Edo 2016: Oshiomhole’s Legacy Lies On His Successor -By David Ikhueoya

It’s expected that while the bell tolls consistently for Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s imminent exit that the succession storm will readily gather with higher intensity after nearly eight years in the saddle. As the governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole has demonstrated seminal leadership; ministering to the two most basic purposes of governance: the people and the State. His success story can only be entrenched with the quality of the person who takes over from him.

So far, Governor Oshiomhole has provided leadership which has to do with steering people towards mutually shared values in order to accomplish clear goals and objectives. In another sense, it is taking responsibility for what members of one’s group, community or society do. Governor Oshiomhole’s leadership style encompasses visioning, passion, commitment and challenging the status quo to make the state, institutions, community or society perform better.

However, leadership is not just about espousing policies, programmes and projects that will bring about meaningful development and progress that the people are yearning for, but also the singular obligation to ensure that those who take over from them are people of trusted characters. Every leader at any level, in any sector, or any institution has the cardinal duty of ensuring that capable and effective leadership do not end with him or her. This is an indispensable component of a truly successful leadership and in the wholesome re-engineering of POSITIVE CHANGE!

It is no accident that the countries that have become leaders in the world today are the ones which successfully allowed effective generations of leaders to emerge, albeit seamlessly. The Chinese Communist Party is an example. While some would question the democratic credentials of such a leadership recruitment and selection process, the fact that cannot be denied is that emergence into a position of leadership in China is based on careful preparation. And this process has over the past three decades delivered the stupendous rates of growth that have today transformed China from a backwater into the world’s second leading economy.

The path that forward-looking societies and organisations toe is courageous leadership orientation. Edo State will only be placed on the path of progress, growth and development when we get our leadership question resolved. It is indispensable for success in any vocation and it is time for Edo people to urgently start the process of disallowing untutored and untested persons from mounting the saddle of leadership.

The reason is that it is the character of a country’s institutions and the aptitude of its populace that determine its success. The basic truth is that where the people failed to chose their leaders, or prevented from doing so, there will be dearth of motivations, development and political institutions will suffer. Where these basic determinants prevail, development will never occur.

The governor can better be appreciated when his leadership personifies the ideals and orientation of passing the baton of leadership to a worthy successor whose public and private sectors career has elevated standard; created verifiable growth and jobs, promoted fairness, intensified productivity, reduced graft and encouraged sustainable development.

Whoever succeeds Governor Oshiomhole must be conversant with the nitty-gritty of the dynamics and synergy of the three arms of government – the executive, legislature and judiciary and maintain a working balance for the benefit and well-being of all Edo people. His successor should be able to deploy his cognate experience (especially in the public sector and governance sector) and positive networks to enhance and strengthen the levers of the good governance of Edo State as the craze now is Development Through Competition.

At the last count, more than seven aspirants having been jostling for the Edo top job, on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform alone. The same goes for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but very many of the aspirants are reluctant to address the issues of developing Edo State beyond the present level. That Edo State was in a parlous state until Governor Oshiomhole came on the rescue mission was partly because the people were easily deceived into cueing behind make-believed leaders who are far removed from development initiative.

Governor Oshiomhole’s steady and cautious leadership which has seen the development of many sectors of the state’s economy will definitely bring about far-reaching development if the governor gets the succession struggles right. The Achilles’s heel of African leaders, i.e, “area of weakness or vulnerable spot” is the succession crisis that constantly plagues, hurts and arrests development which further yields grounds to comatose infrastructure, abandoned projects and grand looting.

There is no doubt that Africa and Nigeria leadership crisis deepens by the day, thereby suffocating the efforts that would have intensify growth and development. As was the case with several states in the country, leadership crisis on which famous writers have intervened, the Nigeria crisis has been created across board by political leadership that have jumped the rails.

The writer Chinua Achebe once declared that the problem with Nigeria is the problem of leadership. No one can agree with the literary icon less. However, having identified the problem, the search for solutions should now engage our earnest attention and energy for sustainable leadership. The lack of adequate preparation for political leadership, especially in public life, is a critical missing link in our search for solutions.

A few weeks ago, Edo State under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole marked the 7th anniversary of his stewardship as the governor of the state. The event hugely tell the story of the governor’s visible achievement and provides an opportunity both for stock taking and for looking ahead. It is also a good time to reflect further on the challenge of leadership and succession, especially at this point in our national life, when our country is passing through arguably the greatest existential threat of Boko Haram; poor resource generation, lack of basic amenities, collapsed education, lack of health facilities, tax crisis, corruption and the like to its corporate survival since the Civil War.

To resolve these crises, largely cause by the dearth of effective leadership, Edo people, the APC and Governor Oshiomhole must carefully and studiously planned thier succession process to avoid the consequence of accidental leadership; stunted development and building of enduring systems that utilise experience of people who have occupied leading positions in the country to fly the party’s flag.

Amongst the lots angling for Oshiomhole’s job after November 2016 is Christopher Aigbovbiosa Ogiemwonyi. He holds the ace given his giant strides and successes in the management of human, material and financial resources at national and international levels. His daunting credential of successes sets him head and shoulder above the mottling of crowds racing to Osadebe’s Avenue. It was his known steadfast commitment to development that led to his appointment as the Minister of State in the Federal Ministry of Works from 2010 to 2011.