Arik stowaway and Edo State Government : Another Promise made in the morning? A promised has been described as a debt owned that must be paid. But majorly in political circles, promises made are almost never kept. Evidently, as a result of the recurrent failures of politicians and government officials to keep promises made to the people they represent, many have lost faith in them and their words. As public figures, whenever they make promises and is published or aired by the media, it arouses huge expectations. As a result of the media effect, these expectations could generate favorable public opinion, sympathy and some level of conformity from members of society resulting to an assumption that the government or individuals who makes such promise or promises are well abreast of the issues that affect them, and committed to taking needed actions. But as many of us would agree, once the story of such promises are published or aired, in many cases there is little or no follow up by the media as to the actions taken to implement them in order to ascertain the sincerity behind such promises. This is especially so in cases where it affect an individual or individuals of little or no social standing. Although as a Nigerian, I am not new to promises made by Nigerian politicians, I have never felt it more personal as I did while serving the Edo state government. Hence, reading about another being made to young the stowaway teenage boy, Daniel Oikhena and his parents by the Commissioner of Information and Orientation in Edo State , Mr Louise Odion on behalf of the State Government, I am forced to assume that this Promise is just another political stunt to win favourable public sympathy for a governor whose popularity in the state has dwindled over the years from a “mini- God”. Like young Daniel and so many others before me, I have had my own fair share of the Edo State government promise and fail syndrome. The State Governor, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomole once admitted and said that he could make a promise in the morning, and forget same in the evening. And as such, he should be forgiven whenever he fails to deliver on promises made. As a Corp Member who served in the state capital- Benin City, I was opportunied to follow up and experience this inability of the governor to remember one of his promises made in the morning of the Batch “A” 2013 Orientation Ceremony of th NYSC at Okada in Edo state. And as fate would have it, On the passing out/winding out ceremony of the Batch “B” on June 6th 2013, I was selected as president of the NYSC Editorial Board in the State to deliver a speech on behalf of all Corp Members in the State. I therefore saw this as ample opportunity to remind the governor as well as re-echo the frustration of Corps members in the state over the failure of the Governor to redeem his earlier promise. Characteristically of him, the Governor fought back by blaming his failure on the lack of coordination among his cabinet members whose duties were to ensure that such promises were kept. In his words, ““it is the duty of the commissioner for youth and sports to take note of any promise made by the governor, and take necessary actions to ensure that they are implemented. I am therefore requesting the NYSC State Coordinator and his team to forward to us, the names and account numbers of all those posted to state primary and secondary schools in the state so we can credit their accounts as soon as possible.” In his usual oratory fashion, he also promised that subsequently, the government would take steps to regularize the payment for other batches of corp members currently serving in the state, as well as those who will be posted to Edo state in the future. Till date, I can authoritatively state that no corp member has received a kobo after the publicity stunts. All the Comrade governor needed was the Media hype that he was paying corp members in his state, and he got it. On daniel’s case, It would have been a lose of political point for an NGO associated with the Osun state government to try to cater for a situation in Edo State and take the media glory while the State Government stood aside. With the heat and publicity generated by Daniel’s story, it would have only been fair for the state government to benefit from it more than any other individual or group. But as the excitement dies down by the day, I fear Daniel’s case might become another “ Promise made in the morning, but forgotten in the evening” Just like the over 3006 Corps members who were posted to Edo State, meticulously rendered selfless service to the state government and its people but never got what was due to them as promised. I might not be in a position to speak for all politicians and governors in Nigeria, but from personal experience, I can speak for Comrade Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomole, the executive governor of Edo State.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 09:06:11 +0000
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