Eholor burnishing his battered image with false patriotism to the Edo heritage

By Christopher Ojekere

Edo people take great pride in the unique history and rich cultural heritage that set them apart from every other civilization. However, when it comes to the defence of their heritage, it also requires that the best take the stead and not some questionable characters seeking personal gains through empty posturing.

In a recent diatribe, a serial fraudster and sociopath, Patrick Osagie Eholor sought fruitlessly to vilify and cast aspersion on a performing Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki over the new regime announced by the state government where all traditional rulers in the State’s 18 local government areas will receive monthly allowances to administer their domains.

In his rambling, the rabble-rouser attempted to drag the highly exalted Royal Palace into his poorly-scripted campaign of calumny and mudslinging aimed to tarnish the very cordial relationship between the Palace, traditional institutions in the State and the Obaseki-led government.

The clout chaser, in his divisive antics, resorted to fabricating lies and spreading falsehoods in his failed attempt to undermine the governor’s sincere efforts at improving the livelihoods of the people and placing the state on a path of sustainable growth and development.

First, Patrick Osagie Eholor is not worth responding to because he is obviously not literate enough to understand the bureaucracy of government and governance or appreciate complex concepts that drive the wheel of governance.

He even lacks the moral authority to speak on the matter because he has never been a good ambassador of the State. The writer is a known fraudster who goes about defrauding Edo people from his base overseas, jumping on social media to pollute the space and cause mayhem.

In his warped thinking, Patrick Edohor believes that Edo people are unaware of his criminal records in Canada. Edohor is a known scammer who fled Canada for Nigeria when his illegal business of defrauding people went bad. To whitewash his already dead image, Edohor repackaged himself as an activist and set up another fraudulent scheme in the guise of a nongovernmental organization, One Love Foundation, where he now parades himself as the Ultimate Equal President.

In one of the paragraphs of his hogwash, Edohor presented himself as one who cared for the welfare and wellbeing of the people of Edo State. A known land grabber? His obvious anger with the Governor is because the governor dislodged him and his ilk who superintended over the reign of terror in Edo State, deploying violence to dispossess people of their landed properties and hard-earned money.

Edo people understand his antics and will not be swayed. He is a genius fraudster seeking to exploit the political arena to cleanse his battered image and savor the spoils of his ill-gotten wealth. Imagine entering into politics via the Labour Party when your values negate the values of the Party and your kind, a criminal, is exactly the kind of people that the Labour Party is against and doesn’t want around the corridors of power. What an antithesis.

In trying to understand the idea behind the tirade filled with a personal hatred for the Governor, one may be forced to ask critical questions like: Does Patrick Edohor have a copy of Nigeria's Constitution? Does he know how the law operates? Does he know what it means to enforce a 1979 law?

Edohor, the social media wailer should focus on clearing his name from his fraudulent activities and allow the governor to focus on his business of governance because his cries and wails, no matter how long, will not rewrite the governor’s transformative achievements across all sectors of Edo State, including infrastructure, civil service, economy, education, health and security, among others.

The governor’s commitment to the progress and well-being of Edo State is evident through his actions and policies aimed at driving positive change and engendering economic growth, ensuring improved livelihoods for the people of the State. Some of the efforts include increasing the minimum wage to N40,000 (the highest in the country), regular payment of salaries and pensions, improving the work environment, introducing technology to improve efficiency and easing the work process to ensure better service delivery to citizens.

The governor has been intentional about expanding the state’s economic base by deliberately creating the enabling environment for business to thrive and attract investments into Edo State, as a haven for investment. The governor has transformed Edo from a civil service-dominated State to one which is attracting manufacturing, commercial agricultural concerns, service and technology companies, real estate and several SMEs, among others.

It’s to the credit of the Governor that Edo currently has the largest oil palm plantation programme in Africa, championed by Dufil, Saro Africa and other new entrants into the Edo oil palm industry in addition to the already established ones like Presco and Okomu, among others.

It’s undeniable that Obaseki has transformed Edo into an industrial hub with the establishment of at least two modular refineries that are currently refining crude oil. The refineries as of June 2023 had placed an order for 300,000 barrels of crude for refining in their facilities. The refineries are the 6000bpd facility operated by the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company (ERPC) in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area and the 2500bpd Duport Refinery run by Duport Refinery Company Limited in Egbokor, Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the State.

Edo is today the most connected state digitally in Nigeria and operates the most digitized civil and public service in the Country, with all local governments connected to fibre optics. The State runs an e-governance system and is on the verge of becoming the first State in the country to have entirely shifted to a digital mode of administration. The governor's track record of good governance and dedication to transparency speaks to his sincere intentions to lead the state towards prosperity and progress and Edo people are aware of these facts.

I urge the public to disregard the tantrums from Patrick Edohor and reject him in all his form or guise. Allowing fraudsters like himself to cloak themselves in the garb of politics not only threatens the sanctity of governance but also endangers the trust that holds societies together. We must stand vigilant against the manipulation and antics of Edohor and his minions who desire to venture into politics for their selfish gains, including burnishing their battered image to escape justice for their criminal records.

*_Ojekere, a Public Affairs Commentator writes from Benin City_*

Eholor is a faded attention seeker.He will not go far