My Senate Race Not About Me-Rep. Samson Osagie It has become necessary for me to make some useful clarification about my aspiration to represent the Edo South Senatorial District in the Senate come 2015 against the backdrop of certain misinformation been propagated by some of my opponents and for which my supporters are regularly been attacked. Its been very convenient for supporters of some of my opponents to display anger when those who are better informed about the working of the Legislature seeks to advance credible explanation as to why I am the best candidate for the Edo south senatorial district on account of my experience and track record of performance They are quick to say is Osagie the only person in Edo South , he spent 8 years in the House of Assembly , 8 years in the House of Representatives and now he wants to go to Senate, is he the only one there?beyond this my critics have no tangible reason to want me disqualified from running for Senate. And quite frankly I sympathize with the level of crass ignorance and the envious ness with which these puerile arguments have been put forward. Its true that for no fault of mine but by providence I am the longest serving Lawmaker from the whole of Edo south Senatorial district as at today. Rather than this enviable record to diminish my chances of being the next Senator for the district it should ordinarily enhance it greatly as it is in other climes even within Nigeria. Just a few examples. In Benue State, Senate President David Mark is on his way back to the Senate( all things being equal) for the fifth time.This time his people just called on him and ask him to return to Senate. In Akwa Ibom State, my dear friend Senator Ita Enang started from the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly spent three terms in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate in 2011. He is returning to Senate in 2015. So for me the race for the Senate seat for Edo South Senatorial district is not about me but about availing the people of my district the benefit of the experiences I have been trained to acquire by Orhionmwon / Uhunmwode Federal constituency in the last four tenures. I shall bring to bear these avalanche of past experience especially as a member of the leadership of the National Assembly to bear in the discharge of my responsibilities as Senator of the Federal Republic. We as a people must learn to develop leadership and nurture it to fruition. The Leadership vacuum the Benins are suffering today at the National level is a combination of our inability to develop and encourage those who would have been able to fill the space and bring back dividends to us. We mustnt be like the crabs that pull themselves down thereby leaving no opportunity for any of them to see the outside world. Granted that some politicians have failed to render desirable services to their constituents it must be remembered that some of us have done our modest best to fight the cause of our people and attracted multi billion naira capital projects in addition to enhancing human capital development through employment creation and empowerment programmes, granting bursaries to indigent students I believe that at 47, I have the energy, knowledge ,patriotic fervor and a burning desire to make a huge difference in terms of representation for the Benin( Edo South) people if elected into the Senate. The All Progressive Congress ( APC) presents to me that platform upon which such can be realised.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:31:46 +0000