political party but imperative for the greatness of Nigeria as the core values of fairness equality and justice are the main foundation on which OBIDIENTS movement is built without which no meaningful development can be attained.

The guest speaker, Professor Mathew Izibili of the department of Philosophy at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, who delivered a key note address on " The Role Of Leadership In Attaining The Edo Of Our Dream" said that the symposium was timely as it was an agenda setting in an attempt to pave the way for a leadership in Edo that engenders good and responsible governance.

According to him, the leadership that engenders the possibilities of attaining a developed Edo of our dream encompasses a good moral character of leadership and also morality of the process. He said it includes also the choice of a transformational leader not transactional leadership 

Speaking to newsmen at the event, the convener of the event, Mr Fred Atiomo said that the motivation behind the event was purely to support a candidate who is competent.

According to him, " Asue Ighodalo is the only candidate that has the charisma, Competence and cerebrally imbued with all the wherewithal that is needed to pilot the affairs of a state in quest for a sustainable development and Asue is the only candidate that fits in this regard and it only makes sense for the OBIDIENTS to follow Asue and I got some few like minded OBIDIENTS to add value to the target of our vision of garnering a hundred and fifty thousand votes for Asue Ighodalo in the coming governorship election. Presently, as we speak , we have twenty thousand now and very sure we would hit our target of a hundred and fifty thousand voters, not less but more, before the election.

" Our driving force is built solely on the principles of Justice Equity Fairness and the moral capital of integrity, Competence, good strength of character, capacity and credibility of the person of Asue Ighodalo. We, as OBIDIENTS, are not swayed by political suasion, but the credibility and Competence of the candidate that can take our dear Edo state to the shared vision of a prosperous and glorious new Edo where everyone would have an unrestrained access to possibilities of a good life that our state can offer.

One of the major reasons why the OBIDIENTS movement didn't do well in other elections was that they didn't have a formidable structure on ground but now that the movement is leveraging on the solid foundation and structure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the battle for the position of the Edo state governor is as good as won because we have a candidate that has a proven and verifiable track record of Competence Character and credibility and so, we are sure of a win win situation for all. Win win situation for all because it is not just winning the election but also absolutely convinced that there would be a plethora of developmental antecedents in the entire Edo state.

" I am not going to comment on the weaknesses of other candidates but on the strengths and Competence of our candidate, Asue Ighodalo. It would be counted against us as a great sin to assign an incompetent individual to bungle our developmental progression and initiatives by the outgoing administration of governor Obaseki by assigning an incompetent individual for the onerous task of taking Edo from where Obaseki will stop.  

The Coveners of OBIDIENTS for Asue Ighodalo, Fred Atiomo and Austin Isikhueme who were in the trenches for Peter Obi in the build up to the 2023 general election said that , the seed of OBIDIENTS movement has been ingrained in the hearts of the people and as the Edo 2024 Governorship election drew near,we as forerunner and vision bearers of the OBIDIENTS phenomenon, decided to check which of the contestants from all the political parties vying for the governorship position fits the bill of the ideology of the cardinal philosophy of Justice, Equity and Fairness which the OBIDIENTS movement represents and it was found out that only Asue Ighodalo that fits the bill aside from having the Competence, Character and credibility and decided, to throw our weight behind Barr Asue Ighodalo 

High point of the event was the unveiling of the OBIDIENTS Secretariat in the Benin City, the Edo state capital.